See Kyoto or Die Trying

After breakfast on Monday morning I joined the rest of my tour group in the lobby of the hotel to checkout and catch the bus for Tokyo station. At first I thought it was a little silly to bus the whole lot of us all the way across town to catch a train we could board within walking distance of the hotel. After watching us stumble aboard the bullet train, blocking the aisles and fumbling to put away our carry on bags I understood there was just no way we'd get a group this size boarded in the scant one minute it stops at Shinagawa.

The ride to Kyoto was quite familiar and I was feeling more than a little deja'vu as we stopped briefly in Nagoya. All our bags had been collected at the hotel that morning and were being sent separately by truck from Tokyo. So when we arrived and were met by our guide, she just walked us through the station, out across the street and into the hotel lobby. Only about half of our rooms were ready and of course mine wasn't one of them.

I headed back across to the station and started scoping out the neighborhood. Like most train stations in Japan, even the smaller ones, Kyoto has a shopping mall under the tracks. The section closest to our hotel was made up of little restaurants serving various types of local cuisine. Outside each one is a collection of lifelike plastic reproductions of the food they serve. This is great for foreigners because you can just drag the waitress outside and point to what you want.

At one of these little shops I spotted something I'd been waiting for this whole trip, omurisu! What's that? You've never heard of omurisu? Can it be that you've never experienced the culinary marvel that is rice cooked with ketchup and served inside an omelet? Such a pity, for it is one of the world's great comfort foods and it belongs to the Kansai region of Japan.

I stepped inside the little koryouriya and breathed in the air of authenticity. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and hot oil hung in the air, the aftermath of a busy lunch hour. I sat down and confidently placed my order including the request for no meat. This only raised a weary eyebrow on the proprietress' face as she called the order back to the cook.

Within minutes a sunny yellow football was placed before me. I took the offered spoon and with a heartfelt "Itadakimasu!" dug in. Okay, so it's not gourmet food, but right then it was the perfect meal to satisfy my hunger and restore my soul. Japan may have delt me a harsh blow, but I was not down and out. Kyoto, city of 1600 temples, awaited me, but I needed a good night's rest before taking up the challenge once again.

I finished my meal, thanked both the waitress and the cook with a hearty "Gochisou-sama deshita!" and went off to find a combini. I stocked up on onigiri for the following day and headed back to the hotel. I was dog tied and knew I'd be able to sleep trough the afternoon and well into the night, but my legs really hurt.

Thank goodness the New Miyako Hotel had just what I needed. A furo is a Japanese soaking tub. The tub at my last hotel was European style, better than the lame excuses for tubs we have in the states, but still not the real thing. Having just been to the onsen I knew what a good long soak in a hot bath could do for tired achy muscles. I checked in, filled the furo with steamy hot water and crawled in. With a full tummy and relaxed muscles I went to bed and fell right to sleep. I'm not ashamed to say I slept the whole afternoon away and then through the night. Hey, I needed the rest!

In the morning we were met in the lobby by Maeda Machiko-san, a dynamic bundle of energy with a black umbrella and an answer for every question. She hustled us into the bus and we set out for our half-day tour. First stop was Nijo Castle, built in 1602 and famous for its "nightingale" floors. The floorboards surrounding the central rooms are loosely attached to the supporting joists with little metal brackets that make a chirping noise as you walk on them.

The walls of the inner rooms were covered in gold leaf and then painted with expansive murals by some of the greatest artists of the period. Above these panels, huge lattice panels were carved from solid planks of cedar over a meter wide and a foot thick. Unfortunately photography is not allowed inside the castle to protect the delicate paintings, but there were some mighty pretty gardens out back.

Next we went to Rokuon-ji, renowned for its 22-caret gold leafed main pavilion. Built in 1394 by a retired shougun it became a temple upon his death. Based on other blogs I'd read I was all prepared to be unimpressed with this place, but in spite of all the tourist trappings it was really beautiful. I think this is one of my best photos of the trip.

Finally we were dropped off at the Kyoto Handcraft Center. This was little more than a glorified souvenir shop, but they did offer duty-free discounts on large purchases. Most of the stuff I bought here I could have gotten anywhere in Kyoto, but I decided to get all my shopping over with in this one place. Luckily there was a post office just down the street where I could replenish my cash reserves.

They offered a shuttle bus back to the hotel so I stayed after the tour group left. I was planning to drop everything off at the hotel and then hit the streets to see a few more temples, but when I got back to my room and took off my walking shoes I noticed a sharp pain in my right foot.

When I went to Nagoya on Sunday it was with the expectation that I wouldn't be doing much walking. I wore my sandals that day not knowing events would send me walking back and forth across Nagoya station all night long.

By Monday morning I had some nasty blisters which I couldn't do much about until I got back to Tokyo. I put blister pads on the two I could see, but missed one on the side of my foot. By Tuesday afternoon it had become a nasty oozing infected mess. One thing I'd forgotten to bring along was Neosporin, so with my trusty Langenscheidt pocket Japanese dictionary in hand I set off to find a pharmacy. Long story short, the only anti-biotic salve they've got is called Eltacin and its behind the counter so you have to talk to a pharmacist to get it.

With a sore foot I wasn't about to go out temple hopping, so I settled on a little preparatory excursion to the subway. I found a station attendant willing to help me buy a one-day tourist pass from a ticket machine. These are great because they let you ride any bus or subway for a 24 hour period for just 1200 yen. Quite a deal if you plan on seeing temples at different points around the city.

I finally ended up at Kyoto Tower. Certainly not on my "must see" list of attractions, but it was conveniently located across the street from Kyoto Station and short walk from the hotel. The 131 meter tall tower has been a controversial part of the Kyoto skyline since 1964. I got there just before sunset and was rewarded with some great views of the city from the 100 meter high observation deck.

On the way back to the hotel I stopped off for another helping of omurisu, this time from a different place and it was even better than the first. I took another long soaking bath and put more Eltacin on my foot. I went to bed watching a 'Death Note' anime marathon on TV. I can't say I understood much more than the basic storyline I'd heard about before, but the animation was impressive.