Arigato, train ticket helper lady!
We boarded our bullet train to Kyoto and awaited our arrival -- it actually does look like a bullet! Sorry, no photo.
Upon arrival in Kyoto, we managed to find our way to the subway which took us closer to our lodging for the next two nights, a quaint ryokan located in the heart of downtown Kyoto. After some fumbling with an indecipherable map, Patty and I opted for a taxi to take us to the Hotel Kohro.
Since we couldn’t check in until 3:00, we left our bags at the hotel and headed to the Nishiki market. This wonderful market sits underneath the tracks of an elevated train and houses all sorts of crafts shops, fish markets, and a variety of edibles and curiosities... Did I mention all the bait Bobby can eat?!?
How about some sashimi on a stick?
After a stroll through the market, Patty and I had a wonderful lunch and headed back to see if our room was ready. Sure enough, it was. As expected, it was a simple room consisting of two small tables, two small chairs and an even smaller table. It did happen to have a tv and a minibar… but no bed?!? Okay, we knew what we were in for when we booked the room, basically we were to be sleeping on thin cushiony mats on the floor. Patty got a good laugh when I described the pillows as “soft as a rock.”While it wasn’t the most comfortable setting, it was peaceful and definitely worth the experience.
We decided on the suggested night walk from our trusty Lonely Planet book and began our journey into Kyoto after dark. Our walk took us through the open shopping market at Kawaramachi and towards the dimly-lit Pontocho.
On our way we encountered a treat that we just had to try… a completely new drum game! This one was more like those huge Japanese drums that you bang on with giant sticks. Patty and I spent a few hundred yen on this amusement before deciding to continue with our walk.
A narrow cobbled pedestrian street, Pontocho is home to many cafes, bars, and restaurants, packed away and tucked neatly into every inch of space available down its cramped alley as beautiful wooden facades and hanging lamps run along the path. These pictures hardly do this lane justice, but I think you’ll get the idea.
Here’s a look into one of the kitchens of one tiny restaurant in particular.
Rounding the corner and heading down Kiyamachi-dori led to a completely different environment consisting of nightclubs and hostess bars. With the night sky and the bright flashing lights of nearby establishments, I busted out my Joby Gorilla Pod and was able to capture a plethora of perfect pictures of the street-lit cherry blossom trees.
Here's one of my favorites.
We ate dinner at this little hidden restaurant in the basement of a corner building on Kiyamachi-dori and chose to order just by looking at the picture-menu. Our food arrived and we cautiously bit into each morsel, half savoring the flavor and half trying to figure out what the heck we were putting into our mouths.
Here’s the rundown of what we think we ate, some of which are pictured above:
Raw tuna and avocado plate – very tasty.
Chicken skewers – tasty.
Chicken hearts - chewy, not so tasty.
Octopus skewers - rubbery, flavorless.
Bacon-wrapped goo - the bacon helped, but the consistency of the goo freaked me out.
Spicy sausage on a stick – very tasty, very spicy.
Veggie pattie on a stick – pretty tasty.
Something meaty on the outside, crunchy in the middle… on a stick – not sure how I feel about that one.
Fried chicken meat patty with cheese and raw egg – surprisingly tasty!
After dinner, we ambled back to our little room, through the quiet streets of Kyoto, passing drunken salarymen and the random lady on a bicycle... and called it a night... but not before one last go at GIANT DRUM HERO!
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