Japan, Day 3, Arashiyama (June 6, 2008)

We woke up, had breakfast, and had to say goodbye to Noriko. She had to head back to Osaka, but Daisuke and I went on to Arashiyama, which is at the base of Kyoto's western mountains.



When we arrived at Arashiyama station, we left our bags at a store (that's what they guy at the station said to do anyway), since my suitcase couldn't fit in the lockers there (they didn't have the big 600 yen ones). The old woman in the shop had no problems, and we said to each other, we have to buy some stuff from her when we get back.

With all the rain last night, it made everything look green, and things were so fresh (including the awesome fresh smell, something i haven't smelt for a long time).



After walking past the beautiful river, we went though a bamboo grove, on the way to a different station (which has an old style train), so that we could take a boat along the river from Kameoka back to Arashiyama.




With the rain from yesterday, it really freshened things up, and made some of the parts of the river a little fast, and a little rough (half of my leg was wet, but all part of the experience *^^*)






About half way, we met up with another boat, which was selling snacks. A pretty cool idea, but I didn't get anything.





After the boat finished selling stuff, it was on its way, and the tour continued.



This was really awesome. The fresh smell from the mountain, trees and river heightened by the rain, the scenery, and being in a boat surrounded by people having a good time added to it as well. *^^*

After the 2 hour boat ride, we walked back to the shops that we first saw when we were walking towards the bamboo grove, and saw a few Geisha. Daisuke was convinced that they wern't real Geisha, and were only walking around for the tourist factor, but non the less, still looks stunning.


We then had some lunch, and did a bit of shopping in the stores, including the store I left my suitcase at. We then got the train to Kyoto...



then Shinkansen train to Nagoya, then transferred to another Shinkansen train to Toyohashi.





Shinkansen trains are awesome! KTX is shit compare to these. They have leg room (as standard) and 5 seats to a row. Sure, the train is wider than KTX, but it's very decent, nice and quiet and a smooth ride.