Wandering Scotsman

I hopped on a bus a bit too late yesterday morning and went to the Arashiyama area in the North West of the city.  This area was really…..erm…cute.  Loads of old style buildings in narrow lanes, and bamboo forests resting in the foothills of the mountains.  I went to see the Adashino Nembutsuji Temple wich has over 3000 weathered stone faces from previous headstones (or something like that).

(Picture : Bamboo forest)

In the afternoon I met up with a couchsurfer and went to a tea ceremony.  Yuko was even more enthusiastic (and knowledgable) about Japanese culture than I am for going for a beer so came along wearing a traditional kimono.  Although it was an informal one (just as well for me!) Yuko was pretty good at explaining it to me, despite not being used to any kind of formalities or traditions usually!

 We then went for a big walk around some craft and gallery areas of the city, however by the time we got there, and it being Monday, most of them were closed.  We headed down some tiny backalleys  around the Gion area (more geishas and geishas in training), and around the Kiyomizu Temple which had all the lanterns lit up in the evening.  I’ve seen several geishas every time I’ve been there, but as usual I thought it would be an intrusion to  photograph them.  Now that I’ve seen every other punter be snap happy I never have my camera out in time.  Being with Yuko I had the training timetable pointed out to me – there it was out in the open, but I would have walked straight past if I wasn’t with a local.

If you ever go to Kyoto you have to do sneak up the side streets.  You can see a lot wandering around, but to see the best parts, and the best handicrafts you really have to explore as it would be so easy to miss even many of the touristy areas. 

When you wander up the backalleys you see the fronts of many hostess and geisha entertainment establishments, and get confused at what is a normal restaurant or not.  There are some really cool looking places around but many of the cooler ones I guess would also mean a pretty cool price, if you could even get in as a geijin (foreigner).  The area is pretty lively anyway, as on the other side of the river it’s pretty much the centre for the nightlife.

We met another couchsurfer who is temporarily based in Kyoto and went for some yakatori.  I got introduced to sochu, which is the japanese equivalent of vodka – some made with sweet potato, some with rice and some with…..some other stuff.

Another fab evening in Kyoto.  It’s always great to meet a local person.  Thanks Yuko!

Jeez, that’s a bit deep eh?  Anyway, I’m in Kyoto.  Yes, the only reason most people have heard of it is because of the Kyoto Protocol to lower worldwide emissions….which some of the biggest countries and worst offenders kindof ignore (hmm, I really should research this before writing).  So did you leave that tap running today?  The light on?  Throw the newspaper into the normal rubbish bin?

Tsk, tsk.  Read this story about an Alaskan town who’s suffering because of melting permafrost.

If you want to watch a couple of pretty lousey, but cute videos of the monkeys from last week, have a look at the wanderingscotsman snow monkey video from the Yudanaka Monkey Park.

I’ve also added many pictures to previous posts from this week (e.g. me making soba noodles), so page down a lot, and I’ve uploaded the following galleries :

Japan, Tokyo

Japan, Nagano

Japan, Matsumuto and around

Japan, Kyoto

I’m at my third place of accommodation in three days, but it’s great compared to the rest.  Of course, that wouldn’t be too hard.  Last night I stayed at ‘Kyoto Cheapest Inn’ and it was clear why.  To be honest, the place was as expected, but it was a 20 person dorm, the showers, toilets and chill out area were downstairs, and the reception, beds and internet PC were all in one room.  Not nice.  For a couple of quid more I’m in the fantastic K’s House in Kyoto.   I’ve also booked with them for their place around Fuji which is good.

(Picture : Gion traditional architecture)  Anyway, on initial impressions Kyoto is just another Japanese city.  Once you know it a bit better there are nicer greener or more traditional areas like the Imperial Palace Gardens, the Philosopher’s Walk, or Gion, however it is hard to escape crowds completely, even in low season some places have many schoolkids around on tours.

I’ve went to see a few places but to be honest, like in Asia, as fantastic as temples are they just don’t do it for me.  A fleeting visit is as much as I need, unless I took a book and could chill out in the gardens or whatever.  In saying that, they are impressive, beautiful and can have amazing gardens.

I’m more interested in finding out about the Japanese culture and speaking to people, but that’s the part that’s hard here.  I should have got a guide but I was never organised enough to know where I was going and when.  I went in to watch some of the locals paying Pachinco, a pinball type gambling machine of some sort.  The noise was incredible when I opened the door but I had no idea what they were doing and didn’t even purchase any steel balls to play with as I couldn’t fathom out what they were doing! (Picture : Pachinco hall)

I still laugh when I see the plastic food displays outside cafes and restaurants though – all kinds of displays are made to match the food – even plastic beers,or ice creams!

I have also managed (shock horror) to make up a list of my souvenirs to buy from the craft museum!

I even went to a traditional show at Gion Corner last night which was a waste of my £12 – yet again, nothing wrong with it (apart from all the seats in the theatre being at the same level ensuring a poor view if you weren’t at the front).

Last night I went into a local type bar close to the lively Gion area (I keep getting taken back there) called A-Bar.  It was full of locals with some gaijin too.  I went along there because it was meant to have a good vibe, and  served yakatori style food.  So I ordered a beer, and some fab dishes like ‘Avocado and sashami salmon with wasabi may sauce’ and ‘sashami makura(?) – tuna’.  Superb.

Just as I was paying to go, the locals whose table I was sat down at started pouring me some beer, so I ended up having quite a good laugh with them with broken English, and we got the beer pouring ritual going well (it’s considered almost admitting you are an alcoholic if you fill your own glass….you may thin k I should have carried on but if you fill up theirs, they quickly take the hint ;-> ).  It was my second night in Kyoto and my second taxi home due to missing the last buses.

  (Picture : Kyoto Tower)  Today it was the palace, another temple and a chilled evening in the hostel, as it’s the first I’ve stayed in in Japan that has a decent chill out area, similar to the hostels in New Zealand, but with a Japanese style.

Anyway, tomorrow it’s the tea ceremony with the ‘couchsurfer’, maybe another temple (there are loads but I’m only going to see a few) then the next day I’ll visit Nara for the day, coming back to Tokyo for the night, before going to Osaka the following day.

For once I have made a rough travel plan.  I am in Kyoto until Tuesday night (and I still haven’t really seen a shrine) then head to Hiroshima for a couple of nights.  I am them going to head to Beppu for some hot springs, and after a couple of nights there I’ll go and visit Mount Fuji for a couple of nights before returning to Tokyo.  I’ve even booked accommodation!  Yikes – how organised.

I toiled to get accommodation so will beon the move between places while I’m here.  That helped me have a bit of a brief lonely first night in a new city kinda feeling.  With only one thing to do, I went out and wanderered around Gion.  Unlike normal, after I stood around getting my bearings and finding out exactly where the bus had dropped me off, I popped into the Irish Bar to grab a pint and some food.

I was asked to move from my seat as a group reserved it, so I ate at the bar.  One of the group came over and apologised and asked if I wanted to join them, so I spent the rest of the evening drinking with a bunch of people studying over here – from Guatamala, Mexico, Japan, Canada, UK, France….  great evening.  Luckily they all disbanded before they went to karaoke so it was a short taxi ride home.

I’m off to wander around Kyoto today.

Oh well I woke up and it was pissing down today, so I’m now off to Kyoto, just finding it hard to get accommodation there at the last minute, but hey something will work out – got tonight sussed out. And got my tea ceremony and a walk round Kyoto area on Monday organised!

Well I’m kinda in the Japanese Alps National Park, or at least pretty close to it.
I left Nagano yesterday and got to Matsumuto. A much smaller city and the best vibe to it so far, even though I’m not doing very much there. I think the vibe is increased just having my own hotel room for a couple of nights.  It’s cheap, but has signs of ageing, in particular the stereo in the room….
I pestered the tourist info place again and took a train to a place called Hotaka today, hired a very feminine bicycle and cycled to a wasabi farm, and had some wasabi ice cream, which was actually quite nice.

.(Picture : My lovely bike in Hotaka)

The most frustrating thing at the moment is having (very hazy) views to some pretty spectacular looking mountains, and not having the gear, or the people to do them with. There is still quite a lot of snow on them, and all the routes in the Hiking in Japan book are multi-day “jeez I wanna do that” kinda routes.
So tomorrow I am planning to get a bus to Kamikochi which is a superb place for hiking. Unfortunately it also has superb prices on all the accommodation there so no overnighting. Boo. I’m expecting pretty awesome views from there but will only be walking around the valley.

(Picture : The scenic part of the wasabi farm)

From there I may head back to Matsumuto, or ideally get a bus to take me onto a place called Takayama which is meant to have managed to hang onto its historic charm.

(Picture : Matsamuto castle)

In Kyoto I’ve made contact with someone there through couchsurfing who is going to take me through a Japanese tea ceremony on Monday, so that’s where I’ll be hitting on Sunday night and staying for a few days.

I got another mention in the The flightless writer blog today on the weekly tour and got a few extra hits, and an enquiry about travelling this area in Japan. All good.

I’m also getting more into travelling in Japan. When I was visiting the Monkey Park I thought I’d get pretty bored not meeting other westerners but I’m starting to enjoy pestering the tourist info people (while they speak English!), and making hand signal conversations (like taking my dirty laundry out of the bag to find a coin-op washing machine). I even did what I always feel I have to do in a new country….get a hair cut.

Anyway, I have some email catching up to do, but I guess I better make this stay in the internet cafe worthwhile. I had to ‘join’ for 200 Yen, show ID, get a wee plastic card as a member etc. before I could check my email. The net cafes here are as described though – drink and food machines, game lounges, overnight private booths, comics and magazines, and this one even has its own video room, table tennis and dartboards.

There is one bad thing though. There are good outdoors shops here.
Yesterday in Nagano I bought a titanium spork (only 3 quid), mug, and today I ended up buying a funky little outdoors mug just because it had a climbing karabiner as a handle……….I mean how cool is that!?

Oh yeh, and like I needed another top that’s probably too small for me….

Anyway, sorry no pictures as I don’t have my laptop.

I spent another night in Nagano after seeing the snow monkeys. Helpfully the ryokan owner in Yudanaka helped me book it over the phone. I was greeted in an empty youth hostel by someone the same age as my mother, but probably fitter than me. She sat me down for some tea and gave me some cakes, and a home made banana cake (fantastic!). Despite being happy to wander around and get some food she pointed me in the direction of a cheap chinese noodle place half way back towards the station. Before I got my shoes on, she was leaving too. I quickly realised this was to show me the way, despite me knowing where she was sending me. I was almost jogging down the street, speeding up my relaxed holiday walking pace, to keep up with her.
Food ordered, and off she went, me slurping some soba noodles, and spending more time pondering the Lonely Planet, JR timetables, and generally not deciding where to go.
The next morning I took the bus to the Soba museum to get my hands dirty. After spending twenty minutes gawping at the snow covered alpine peaks in teh distance, I arrived and explained using pictures that I wanted to make some soba noodles. Ushered through the doors, I then spent a very entertaining hour getting a cooking lesson from a Japanese menu card using motioning hands, and speaking in different tongues.
I did end up making soba noodles though. Started with the flour, water, and a big bowl with chopsticks to mix it up, then a large rolling pin to roll it out in the correct manner. The best part was cutting my own noodles with a large sharp chefs knife, from a folded up 70cm piece of paper thin dough.
Sixty minutes later I was sitting down eating my own noodles after they got cooked for a couple of minutes.
The best part? It’s not in the Lonely Planet, and it only cost 1000 Yen (around 4 quid). About the same, if not less, than it would to order your own in a restaurant.

Mind you if you got sucked into a buying a bowl to knead the flour in it would’ve set you back a cool $200 USD.

I then took the bus and went for a wee hike around a few shrines, but ran out of time to tackle the bloody steep forest track up to Mt Togakushi at 1911 metres. It was too hot and hazy anyway – when I arrived back in Nagano at 5.45pm yesterday is was 26c.
Before catching the bus back to get the train to Matsumuto I popped along the road while chatting to a Japanese woman, and went to the wood carving ‘factory’ where an old guy shaves bits of wood and makes them into amazingly cheap intertwined ornament. Unfortunately I saw something that was really funky, that would probably cost 35 quid upwards back home, and it was only about 6 quid I think. I ended up carrying this thing, the size of a football, away with me. God knows if it will make it to Bangkok with me, never mind Scotland.
I think that with my main rucksack, and my ‘hand luggage’ bag of camera gear, laptops and chargers I must be lugging around 35+ kilos around. Luckily I finished a book today………………..!?!? Now there’s a weight saving.
Oh I can’t wait until I hit Kyoto and dump some stuff in left luggage. Dave, if you read this, Darren’s little rucksack, which he gave me in exchange for my computer before I left, is providing me with a handy little day bag at the moment so pass that on. It’s also ‘done’ New Zealand, and the Abel Tasman walk (although that bit was not with me).