udons and geishas
You guessed it- we are now in Kyoto. There is a lot to see here but mainly does revolve around temples and shrines. We spent loads of time just walking, visiting the Imperial Palace, the Silver Pavilion and the Philosopher’s path. The main streets of Kyoto are busy but when you get to the temples and shrines, although teeming with tourists, there is still a very calming and spiritual atmosphere.
- There are two stand-out moments for us in Kyoto:
- Eating udon in Japan
Finally got to eat udons – Sydney is a culinary haven (or at least we think so), in the fact that there are so many different options available for different countries. Pretty much there are a large variety of countries represented in some shape or form. Hence, our love affair with eating different cuisines but more specifically eating our favourite country’s dishes in THE actual country. So being in Japan for almost 2 weeks and not eating udon seemed like a rort until we stumbled across a noodle shop in Kyoto. We hit the jackpot!
- And more notable than eating udons: coming face to face with a geisha in the streets of Gion – we were in Gion one evening, strolling the streets and admiring the area, when we reached the end of a block, a geisha was turning the corner and we literally would have collided with her had we were walking any faster. She had her face down scurrying towards a doorway. Her face beautifully white, her make-up immaculate and her outfit was exquisite, it was so surreal and truly beyond our wildest dream to ever encounter a geisha so close up. Within moments of seeing the first geisha, we saw another one, trying to cover herself with a Japanese oil-paper umbrella as she too scurried onwards to another doorway. The only thing that spoiled the experience was witnessing hordes of tourists chasing the geishas down the road to take photographs.
wise monkeys abroad 