Kyoto & Nara

Saturday 11th April

Today we met up with Alan, our new friend from the hotel, who had offered to give us a guided tour around the most interesting parts of Kyoto on his day off today! He has been fab, he is currently staying in the hotel to arrange business with them as he runs a travel company that specialises in tours between Japan, Australia and other countries.

This was fab as it was the first time we were going to use the big trains out of Osaka today and we had been nervous about getting it right, but Alan (born in Birmingham!) had lived in Japan for about 30 years and spoke fluent Japanese which helped us out a lot and he knew the exact trains to get to Kyoto. He had been really impressed with what we were doing, especially by ourselves with no expensive tour company or anything and had been helping the group learn bits of Japanese and find out about common curtesys etc. He is extremely proud of Japan as a country.

So, getting to Kyoto was easy! We then had a quick burger lunch and then followed him through the streets of Kyoto while he explained about the different parts. We saw another traditional Japanese theatre, lots of souvenir shops (not tacky like many European souvenir shops!) temples and shrines!

This was a bit of a trek as we headed upwards to some find archways and temples, Japanese traditional buildings etc. We kept going, and had a few stops at various shops where some of the group bought some Japanese fans, parasols and other bits and pieces. The heat was incredible!

Eventually we came into the main market area where some of the group also bought some second hand kimonos for cheap! So these are real Kimonos, which had been worn by REAL Japanese women, and in good condition too!

The markets were fantastic. There was also a large stand area surrounded by lanterns where someone famous or important was actually getting married as the Japanese papers were taking photographs and reporting. We then carried on into the main Temple itself, Kiyomizu Temple, where we walked up again and saw some amazing views of Kyoto! Lots of photographs were taken. We ventured around the temple and its grounds, sipped fresh spring water from special silver ladles and enjoyed the views and the incredible structure itself!

It was then a long walk back to the train station through the Markets and souvenir shops yet again. A very tiring day but well worth it! Check out our pics on the Flickr photo site!

Back at the hotel, after dinner, Vickie very kindly went through money with any one who was worried. We had managed to keep spending down to a minimum on food so everyone came away relieved, pleased and surprised at how much they had left! Then off to a good nights sleep.

Sunday 12th April

Happy Easter! We have had a few younger ones missing parents and family...and cats but it has been really nice to see them look after each other and comfort each other. So just to let you know that they are all fine and are keeping each other in good spirits!

The strange thing about Japan is the pets people seem to keep, we have seen Rabbits and Squirrels sat around in parks on a lead held by their owners, happily munching on bits of food and lazing in the sun etc! Kittens with little collars were being sold in the street the other day and were gathering lots of interest.

Today we had a later start after our trek yesterday. We got the train to Nara, which was the capitol of Japan 400 years ago! This is where the trains got tricky as there was less and less in our alphabet and more words and instructions in Japanese symbols alone. We managed it though, with only an unplanned change in trains half way through which made the journey a little longer than expected!

Nara had lots of big impressive shops and buildings with illumious signs as well as the little Japanese traditional shops and restaurants. We walked from the train station until we came to a lake where we stopped to have lunch. We saw turtles/terapins, schools of tiny fish and pond skaters (?) all over the water.

We then had a walk through the big parks to the Todai-Ji Temple, to see the great buddha hall with the HUGE Buddha statue! Todai-Ji Temple is the largest wooden structure in the world!

We allowed the group some time to explore the markets here, as we had made them rush past many yesterday! A few small souvenirs were bought and we all tried an ice cone from the nearby drink stall, crushed ice in a cup with many flavours of syrup to squirt in flavour. This re-hydrated everyone and also gave us a bit of a sugar rush to get us back into gear!

We reched the most impressive temple and split into groups to see the Buddha. The size of the statue was awesome, absolutely huge and I don't think our photos do it justice! We spent a long time looking at the Buddha and all of the other statues around. We felt quite sad that perhaps, dedicated buddists may not find it easy to visit this very important place for worship because of the tourist attraction it had become. But we don't know all of the details of that?

We headed back through Nara to find somewhere to eat out for dinner for a change and after being rejected by a burger bar (no seats?!? I think he was just worried about us making noise!) a little restaurant/cafe squished our entire group in their 10 seater group room. The Japanese seem to be able to fit anything anywhere! It wasn't uncomfortable though and everyone had enough space. There were a few issues with the menu, he only had 5 pizzas when about 9 of us wanted pizza etc but we all compromised and everyone ended up with something yummy in the end! Several people also had desert - many pancakes with chocolate or strawberry syrup! The waiters were brilliant and very apologetic when they couldn't easily accomodate so many people. But it was nice for us because it was the very first meal we had been able to have together properly (the hotel table is not big enough for everyone so we eat in shifts!).

It was getting darker so after we sorted out the bill between everyone (still quite cheap!) we thanked them a lot and left to get the train back. This time the train was direct to the station outside of our hotel and only took half an hour so we were back pretty quick!

Lunch has been prepared for our trip tomorrow, another late start so everyone can get a lie in. Will fill you in with more soon! Please don't forget to keep checking our flickr page for photos!

Sayonara!