Gieshas, hello kitty, soft serve green tea icecream!

---

Gieshas, hello kitty, soft serve green tea ice cream

Where can you find all these wonderful things KYOTO!!

So even after my crazy bicycle journey yesterday there was still so much of Kyoto to see! It is such a contrast to Tokyo really beautiful with old style buildings being more common than not and more temples and shrines than you can shake a stick at, pretty much one of every corner! Having somewhat figured out the areas surrounding my hostel I concluded the next journey took would be via city buses!!



First on my agenda was the world renowned Golden Pavillion, buses in this town are so easy so within 40 minutes I was there. And is was an absolutely stunning sight. A temple made of gold surrounded by Japanese gardens and ponds! Just breath taking even with the hoards of people around me! As was the rest of the area around it, with the leaves changing displaying a rainbow of beauty. Next stop was off to the WWII memorial for the unknown soldier and the MANY graves of those who died fighting for Japan. This time prepared with my map I venture off the buses into the Gion region thinking I am in for an easy feat. However I underestimated the power of the blond.... Right off the bus there is this amazing temple (like I said there is pretty much one on every corner) which called my name so without even looking for its name on my map I was drawn through the arches. This temple then branched off to another then to another. Me thinking it would either lead me to the WWII memorial or end just kept following the paths. Eventually ending up out of Gion by some school. Plus side in this never ending journey I came across Japans largest gong bell(not sure the actual name but a Japanese fellow told me about it and that was how he described it.) So headed back into town to get my bearings again and opted for some sight seeing around Gion, starting with Gion Corner (where Gieshas work from) then to the streets of shops, over across the river and into downtown Kyoto.



At this point I had given up on the map thinking if you dont know where you are going then you are never lost right? Plus my hostel was right close to the Kyoto tower, so if all else fails I would just head to that! And boy were my instincts right! First I stumbled into the food market where I tasted heaven in the form of soft serve green tea ice cream. As well as an amazing proper Japanese shopping area, full of cute clothing, Hello Kitty, and Stitch (from lilo and stitch, they are obsessed!). Seeing how well my theory work I decided to head back through Gion and give the WWII memorial a chance. On my way through Gion I saw some of the real streets and traditional buildings. I am got to see some real Gieshas!! Pretty stoked on that as I heard it was quite rare. And low and behold saw one grave then another and I was on the right track!!! Finally arriving at the WWII memorial I pleased to see it was well worth the journey as it was a giant Buddha!! Entry also included an inscense for you to place in memory of the unknown soldier.



After this my time was dwindling down so I made my way back to the Kyoto train station sad to leave one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Train ride back I got lucky and got a non smoking car right away, also luckily got seated beside a fantastic Japanese couple from Tokyo who had also been in Kyoto visiting. They let me try all their Japanese sweets(which by the way Japanese are CRAZY for, there is a sweet shop on every block) and gave me sound advice on how to get to my hostel. So now am at the hostel preparing myself for a 4 30 am wake up to make the half hour journey to the Tsukiji Fish Market, to see all the fish dealing go down. Also suppossed to be the best place to get FRESH sushi!



So signing off Kyoto Kelsey!!
Oyasuminasai- Good night in Japanese

---

Comments

[mySardinia]

I've been to Japan too
I've been to Japan too but I've never been to Tokyo. I stayed in Shingu in Osaka and I was mesmerized instantly. The place is so clean and organized. After that trip, I went straight to Italy to meet my cousin. She brought me to Sardinia and I was literally shocked. That was the two greatest trip I ever experience. Believe me, you can check out Sardinia in sardinia.com