I'm branching out today. Arashiyama, Kyoto, and if time allows, Nara. So it's more like three cities, but the first two are essentially Kyoto.
It took a long time to get to Arashiyama, so I tried to make up time by renting a bicycle. I had enough of temples and shrines this trip, so I should only be here a few hours. Take some pictures, get a nice workout in the sun, and leave.
This's where my cascade of mistakes began. First was renting a bike. The shop gave me an old lady shopping bike, which is heavy and ergonomically unbalanced. I hate old people riding on the road because they are slow and swerve all over the place. I now understand why no one, especially old people, can ride in a straight line with this kind of bike. Also, the tourist area of Arashiyama are very bicycle unfriendly. Every damn street and alley is accessible by anything with feet or wheels. The bike became a piece of luggage for me to push around.
Second was going there in late morning/early afternoon. The sun was blaring, so I was sweating as fast as I can drink water. The heavy ass bike compounded this problem.
Third was going to Arashiyama at all. Besides the bridge and bamboo grove, the town just has a shitload of temples and shrines. The main one, Tenryu-ji, is a UNESCO site, which in my opinion is a license to charge unjustified amount of money to see stuff. One of the temples, which advertises itself as having "great view", was a rip-off. All that exercise up sets of dirty winding steps, and I get a vista of trees and the river. On top of it, I had to pay 400￥. So much time and money wasted, definitely an epic fail. But at least I've been there done it, and I'll never come back again.
I brushed off these setbacks and headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine, the one lined with a thousand torii gates on its path to some hilltop. I missed out on this last year because I visited my college buddy Lee in Himeji (more details on him within a few days). Best part: it's free!
Kyoto's just hot and humid today. The shade from torii gates and forests did nothing to cool me down, but rather blocked any wind that would help me out. And drinks're getting exponentially expensive with altitude. I was pretty delirious at the end, but I made it.
Lots of time left for today, so off to Nara. Nara is another "been there, done that" place, but I've never visited at night. At least I won't need a map.
On the way there around 5pm, the train stopped suddenly. Intel from FB and other ALTs says a big earthquake in Nara, but it's just the warning system gone bonkers. A little delay's actually good; the festival of lights doesn't start until 7pm.
The city worked hard to put thousands of candles at famous sites, with most concentrated at Nara Park. Some spell out kanji characters and messages; some are just cool patterns. Combined with the deer population, it was a major treat for tourists and locals alike. Plus, lots of cute girls walking around in summer yukatas (many unfortunately with their men). Food stalls were set up in front of Todai-ji. I bought this shrimp-flavored pancake crisp with mayo and a fried egg on top. As a kicker, you can even play rock-paper-scissors with the owner for an extra egg. I lost on my first try.
It was an ambitious 14-hr day, but it's done. The longest trail of tears to date completed.
Almost back to the hostel, I saw something that made my day. On a busy corridor at Tennoji station leading to the Tanimachi subway line, some Japanese dude just whipped out his dick and peed on the wall. He made no effort to hide his penis. Someone told one of the station masters nearby, and he bolted after the guy.
I think it calls for a chill day tomorrow.
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