Monday - sunny, and Petrich arrival

Today has been fun. Carole had sent a message saying they would be arriving at 11.34, and being Japan we knew that meant at exactly 11.34!! But we didn’t know what train..bullet train, JR train or one of the other lines, and Kyoto station, while not being nearly on the scale of Shinjuku, is still large enough to wonder where to meet them! So amr waited at the Shinkansen exit and I waited at the JR and they did emerge at the Shinkansen, having connected at Nagoya from the countryside where they had been cycling. Great reunion and excitement. Before 11.34 Amr and I walked to two local temples which was as they always are really huge and impressive...with massive wooden beams and carving. There were monks chanting in one, and we were allowed to go in and listen and that was rather lovely and moving.

So after Carole and John arrived and had checked into the hotel etc, we had the whole afternoon and it was a beautiful day, so we decided to go to the Kiyomizu Temple which we had waited to see with them, as it sounded and looked very beautiful set on the side of a mountain, and was a short bus ride away...well it was beautiful, but it was spoiled by the milling hordes who also were there...what were they all doing on a Monday?? And another thing that was more prevalent than on the weekend, although we had noticed it then too, was the many cute girlies who were dressed in kimonos posing for many many photos, and taking selfies...when we first saw this, or just the girls wearing kimonos, we thought it was something special, but we learnt that they hire them and take all these photos at shrines and good photo op places!! So it was crowded, with many tour busloads too, which surprisingly we had not felt put off by at all the previous places. After that we got a bus further on into the city (saw one more shrine , also crowded!) and walked round the old parts of the city with narrow streets and interesting little shops etc...But finally headed back to the station and home. Our tiny room has become home!

Had a lovely meal at the restaurant we loved, which had the vegetables but wasn’t vegetarian, where people were still not over 40! Carole and John also loved it which made us glad...lovely tasty fresh food, and we are now all crashing ready for an early start tomorrow to go to the bamboo forest.Читать далее