White people are ruining my Kyoto experience. I am not sure if it is the time of the year or the city, but I have seen more white people per square mile in Kyoto than I ever saw in Tokyo. From old tour groups to groups of high schoolers they are everywhere. The funny thing is we never see them on the public transportation (which we have become quite adept at using) or in the traditional Japanese restaurants, like our yakitori or pork cutlet place (side note, apparently cat fish in Japan is called cattle fish, at least according to the engrish menu). At times I feel like I am back in DC. I guess they can add Kyoto to the list of Stuff White People Like.We got off to a late start today. The two beers we had on the roof of the hostel really did a number on me. Getting going at 1030 I was kind of looking forward to a relaxing day. But poor directions had better plans for me. After taking the subway towards the monkey park we got off at what look liked a stop near the park. But alas the bus map was not quite to scale. By not to scale I mean we had to walk another 3 miles just to get to the base of the monkey hill. Hungry, tired and a little mad we then had to make the trek up the hill, which was no small feat. Apparently the monkeys like the cooler weather so they live at the very top. It was a good 20 minute walk to the top and having seen no monkeys on the way I was a little skeptical that this was going to be worth the 500 yen we paid to get in. Then I saw a monkey in a tree, then another off the side of the road. Then I saw one in the road directly in front of me. As I passed George, as I liked to call him, we opened up to the observation deck, which was monkey paradise. It is a little nerve wracking to walk into a field of about 30-40 monkeys just milling around, climbing the building and screeching at each other. Once we got used to it we walked around, took some pictures and fed them. The little bastards would climb the fence of the feeding room, stick their little hand out and look at you with pathetic eyes. Some of them would even take the peanut, stick it in their mouth without eating it and then put their hand out again. I gave most of mine to the mom with the little baby clinging to her, figuring she needed the most nutrition.
After watching them feed we watched them go for a swim in the little pond next door. I never knew monkeys could swim but they are pretty good at it. The younger ones would jump off the edge on top of each other then chase each other around. They also seemed very intrigued with the fish swimming in the pond, reaching out and touching them as they came by but never grabbing them. We watched them wrestle for a little bit then made our way out of the park. The older monkeys were sitting in the trees watching us as we left which was a little scary again. Something about 20 monkeys sitting above you watching you walk by is a little odd.
On the way back from MonkeyLand we tried a new set of directions, using the trolley system instead of the subway. This didnt help much and put us out a mile or two west of our hotel. Dieing from hunger at this point we stopped into McDs (we did traditional food last night at a shared table in the basement of a building) and grabbed lunch. After a quick stop in the hostel to change shoes it was off to the other side of town for temples and shrines. Unfortunately most of them close at 4pm so we saw a few from a distance. But really after MonkeyLand a temple just doesn't compare.
From there it was off to the shopping arcade at Karamachi for some souvenirs. After grabbing some anime toys for Marty, the only person besides myself that truly appreciates them, we randomly stopped in a t shirt store. Once again my fashion sense was confirmed as dead on accurate. Not only did we find every DARE shirt known to man, but also high school gym shirts, old family reunion shirts and the jewel of the pack - a This Is My Costume shirt, the exact same one I have. It was like they raided my closest and were selling all my shirts, only for 10x the price I paid. We spent a good 20 minutes looking through all the shirts with huge smiles on our faces. It really made me want to go back to Salvation Army and restock my t shirt collection. Elizabeth Adams School of Dance is getting a bit dated.
After shopping around a bit for souvenirs we headed back to the hostel, dumped our bags and ran out for dinner. Tomorrow is Osaka and the Hyatt, which will be a huge improvement over our shared showers and single western shitter. Something about using a whole in the ground for the bathroom has not made me curious enough to try it yet. I think I will save that experience for when I have no choice.
