Kyoto

Days three to six

July 20th to the 23rd 2010

Settling In
We settled into our house in Kyoto. We were staying in a traditional Japanese house in the centre of the city. This was our first taste of Japanese living. Like many things in Japan, it seemed very different from what we are used to as Westerners. The house was small with every inch of space well used. In a small-ish country of 130 million people space is short! The floors in the house were covered in tatami mats. There were no sofas, the seating was around a hole in the floor with a table over it for eating, etc. Sleeping arrangements were futon style mattresses directly on the floor. Paper blinds in wooden frames made flexible doors to configure the house as you wish. Japanese people clearly don't like to laze around like westerners. You are either up and about or you are in bed. There is little in between. The design of the house was beautiful and simple though, like so many things in Japan.

Seeing Kyoto
As we ventured out he first thing that really struck us was the temperature. Around 35 degrees centrigrade in a city and with humidity. Having been lucky enough to see many extremes of climate we were taken aback by the sheer debilitation of the heat in central Japan in July. We have seen Dubai in July, Phoenix in August, but nothing was like this! About one hour was the most we could stand before having to dive our sweaty bodies into an air conditioned sanctuary. Maybe it was the jet lag, plus eight hours is a big time change, especially in the first few days. Getting up at 0800 means midnight at home!
Kyoto is a laid back city, very relaxed compared to Tokyo or Osaka. Culture was top of the agenda and so we headed off on a temple tour on foot on our first full day. It was very beautiful, very hot and full of atmosphere. We were almost the only western people in the city, a trend that was to continue for the whole holiday.
One evening we toured the Gion district of Kyoto. This is an atmospheric district of alleyways in the old Japanese style. What makes them particularly famous is their reputation for Geisha girl entertainment. For hundreds of years Japanese gentlemen have paid vast sums of money to be entertained by these mysterious ladies for an evening of music, dance and story telling. Like many Japanese traditions it is elaborate and mysterious to western eyes.
The manners of people in this refined city were outstanding. When a taxi driver stops to pick you up, the back door of the taxi automatically swings open and he leaps out, bowing deeply and taking off his hat. Nothing is too much trouble in his immaculate vehicle.

Osaka Aquarium
One of our days out from Kyoto was to Osaka and the stunning aquarium there. The centre piece of this was a central tank containing a mini ocean including two full sized whale sharks. These giants were around ten metres long. As you descended through the levels you viewed the tank from thirteen different levels. Izzy and Imogen were particularly freaked out by the Japanese spider crabs - one meter across and predators of the deep that look like large spiny, pink spiders.

To Mount Fuji
Our next destination was the Mount Fuji area so we caught the Shinkansen bullet train most of the way back to Tokyo. The bullet train is an excellent experience. As it departs to the minute you settle into your airline style seat and the train accelerates, and accelerates all the way up to 200 hundred miles per hour. The ride is mostly smooth, but on some sections of track the train twists and turns and climbs and dives like a ride on the back of an angry serpent.