Himeji and Nara

I saw some of the best sights that I have seen to date. Himeji nicknamed the white egret, is the oldest and largest castle that remains in Japan. This thing was beautiful, surrounded my a huge moat and incredibly ornate garden, this was for sure one of the best. Today and last night were definately “the Japan” that I was waiting for.

After Himeji, I went to the largest Buddist temple in Nara. Inside of it there are three Buddhas, the largest is about 50ft, 437 tons of bronze and 200 lbs of gold. It is called the cosmic buddha, and is one of the largest statues in the world. It was very impressive!!!

Last night I rented a bike and rode all over the town. It was great how much I could see. I treated myself to on authentic Japanese dinner that was hilarious. I was the only one in the restaraunt, so I had all of the staff waiting on me. They were all dress in komonos, bowing constantly, and trying to help me figure out who to eat my meal. I ordered a whole coarse meal that seemed to never stop. And with every coarse I was completely lost on how to eat it. First a wooden box with about 10 different sections in it came with sushi in some, vegetables I have never seen in others, and different meats and sea foods. Along with it came a cast iron bowl being heated with some sort of burning candle thing that I couldn’t touch for 8 minutes(I was told). There were about 6 ladies and one young fellow trying to help me , even so, not one of them spoke any english, so everything was explained in jestures and flat out by showing me first hand. When the box of stuff showed up, the main lady helping me tried to tell me what everything was and it went like this. She held her sleeve back with the other hand and pointed to the first item. “Diss is fish” (with a big smile), and “diss is fish” (big smile), and “diss is fish” (which was octurpus), and “diss is meat” (smile and bow) (which I later found out was raw horse), and “diss is begetable” (never did find this one out). Then when the eight minutes was up, she came back out and opened the cast iron bowl. She then started fanning the tofu/cheese until it formed a thin membrane on the top of it and she took these other herbs and the smallest green onions I have ever seen and placed them exactly in the middle of the membrane and rolled it up into a small crepe thing. All this is done with chopsticks of course. She gave it to me on a plate and started fanning the next one. After she finished a couple she handed the young boy the fan who nervously fanned the rest shaking as tried to wrap the small crepes. Then came out soup and the yakisoba noodles, and more sushi elaboritly displayed, and more tea. Then she turned the remaining tofu cheese stuff into a thick egg looking item and poored the rest of the vegetables in it and served it to me. The main lady helping me was very delicate and gentle, this other older lady who showed me a few ways to eat things was very quick and deliberate, and impatient in a very nice way. So she came out with this tea pot full of who knows what and told me to poor it into the broth that I had put the yakisoba noodles it. I did and then she pretty much made me drink it. By this time, I am completely stuffed right, and desert comes out. I cant even really tell you what it was, or what they were but some of it was really good, the other not so much. But I pretty much had to eat it all because the impatient one kept on coming over and checking on my progress and telling me to eat, eat. Well, they then brought me this very thick and delicious green tea juice and more tea which I sipped waiting the bill (which at this point I was a little apprehensive about). They kept on watching me and smiling and if I would make eye contact with any of them they would come over to see what I wanted. I would just nod and wave them off, hoping that someone would bring the bill. This went on for about 10 minutes until I realized that they weren’t going to bring the bill, I needed to get up and pay for it by the door. As I got up and started for the door (which was clear through the restaraunt) I realized that the entire staff was seeing me to the door, and I mean everyone. I wasn’t really sure how to take it, thinking that maybe they were all waiting for the tip (which you don’t do in Japan.) The bill was only 50 dollars,( thank god!!!) and I was excorted clear out the door, up the stairs, thru the garten, and onto the street. It was really cute and really cold out so I felt guilty for keeping them outside to take pictures with, but it didn’t stop me. As I walked away and down the street, I would occasionally look back to see them still standing in the cold waving to me. I smiled about that one for the next few hours while I walked around the streets lined with lanterns and mobs of people.

After Himeji I decided to push my luck and try to go to Nara which looked to be an hour away on the map by train. It was 2 o’clock which would leave me a few hours to see the temples. Wrong, the train was extremely slow and I got there at 4;30. Most of the sites close at 5 so I took off running for the first one hoping to get into the door. I did and it was one of the best and for sure the biggest shrine in Japan. Inside it lives the largest bronze and gold statue of buddha in the world. My pictures did it no justice.

I made it back to Kyoto completely exausted and sore. My knee felt like it had finally lost all of the remaining cartilage and the toe is still infected. And when I got back to the cheapest hostel in Kyoto(litterly called that), I had an entourage of young 20 year olds that I had befriended waiting for me to party with them. I did and got completely smashed laughing at this Irish kids thick accent that I really had to listen to to hear, and these two girls, one from Iceland and one from Canada. I finally got 3 hours of sleep st 4 in the morning and awoke to the entire girls side of the room packing their bags at 7 in the morning. So I got up, woke Mike up (Irish) and we rented bikes and rode them pretty much all day. And exausted we met the girls again, waiting for us for hours, who were now drunk off their asses, ready to get us the same. I lasted again until about 4 in the morning then pulled myself away from the whining mass and went to bed. At 7 in the morning, three drunk, laughing, loud little shits jumped on me in bed waking not only me but the whole floor. Thanks. They were all just going to bed and I just got up, packed and made my way back the 9 hours to Tokyo.