18/07/09 - 23/07/09 Kyoto & Nara

At last.....we seem to have got the hang of the whole train system in Japan (like everything here it can be a little confusing to start with! - all the info is there to help you, you just need to interpret it using a Japanese thought process!!).　So waving our Japan Rail passes we left Tokyo for Kyoto on the super speedy "Bullet" - and it is super speedy! and really feels more like a plane than a train especially going threw tunnels with the tilting and engine noises thrown in!

So 230 miles and not much time later we arrived in Kyoto (and after reading Memoirs of a Geisha a few years ago I had this down as a must see). We were told that the best way to see Kyoto is on a bike - and they weren`t wrong! It is the easiest place on the planet to cycle. You don`t have to worry about hills (it is completely flat) so fancy gears are of no use and the best bit is you can cycle on the pavement - so for nervous nerris here, no need to worry about the crazy traffic! So basically we spent a couple of days cycling around like wee old ladies - very relaxing!

And we managed to see a few of the sights too:- "Jinjo-Jo" Castle (lovely floors but only empty rooms as the Japanese weren`t/aren`t big on furniture!), then on to a "cheesy" Kimono fashion show. The Kimono is still a big part of Japanese culture and for any special occasion (this includes the likes of fireworks displays) you dig out and dust down your best Kimono. We then visited a couple of the 2,000 temples in Kyoto - "Kinkaku-Ji" & "Ryoan-Ji" - with the most bizarre exhibit being a Zen garden which consists of 15 well placed rocks (and nothing much else!).

One other thing! - we have found out the hard way that you have to plan in advance when in Japan - especially when you pick the same month that 127 million Japanese go on their hols! So while we still hadn`t quite finished enjoying Kyoto we were off to Nara for a couple of days.

Now our time in Nara led to an unusual day! - firstly, I was bitten on the bum by a deer, then we got into the museum for half price as the 22nd happened to be "man & wife day!" (first perk to being married!, but shame it wasn`t November, as the 22nd then is "good man & wife day" - and you get in for free!) and finally, we decided to try out an "Onsen" and I had a bath with naked old ladies!! Slightly disturbing day overall! So to explain....

...... "the deer bite" - they like to tame deer and let them wander around parks so you can feed them biscuits, but the deer are quite prepared to bite you on the bum if you take too long at dishing them out!

....."the bath with naked old ladies" - the "Onsen" is another part of Japanese culture which is pretty popular and it is where you strip off and go for a bath in public - but for the british psyche this can take a little getting used to! But we have to say they are actually very relaxing - and we have been for a few now (but thankfully not to mixed baths - that would be testing the british reserve just a little too much!).

So then we were back to Kyoto for some straight forward (and fully clothed) Geisha spotting in Gion - this was a success and a photo of Graham "Geisha Pestering" will be on facebook shortly!

Ready for our next stop now so back on the "Bullet"to Hiroshima ........... and one last thing (promise!), which has come to our attention is how polite the Japanese are, for example - the ticket conductor always bows when entering and leaving the train carriage, not seen that on Scotrail!

Overall the Japanese language seems to be based around how you can be more polite than everyone else! There are at least 3 different ways of saying thank you:- "aragato" (thank you), "domo aragato" (thank you very much) and "domo aragato gouziemas" (thank you very much wth please on the end!)......I`m sure there`s even more as Japan has to be the politiest place on earth! On that note, domo aragato gouziemas for continuing to read this blog!.......