Kyoto

Oh dear. You see what happens when you allow too much time to lapse between blog posts is.. all these stories and photos and experiences and days start to pile up to amass one giant ominous heap of information. And then when you finally do have a moment to sit down and post something it's a bit like dumping 3 or 4 giant jig-saw puzzles into one pile and then having to sort them all out and arrange them to make sense. So for simplicity sake, I will post one blog for each location.. picking up where I left off... Kyoto.

After our very long, wet, and exhausting journey to Kyoto, we got a good nights rest in our new hostel and awoke the next day to explore. The weather turned out to be much better than we had anticipated (meaning it wasn't pouring and thundering). So we wandered. We walked through some very old parts of the city, some buildings have been there for a hundred or more years, some for a few hundred. It was very much like going back in time at points. Kyoto was much more quiet and peaceful than Tokyo which was a welcomed change for a few days. We saw ancient temples, Maiko in full costume, rickshaw drivers, cobblestone paths leading through old neighborhoods, forests, gardens, and more. The great thing about Kyoto is that there is history and beauty around every turn. And if you don't stop to look up a small side road once in a while you might miss something hidden and spectacular. We even got to see the area that inspired the town in Spirited away. It was to say the least a fascinating and beautiful diversion. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking...