There is no lack of places to find food in Japan. One of the best spots to go is actually rather surprising for us Canadians: department store basements. Under the many floors showcasing posh clothes, exquisite perfumes and shiny jewelry, you’ll find yourself in a bustling atmosphere will hundreds of tasty dishes to choose from, most for very reasonable prices. Some kiosks will let you sample before you decided.
We hiked at the beautiful Fushimi Inari shrine. Kyoto has many shrines and temples, but this one is extra special because the trails are meant to make you pass under thousands of large toriis (a torii is the door to access a shrine)
Climbing Mount Wakakusayama. I buried some of my father’s ashes here. The view is so beautiful and the area so peaceful. The deer will be of nice company to him 😉 Plus, this mountain is where the annual Wakakusa Yamayaki festival is held.
Deer roam freely in Nara Park
Its a hot and humid summer here in Japan, with temperatures constantly hitting over 30 degrees celcius. So far, we had been lucky, weather-wise and had enjoyed mostly dry, if cloudy days. Today, on our second day in the beautiful city of Kyoto, the rain has caught up to us so we are enjoying a very relaxing afternoon at our hostel (a very nice former Ryokan that was transformed to a hostel, and has tons of great amenities). This morning we were lucky enough to get to see the amazing Golden Pavilion, before the thunder started grumbling loudly and we were forced to find a roof to hide under.
So far, the trip has been wonderful, though I could have lived without the humidity and the cold that I got as a result from the mix of Air conditioning and very hot weather. Here, people with colds often wear masks when out in public, so I spent a day sporting a white hospital mask (my boyfriend thought that was hilarious).
Tomorrow, if the weather is cooperative, we will be heading to Hiroshima for a little day trip. Its about 2 hours away from Kyoto by Shinkansen (high speed train) so with our rail pass we can take the train in the morning, spend some time there visiting and come back to sleep at our hostel in the late evening.
Here are some photos from the first part our our trip
A storytelling home by Léa Plourde-Archer 