Day 5 (Kyoto)

This morning, I took a bullet train from the south of Tokyo to Kyoto. This is a culturally rich and tourist friendly city that historically served as the capital of Japan and residence of the emperor. Im only here for a day; im staying over, on the way to Kii Tanabe, which is a launching point for the Kumano Kodo Trail, at the southernmost point on this penninsula.

I walked around for maybe 5 hours total in the beating heat. I walked through some amazing places. I walked along the riverside, where I saw fishermen, couples, and lonely guys just staring into the water. I walked through a terraced outdoor mall, which is right by my hotel. I walked through a sprawling network of traditional style hotels and stores. I trudged with my two backpacks through traditional city streets. My map was not quite to scale and I spent about 4 hours walking with two backpacks and 85 or 90 degree weather.

Kyoto has a very tourist friendly and quite massive ring of traditional japanese style establishments around one of its main temple complexes. As the temples themselves were not accessible, I explored the ring of stores instead. I could still get into many gardens and smaller temples. All around me was beautiful greenery, rare statues, and I could also peek into the main grounds, at times. Here is one thing I saw which blew my mind.

I spent all day carrying both of my backpacks and I sweat alot. I only brought two pairs of socks, so I tried hand washing my stuff. Nothing dried, so I have an interesting quandary coming soon!

Im reading Dune. Ive put off reading this novel for a long time, because I was profoundly affected by the third installment in the series (the only one Ive read) and I wanted space to reflect when I read it. There is so much philosophy, this is how to read it. Alot of travellers and backpackers in Kyoto. I am among the youngest I saw and one of the few singles. I saw alot more single female travelers than I did male, which is awesome. Im not trying to have any competition as cool as me ever.