Kyoto and her Geisha

Konichiwa from Kyoto!

So, since I left you last we had another day of skiing, great fun apart from falling over 18,000 more times, particularly the bit where I crashed into a tree branch sticking out the side of the mountain and ended up with my skis in the air and my head stuck upside down in the snow. Danny of course found this hilarious. It snowed so much on the second day we were literally four feet deep in snow, I've never seen anything like it, it was a real winter wonderland.

The next morning we checked out of Penke Panke (our hostel) and the Australian owner, Justin, dropped us off at the train station. From there it was a few hours by train to Matsumoto, then a few hours of waiting at the bus station there (mum, we made good use of backpacker again - it's getting verrrry competitive), before hopping on a four and a half hour bus to Kyoto. It didn't stop quite in Kyoto central so we had to walk for about twenty minutes to another train station and catch a train into Kyoto central station. Anyway, twelve hours later we made it, and checked into a lovely hostel called K's House not far from the station, before heading out for a dinner of Shochu and sashimi nearby, taking a shower and then crashing into bed.

This morning we booked a bus to Hiroshima for tomorow and then made the most of the all you can eat breakfast at Zen Cafe in the hostel, before heading out into Kyoto. Kyoto is the real cultural heart of Japan, and how you imagine 'old Japan' to look in your head, with its 17 Unesco World Heritage sites.

We started off by catching the bus up to Ginkaku-Ji, also known as the Silver Pagoda, that was built in 1482 by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. It's incredible that the building is still standing, but the gardens are something else. Absolutely stunning, perfectly manicured Japanese gardens, with perfect raked sand sculptures, moss covered ground, tall pines, carp-filled ponds and (as if mother nature was trying to make it her most perfect for us) a gorgeous dusting of snow that was gently dripping from the trees in the bright sunshine against the blue sky. After that we headed to Kinkaku-Ji aka the Golden Pavillion, which was built by Shogun Ashikaga's grandfather in 1397. It's the most amazing golden building, that reflects in the lake around it, and again is surrounded by perfectly manicured Japanese gardens. Utterly relaxing and made all that travelling yesterday feel totally worthwhile.

After the temples we had a lunch of traditional katsu curry (you grind your own seasame seeds with a pestle and mortar and get endless salad and green tea)in Higashiyama, before heading to the nearby Nishiki Market to check out all the weird and wonderful foods on offer there. Then we wandered around the Teramachi shopping arcade taking in the manga shops, and the incredible toy shops with tiny, cute, weird little toys lining the walls as far as the eye can see. Literally, being a child in Japan must be the most fun thing, EVER.

Next, we took a walk to the Gion area of the city, which is most famous for being the home of the Geisha. Apparently there are only 1000ish real Geisha's left in Japan, and The Lonely Planet guide said if you hang around here long enough you might be lucky enough to catch a glance of a Geisha disappearing into a doorway or what have you, and we did! We took a walk down Shimbashi dori which has been called the most beautiful street in Asia, (think proper, proper traditional Japanese buildings and tea houses), and then Hanami dori, before taking a walk up Ponto Cho which is a narrow alleyway of traditional wooden buildings adorned with hundreds of coloured lanterns... And as we were just coming to the end we heard some American's say 'there they are!' and turned around just in time to see two going into one of the buildings and sliding the bamboo door shut behind them.

We're back at the hostel now and off to have a beer downstairs and relax, and we're off by bus (six hours) to Hiroshima at 12 noon tomorrow, which I think may be quite a emotional experience. Until then...x