Kyoto - Geishas, Soba, Zen

Good morning Japan! I have been in the country for ~48hrs and can confidently say that it is unlike anywhere else I've been. This post is a journal of the first 36 hrs but if you just want general initial impressions, skip to the very bottom.

The trip started with a healthy dose of excitement when I caught the last train from the airport -> Tokyo -> Kyoto with 2 minutes to spare. Close but I won in the end. I arrived in Kyoto around 11pm and managed to get to the Airbnb I'm sharing with Simon, a trekmate who's an MPA at the Kennedy School. We ambled down the street in search of food and drinks at midnight and happened upon a great local spot. To Simon's chagrin, they had no ramen but we settled on two soups - one spicy with tofu and one mild broth with peanuts and veggies. Both were super yummy.[DISCLAIMER: I may talk a lot about food during this trip. The only piece of advice I received before coming was 'eat everything,' so I feel justified]. I then slept in full winter gear with a hat pulled down tight since neither Simon nor I could figure out how to turn on the heat in our apartment. Brrrr....

Kyotoday like there is no tomorrow! Lonely Planet advises travelers spend a week in Kyoto and even they they will have seen only a fraction of all sites with cultural, religious, or historical importance. With this in mind, I am spending ~36 hrs in the former Japanese capital that contains 17 UNESCO world heritage sites. First thing in the morning I met up with Phoebe, Jessie, Olivia, and Yolanda, 4 fellow MPP trekmates. Stop #1 was Kiyomizu-Dera. This temple had it all - a pitch black underground maze meant to signify the womb of a female bodhisattva and a spinning wishing stone, a fountain of mountain spring water that allegedly conveys longevity when drunk, and walking stones meant to predict your success in love. A highlight of the day was having 15 Japanese schoolgirls squeal with delight as they guided Phoebe, Yolanda, Olivia, and Jessie (with their eyes closed) between the two rocks that determine success in love. And of course, there was also a beautiful temple.

After securing our longevity and success in love, we wandered down Sannen-Zaka street. Lined with traditional wooden architecture, we sampled every sweet morsel and pickled vegetable offered to us. I discovered flavors that I never even knew existed! We had a delicious soba noodle lunch and then headed for the Gion district. It is surreal to wend your way through winding Japanese streets and then to come upon two women in full geisha dress walking towards you. In Gion we found a teahouse where I had one of the most interesting "desserts" of my life, Kuzurkiri. The noodles had a consistency of raw soba noodles covered in sticky gak submerged in an ice bath. Then take these noodles, drop them into a bowl of watered down molasses and voila – delicious snack time.

We still had a few hours of daylight left so we walked over to “One of the prettiest streets in all of Asia” according to Lonely Planet. I have a limited sample size but yes, it was beautiful.

We then hopped in a cab to check out Daitoku-ji, a collection of Zen temples and gardens. We found our way to the earliest temple in the complex, which contained an intricate zen garden surrounding the entire temple (raked gravel with symbolic rocks). More importantly, there was an excellent step-by-step explanation of the entire garden. Interesting fact – the gravel is raked every morning in the original pattern set out in the 1500’s.

Following temple time, Phoebe and I decided to walk ~5 miles from the temple complex back to our neighborhood. Gabbing away like a couple of schoolgirls we meandered through Kyoto’s upscale shopping district, wandered in an out of traditional craft stores (lots of calligraphy, paper goods, and bamboo handiwork)  and most importantly, got an ice cream cone.

After a quick recharge at the apartment, the night commenced with a sushi dinner (no fugu…yet), a random bar with an awesome logo, a hidden speakeasy-style bar with lots of expats, and on their advice, Nagahama Ramen stand which I demolished in record time. This one sentence summarizes nearly 7hrs of revelry that wrapped up at 4:30AM with a call to Liz and deep, peaceful sleep. 

I am now 2 days behind on the blogging but will catch up tomorrow morning during the train ride to Fukushima.

Initial impressions:

-The Lonely Planet Japan editor had a great sentence describing what he loves about the country - “Most of all, I love the meticulous and careful nature of the Japanese people, reflected in every aspect of life, from trains that run right on time to sublime works of art.” It is truly amazing how this value on details is present in every aspect of daily life. And it results in fantastic sushi, great French pastries (who knew?!?), and a logical, functional society. 

- There is a high level of respect between citizens. Respect manifests in outward acts – bowing, saying "arigato" x10 after every interaction, and exchaning "Konichiwa" while passing random strangers - but also in intangible ways during every interaction with shopkeepers, taxi drivers, and waitstaff.