This post was recovered from an old blog that I had while studying abroad in Japan. I’ve only updated misspellings or dead links, but left any cringe worthy things or immature thoughts. I’ve decided to leave them as a snapshot of who I was and to see how far I’ve come. Any photos have been freshly edited and so are not the same as what was originally posted. Over the years I had several blogs, most lost to time, and I wanted to recover some lost memories and reflect on my life.

I arrived at Kyoto Station around noon, but I wasn’t quite ready for lunch so I decided to set off towards Kiyomizudera Temple, in the hills skirting Kyoto’s eastern edge. On the way I would stop off at Mac (McDonalds) to get a snack and to see if I could possibly stay there later that night. While walking I immediately noticed that this part of Kyoto was very similar to Tokyo, except there were far less people. The buildings were the same old concrete boring structures, the same types of shops lined the streets, and the vending machines even had the same drinks with the same prices. I had obviously expected too much from Kyoto, how could I kid myself into thinking it would be much different from any other big city?

After stopping at Mac, which closed its main seating area from 1am-6am making it a no go for later that night, I kept walking towards Kiyomizudera Temple. On the way I passed by the Kyoto National Museum and various temple complexes. It was midday on a Friday and it was already a fairly packed with tourist. The sun was beating down and the humidity was coming from all directions, to try to beat the sun I looked for any route which included shade. I made it to a complex of temples below Kiyomizudera that had a lot of trees and ponds and I could immediately notice a difference in the air temperature.

As I wandered up the hill, through a huge graveyard and past shops selling flowers and other objects to put on graves, a view of Kyoto began to form. The way up the hillside had been relatively free of tourist which was surprising to me at the time, but I was to find out where they were. As soon as I came to Kiyomizudera I was surrounding by tourist. There were from all of the country and all over the world, all happily snapping photos of each other and the bright red temple buildings. I looked and saw them all emanating from one spot, a shopping street coming up the hill packed with souvenir shops. I walked around the complex a bit, but because it was midday I didn’t pay to go into the main area. I wanted to come back in evening later in the week when the lighting was nicer and the crowds were fewer.

After a short nap on a bench hidden away by pond, filled with koi and devoid of tourist, I set off for the shopping street. The street as just one main street filled with about four or five different types of shops; trinket shops, ice cream shops, fan shops, food souvenir shops, and ceramic shops. All the prices were about the same and everything looked about the same. I’ve found this to be pretty typical in Japan, and even when I think about it in America too. As I went down the street eating free samples of mochi candies, side streets began to appear. The side streets were filled with the same types of shops, but usually the atmosphere was made to look a little more like “old” Kyoto and the shops weren’t quite as packed with crap. I followed these random streets down the hill until I came into Gion, the famous geisha district. It wasn’t quite what I had expected. I thought it would be fairly quiet, but it was hustling and bustling with tourist also.

By now my pack had begun to take a toll on my shoulders so I headed across Kamo-gawa River to a Mac for a rest. When I walked in to find somewhere to sit though, not a single seat was open. So what to do? Well I was standing next to the Takase-gawa a pretty little canal/creek running past shops when I saw a park with steps on the edge. I headed over to those steps and decided to bum it for a few hours until it was closer to sunset then head out to take some photos.