kyoto girly weekend with laura loo and mindy mo

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laura and i arrived at kyoto station at about 3pm and met up with mindy who had arrived a few hours earlier (she's an early bird like me but didn't have the difficult task of trying to wake laura up after a night out on the sauce!)
we found the lovely little hostel where we were staying and were really chuffed with our bargainous private room! futons on the floor, free internet and free breakfast all for only 15 pounds a night each.
we set off for gion and walked down some beautiful, traditional streets trying to find somewhere to eat.
we eventually settled on a delicious restaurant - only because it had a picture menu!
we came back to the hostel and chatted to a few different people who were staying there - quite a mix really from young families and old families to backpackers... we were in hysterics later on in the evening when one of the young guys knocked on our door and asked very nervously if one of us had left our clothes in the shower room. laura realised that she had and had left her very unattractive underwear right on top of her clothes so had probably given the poor boy a fright!
before we went to sleep, the girls presented me with a lovely japan scrapbook that they'd made for me about all of our adventures, as well as a card which they got all my friends in saga to sign... needless to say, i was in floods of tears again! it was such a lovely surprise!

the next morning, we set off for the golden temple. i had already visited it once in november with my parents but it was great to see it again, surrounded by all the beautiful sakura trees (cherry blossom). we found a cute little cafe for lunch and then visited the sansugendo temple which displayed 1001 statues of the buddhist deity!

in the afternoon, it was time for geisha fun! laura, mindy and i had a hilarious time having our make up done and choosing a beautiful kimono to wear. we put on a very realistic wig and then it was time to strike a pose... well a few poses actually! we had some professional photos taken before taking some photos with our own cameras. such a fantastic experience!

that evening, we went to za watami... one of our favourite restaurants and then went back to the hostel to chill. while mindy and i were chatting to the manager downstairs, we heard the doors rattling upstairs and were slightly concerned about what the noise was. after a while, the manager also became concerned and went upstairs to have a look but couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from. we later learned that laura was listening to her ipod and having a dance in our room without realising that the entire hostel was shaking in the process!

on monday, we enjoyed a pleasant stroll around the inari shrine (the largest one in japan) before heading off for nara - a short train journey away. nara was beautiful and reminded me of miyajima island with all the deer roaming freely around the park. we visited an enormous wooden temple which housed a very huge buddha inside!

in the evening, mindy and i wanted to go to an onsen to chill out a bit... we looked in a guidebook and found a lovely outdoor one but when we got there we realised it was closed! we stopped someone cycling past to ask if there was another one nearby but he told us that on monday most of them are shut. so we walked back down the road and were about to jump into a taxi when this guy cycled back and told us that he'd asked someone and found a place down the road and he could take us! i LOVE the japanese kindness! so we followed him to a very sweet little place where all the old grannies obviously go... they were definitely talking about us but they did very well not to stare too much!

the next morning i waved goodbye to my lovely girls before jumping on the shinkansen... next stop: TOKYO!

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Comments

[helen]

Oh the stories you will be able to tell to your grandchildren, talking of babies Vicky was due last Friday but we are still waiting. Sandra is poorly with a bad back and off work. Me and Trace have so much uni work to hand in by the end of April, we don't know what it's like to just sit and relax at the mo. Keep safe, enjoy your travels and have fun! Love helen xxx

[Laura]

Dancing whale!
Heidi san! I think you are exagerating when you say the WHOLE hostel was shaking. You make me sound like a japanese whale kill! I'll have you all know Im like a ballerina on tracing paper! Light and graceful.