We woke up yesterday morning and the weather was no better and still no sign of this mountain! So the weather ruled out the boat trip, the cable car ride and pretty much anything else we wanted to do here, but we were determined to do something that day! So we hired a couple of bikes and took a ride around the lake to the other side, where the view of the mountain was meant to be better. We cycled all the way round and still couldn't see the stupid thing, honestly, I think it's like Loch Ness, just something the Japanese have made up to bring tourists in!! It's a funny place in Fuji, there's nothing else to bring people here other than the invisible mountain and having come from Tokyo which has so much energy and so many people, you get to Fuji and you're kind of like 'Where did all the people go?'. The contrast between Fuji and Tokyo is about the same contrast as when we left Vietnam where they keep dogs to eat and then arrived in Tokyo and instantly saw a woman walking a dog with a knitted jumper and a pearl necklace on, no word of a lie, the dogs in Tokyo are as well dressed as the people – they put my lesbian style jeans, dirty old vest tops and walking boots to shame!
So anyway, we cycled on a bit further and passed the 'enchanted forest of music', which turns out to be a garden with a few music boxes in it! Then passed the monkey pantomime, which we didn't go into because it looked super cruel. Then we cycled a bit more along the tree lined streets around the river and then stopped at an ornate chocolate shop to have a look. While I was admiring the beautiful sweets, so Kev had noticed the most enormous spider right in the middle of the trees above our head. It had spun a huge web from a tree on one side of the path to the other and it was sitting there, bold as brass, smack bang in the middle, hovering above my head! And once we'd seen him, that was it,, we saw them all, they were everywhere – huge things, all over the trees!! The problem was that to get home we had to ride back through spider valley and so I swiftly put my hood up and cycled faster than I've ever cycled to the end of the tree lined road. It's made me realise that when we go to Nagano in a few days, which is a kind of foresty place, I think I'm going to have some serious spider loving to do!!
We made it back in one piece and stopped off for a well deserved burger and chips. The food here really has been a disappointment, it's all too weird and fishy, and that's coming from someone who loves fish. We went back to the hostel and there was literally nothing to do but watch a couple of films. When the rain eased off we headed out to the baseball batting cage where Kev tried his luck with the automated bowling machine, beginning with 80kmp and moving on to 90kmh. He didn't even attempt the others which went all the way up to 140kmp!! He did pretty well and manage to hit a few balls, but he's paying for it today and is aching all over!!
Back to the hostel and watched yet another film and then we decided to go along with the Aussie guys, from Hong Kong that we'd met there the night before, and try out the local pub scene, only to find ourselves asking 'what local put scene?'. The karaoke bar round the corner was just a load of booths so that was no fun and the only pub in the village was closed! So we stopped in a hotel to see if they had a hotel bar. We walked in to find everyone wearing komonos (or however you spell it) and we were ushered to a table. Shortly after our arrival, the room seemed to clear as all those dressing gown-ed up people retired to their rooms, far away from the scruffy westerners! We were handed a menu and we realised that the only option was a small beer served with 'a snack' which would set us back 850yen each (about £5). Now, we didn't know what this 'snack' was, but judging by past experience here we figured it was more than likely to be either a bowl of snot or some deep fried fish heads, so we quickly sneaked out before anyone could call us back in!
Back to the hostel and another viewing of 'Kill Bill' (the Japanese parts helps us practice our pronunciation!!) and that was that for the night.
This morning we woke up and got on three different trains before finally getting onto the bullet train which would take us to Kyoto. The bullet train reaches speeds of 300kmh and we'd been looking forward to taking a trip on this. But instantly we realised the next couple of hours were not going to be as much fun as we had imagined. Watching the world shoot past your head at those kind of speeds is a little disconcerting to say the least and we both immediately felt nauseous. I gradually got used to it and my stomach settled but poor Kev suffered the whole two and a half hours of the journey. I've never seen him look so white, despite the sun tan that he has! We were both pretty glad when the train speeded into Kyoto station and we disembarked.
We easily found our hostel and then sat down for a drink. Stupidly, I decided to order a Japanese green tea. I like Green tea back home and I loved the green tea in Hong Kong, so how different can Japanese green tea be? Very different is the answer? I was presented with a mug of pond water, slimy and full of algae...OK, it wasn't full of algae, but imagine that sight and that's what was in my cup and imagine what that pond water would taste like and that won't even come close to how gross this cup of poison was! Being too embarrassed to admit defeat, I got Kev to order a cup of coffee which I subtly drank instead, then made a swift exit before the waitress came to clear the table and discover my untouched cup of tea (I felt so rude, like I was sticking two fingers up at their culture and taste, but I just couldn't drink that stuff).
The afternoon was drawing to a close by now so we were keen to head to Gion where the Geisha's come out as the business men finish work. We walked along and popped into the Geisha make-over place to book my slot for tomorrow. It's a total tourist thing, but tomorrow Matthew, I'm going to be....a Geisha girl! Can't wait, pathetic I know, but the more I look at Japanese women, the more I'm convinced Mum is Japanese secretly and seen as I look like my Mum I figure, in my complicated little head, that I'm going to make the perfect little Geisha girl! Time will tell eh!
We continued on the road to Gion and headed to the best Gyoza restaurant in Kyoto (according to Lonely Planet). When we got there we realised it wasn't open for an hour, but my stomach couldn't wait that long so we popped into a cafe on the corner of the main road to get a toasted sandwich. While we sat there so we saw a couple of Geisha girls crossing the road. I raced outside with my camera and tried to take photos, but like the other tourists gathered around me, I struggled- those Geisha's can walk super fast in those flip floppy clogs. I laughed and joked with some Australian tourists and we compared our rubbish photos and then returned to my toasted sandwich. Suddenly, the Australian guy was tapping at the cafe window and signalling me to rush outside to the alley at the side of the cafe. I ran out to find, what looked like backstage at a Take That concert. Because there's a typhoon on it's way here the weather is pretty dismal and as a result, all the Geisha girls were coming out of the place where they get ready and hoping into taxis to take them to their appointments. There were loads of Geisha's and I meant loads, but there were about 5 times as many tourists all fighting to get the best spot and the best photo. I felt like I was the paparazzi as we all snapped away desperate to get the shot we wanted. It's surprisingly hard and I have a new found respect for those paparazzi photographers. The Geisha's seemed to find it all very amusing and I think they enjoyed ruining our shots by placing their parasols in front of their faces as soon as the camera button was pressed! But I got a few good shots and so I was happy and was just so happy to have been there and seen that, they look amazing, nearly as amazing as I'm going to look tomorrow!! ;)
Once the hype had died down and the Geisha's had gone to meet their rich businessmen, me and Kev headed down to the Gyoza restaurant and it really was the best Gyoza restaurant. In fact, it was probably the nicest food we've had since we got here. Kev ordered himself a bottle of Saki and ignored the waitresses advice that it was 'very strong'. Now we're back at the hostel and Kev is fast asleep in bed! He says he's just tired but I think that Saki did the trick!!
The weather outside is terrible and we're really hoping that the Typhoon that's on the way doesn't affect us much. There's so much we want to do here in Kyoto and we really don't want to be confined to the hostel tomorrow if the storm arrives. But we'll just have to see what the morning brings. For now though, it's an early night. We really like Kyoto so far and we were glad to be leaving Fuji today. But I think Tokyo is our favourite at the moment. Kyoto is much more touristy than Tokyo and Tokyo just had a great buzz to the place, everyone seemed happy and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves all the time, even when they were working, it's an infectious vibe and you can't help but enjoy Tokyo. But we're excited about the next couple of days here in Kyoto. Anyway, I'll put some pictures up now and I hope you enjoy xxx
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