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Published: October 15th 2006
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Ryokan Heianbo
Welcome to Ryokan Heianbo in central Kyoto, my home for the next three nights. I am now in southern Honshu visiting the old Japanese city Kyoto, once the capital of Japan.
In Kyoto I decided to go ahead and stay a few nights in a traditional Japanese guesthouse, called Ryokan in Japanese.
It is kind of different from what we westerners are used to, although just like with western hotels the standard of ryokans varies from very basic ones to very luxurious ones with outdoor baths in beautiful surroundings, luxurious amenities and all meals included.
I naturally did not book an expensive one as I would probably not be able to appreciate it, but I did manage to find a pretty good one in central Kyoto just one block from the railway station/airport bus and it got good reviews on the internet as well.
When you arrive in a ryokan you should first slide open the front door and call "gomen kudasai" to announce your arrival and ask if you can come in.
The female owner, called okamisan, then comes to greet you and you do the check-in process in a fairly normal way, but no computers or such in my case (she actually uses a blackboard).
The okamisan in my ryokan, Ryokan
Ryokan Heianbo
My room! Quite large but there are so many things you don't really know how to handle, and I'm always afraid I will damage something. But overall I like it! There is even a miniature shower behind the TV. Heianbo, was very friendly but spoke limited English, but together with my limited knowledge of Japanese (again proven to be useful) we managed to sort everything out quite well.
After you have checked in you remove your shoes and put on the shoes provided by the ryokan. Unfortunately my feet (size XL) were a bit too large for the shoes they provide so I was allowed to enter the house just wearing socks.
The okamisan escorted me to my room and showed me all the amenities, usually you take off your shoes before entering the room not to damage the carpet (called a tatami), but that was obviously not a problem for me.
On top of this shoe circus you also have special shoes you wear when you visit the toilet.
My room was quite large, and quite nice as well, but there were lots of things that were new and strange to me.
You sleep on the floor of course, on a Japanese matress, and basically everything is at floor level. The chair was quite interesting and a little strange to sit at, but at last I managed to find a comfortable position.
There was also a
Ryokan Heianbo
My bed! A mattress on the floor, but actually quite comfortable! I had a good sleep! little shower in my room which I appreciated, the very traditional ryokans don't have that, but it was really a miniature one with virtually no space inside, although still nice to have a shower in the morning.
In the evening I had my very first public bath!
Traditionally the Japanese don't shower but take a bath in the evening, although in modern Japan things are of course a bit different.
The baths are single sex only, traditionally they were shared but that is no longer the case, so there was one for men and one for women.
When you enter the bath there is first a locker room and you put all your belongings in a little basket. When you stay in a ryokan you usually get changed in your own room and wear only a yukuta, a kind of a kimono, to the bath.
After getting undressed you enter a washing room where you are expected to clean yourself properly, no dirt allowed in the public bath (others will use it). Once you have rinsed yourself from soap and dirt you go into the water, naked, no swimwear or such allowed so you'd better not have a problem
Ryokan Heianbo
The "Sitting area"! The legless chair is quite interesting, takes a little while to get used to it.
But I do have both TV, A/C, and fridge in my room! with nudity.
The water is really really hot, but you get used to it and the burning feeling disappears if you don't move in the water.
I guess these baths are really good for your health, blood circulation and such.
I really didn't manage to spend more than 10 mins in the bath until I started to feel a bit dizzy, but some Japanese people spend significantly longer time in the bath.
You are allowed to bring a mini towel into the bath which you can rinse in cold water and put on your head, it should prevent the dizziness and eventually make you not faint (or so I have been told, not sure if I believe that).
The only drawback with the ryokan was that you have to order breakfast the night before, which nobody was kind enough to tell me (I know the Japanese word for breakfast and it was not mentioned), so that was a bit awkward.
Well she forgot, no big deal, but I'll get to try the Japanese breakfast tomorrow morning.
Back to Kyoto, the city is very nice and there is lots lots to see, I really won't be able to visit
Ryokan Heianbo
Public bath! Same sex only so there is one for men and one for women. After cleaning yourself properly you get into the water, naked! The water is REALLY HOT, but you slowly get used to it. all the temples, castles and old districts in the city, so I have to make a selection.
I have uploaded pictures of some of the temples and districts of Kyoto I have visisted.
There are loads of tourists here though, both Japanese and westerners, and unfortunately I tend to be treated a little bit more as a western tourist here than in Tokyo and Yokohama. That does not mean badly in any way but there is not as much traditional formal Japanese hospitality as I experienced in the previous two cities where you kind of disappear as a tourist among the millions of Japanese.
Tomorrow I'm off to a one-day excursion to Hiroshima which is around two hours by train from Kyoto. In Hiroshima I will visit the A-bomb park built as a tribute to the victims of the atom bomb in 1945.
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