Wednesday July 7th

Kyoto Tower

We caught a train to Kyoto and then trundled along with our masses of luggage to the traditional ryokan we’d be staying in, the Tatsuno-Ryokan.

The weather was stiflingly humid and hot; and apparent from the moment we stepped out the airport – and this was early morning! If there’s one thing I won’t miss, it’s the weather. I can’t stand being so hot >.O. Everyone was drained by the time we’d checked in, so we abandoned plans to go out in the afternoon and instead spent time lounging around and sleeping in the air conditioned rooms. These never seemed to be quite cool enough at first, but I think we adjusted to the heat after the first day or so. Having recovered enough by the evening, we went out to Kyoto station for dinner and also visited Kyoto Tower, looking out over the city at night. The floors below the tower were packed with shops, but we had a better chance to look around later in the week. Trying to find a restaurant was decisively difficult, after discovering they all closed at 9.00pm and would admit us. We eventually found a small noodle bar where you order your dinner by getting the relevant ticket from the machine and giving it to the staff inside. Everyone was quite distressed by this stage; being hungry, hot and tired, and it was by far the worst day we had in Japan.The rooms in the ryokan were fantastic. The tatami mats were closely woven and smooth; more comfortable than a laminate floor and I preferred it to a carpet. It’s easy to clean as well :P. We had futons to unroll sleep on, which are basically like a thick quilt to lay on, a thinner one to put over you and a pillow filled with what seemed to be beans. We had a sliding door into the room as well ^_^. Ahh, simple things…