Keeping Cool in Kyoto...

With my brother, Carl, visiting for a few weeks, we wanted to be sure to see some of Japan's most recognized places for his sake, and of course, for ours too. We picked Kyoto because we'd heard it's one of those places that blends modern with old-world Japanese style. It truly is beautiful there...but we picked the absolute hottest weekend to visit! Every daytime outing turned into a search for a shady place to rest or a very, very rare airconditioned building. I thought I could handle the heat being from the Philippines and all, but the P.I. is nothing compared to the heat we endured in Kyoto. I'm amazed and quite envious of how lovely and fresh the Japanese women looked while wearing pants, long-sleeved shirts, and sometimes even sweaters, while here I was wearing as little clothing as possible to keep cool and still far from looking fresh or lovely.

Our friends, Colin and Lynn, also traveled to Kyoto with us. We started our trip with a two and a half hour bullet train ride, much to Mike's delight. I'm still surprised at how much fun he gets with anything train related. As soon as we arrived, we checked our baggage with the hotel service at the train station and headed to what I think of whenever I hear about Kyoto, the Golden Pavilion. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed into the Pavilion, but it was still a stunning sight to see.















Next on our itinerary, created by Mike with the help of our handy-dandy Fodor's guide to Japan, was the Gion district. This is a popular place for shopping and supposedly a good place to spot real-life geishas. Mike was on the lookout for a pretty parasol that's been on my wish list. Parasols are a big thing with Japanese women here. I've been using a plain, black, standard-issue umbrella as my parasol, but I've been really wanting a pretty lace, embroidered one like the Japanese women carry. This is in hopes to make me feel as fresh as the Japanese women look in this unbearable summer heat. No luck on the parasol hunt though. We're beginning to wonder whether parasols are sold in Japanese stores where tourists are not allowed. However, we were successful in some geisha spottings! It was surreal to see them walking around. They are so beautiful in their intricate kimonos and fancy hair styles. Too bad we didn't get any pictures of them. The one that we did take turned out too blurry to be worth posting. But here's a picture of Carl in the middle of one of the side streets of Gion so you can see just how old-world Japanese it still is.
















Here's Mike and me sitting on a little bridge in Gion.





For dinner that night, we decided to eat at an all-you-can-eat place that served Shabu-Shabu. First of all, all-you-can-eatplaces are really rare in Japan, so we were pretty excited to find one. Secondly, Shabu-Shabu is basically thinly sliced beef that you cook yourself in a boiling pot of broth. Think Melting Pot, Japanese-style. We were given a private room and our waiter gave us a remote control button to push when we needed more food. At first, we were kind of embarassed to ring the bell because we realized that when the button was pushed, the whole restaurant could hear it. Every ring of the bell announced that the Americans needed more food yet again, but eventually we were having so much fun that even the fear of being thought of as fat and gluttonous didn't bother us.

The next day, we went to check out Nijo Castle. We were allowed to go into the castle, but we couldn't take any pictures while we were in there. Inside, there are gorgeous murals painted on the walls and ceilings. I wish we could've taken pictures to show you! But here are a few outside shots to show you how grand this place was.

Here's the entrance gate leading to the castle.




Just a small part of the vast garden on the castle grounds.




Behind Mike is the castle and the rest of the property.



The last destination on our sight-seeing itinerary was Kiyomizu-dera which is a breathtaking temple because of it's mountain setting. It is literally built into a steep hillside. When you're standing at the temple, you can see Kyoto below.




















Kyoto was a wonderful place to visit and I would highly recommend it as a must-see if you're ever in Japan. I just hope that the weather will be cooler for you than it was for us.