Sorry it's taken me so long to finish my blog about our Kyoto Trip. I've had a long week at work.
After our trip to the beach, we were basically really exhausted so we kind of just took our time from there. On our sixth day, we visited a district called Arashiyama in western Kyoto. It's a really nice part of town with lots of temples and it's surrounded by picturesque mountains rivers. Unfortunately, we had gotten a late start to our day and it was also scorching hot. In Arashiyama, we really didn't do much. We walked through a bamboo forest which was basically a path to a temple surrounded by Bamboo trees. It was really nice and along the way, we purchased a few postcards painted by a local artist. However, the whole area was ridiculously crowded and by that point we weren't able to handle the crowds so we decided to take a special train ride called the Sagano Romantic train. It starts from Arashiyama and winds through rivers, mountains, and other scenic spots. It was a really nice way to sit back, enjoy the day, and avoid the crowds.
After our little day trip, we basically explored Kyoto a little bit more during the night. It just felt nice to be in a bigger city where there are more things to do at night. I love Kurashiki and Okayama but they aren't exactly the most happening cities to live in. In Kyoto, there is a nightlife of sorts (nothing crazy but it's there). There are festivals and entertainment to be had after the lights turn on. We basically had the chance to explore another famous nightlife area of Kyoto called Pontocho. This area is rather like Gion but the adjoining streets are filled with clubs and bars. It's also filled with booking clubs as in Gion but at least there are places for normal people to go to. We wandered into a place called Ghost bar that looked really metal and hardcore, but then they were playing The Strokes (great band, but it's anything but metal and hardcore). We also went to a place owned by a Sri Lankan man, which makes me wonder how a foreigner goes about opening a business in Japan? It seems rather difficult since there seem to be so few foreigners in Japan. The place was only noteworthy for it's cheap prices and those turned out to be not so cheap. Then, we went to a really small reggae bar tucked into a basement. I really liked this place. Japanese Jamaican people were found here and chill music and really bad Mojitos. And alas, that was our night, just a nice night of exploration.
And finally, our last day in Kyoto was once again really laid back. For our last day, we decided to hit up the International Manga Museum. Manga means comic book in Japanese. The place was really cool. It contained the history of Mangas in Japan and also how the artform was developed. I think that it's really interesting how creative and developed (and not to mention popular) an artform it is. It seems to be the most popular form of entertainment in Japan. The whole museum also doubled as a library as well. Almost every Japanese manga can be found here and even mangas from America, France, Vietnam, Canada, India, and basically everywhere. What I found interesting was the variety of people that came just to read mangas. You could find children, university students, old men, old women, businessmen, and travelers each absorbed into their respective manga. It's also interesting to think about the sheer variety of manga. It's not just for children. There are manga targeted to almost every demographic; old, young, young adults, boys, girls, and even adult oriented manga. That can only happen in an art form that is both popular and developed. I think that the highlight of our visit to the museum was when we decided to let a local artist draw our likenesses into Manga form. It was really cool, and I can't say that our characters look like us, but it was certainly well drawn. Talking to the artist was really cool as well. We found out that we had a lot in common such as musical interests (we were all Radiohead fans) and we even swapped musical recommendations. It was an interesting visit to the museum.
After the manga museum, we went on an Easter egg hunt for a Japanese art exhibit. When we found it, it turned out to be really cool. It was a photography exhibit depicting two Japanese photographers and their contrasting styles. One Photographer was young, bold, energetic, and vibrant while the other was older, classical, and more methodical in her approach. We really enjoyed both artists' work but the exhibit contained more of the young artists' photographs.
Since it was our last day, Natalie and I had decided to have a big night out so we did all this planning and when we finally got out, we realized that we didn't have anymore money. So, we went to an ATM and tried to withdraw money, but for some reason, Japan (one of the most advanced countries in the world) doesn't allow cash withdrawals after a certain time. So Annoying! That wasn't going to stop us though. We bought a six pack of tall boys and walked to the club we were going to. We paid our cover charge and still had a great time dancing. Sure, it wasn't as crazy as we had intended it to be, but what the heck, it was fun! Also, the bouncer at the club was from Dallas, Texas and he even graduated from the same high school as Natalie; Skyline high school. Small world..
So, that was our trip in a nutshell and it was great one.
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