I dreamt of going, and when it finally happened, it was surreal. I flew into Narita in the afternoon, found a train to the city, slept a bit, and went to find my place.
I rented a flat above a small restaurant, which served takeout only. I wasn’t prepared for how tiny the apartment that I stayed in was. It was so tiny. The place smelled like lunch at all hours of the day, and it was cheap. I knocked out for a bit to recoup.
Later that evening, the trickling began. It was misty. I braved the elements. What awaited me were magical lights, tall buildings, rain-soaked streaks reflecting traffic signals, and street lamps.
The city really is alive! I know, I know. There are no revelations here, nothing I’ll say hasn’t been said better elsewhere. But walking the streets, light mist on my face, listening to the city, it was magic for me. I put in my earbuds and listened to some lo-fi… I was loving it!
Then, I saw some smoke billowing out from the side of a building and I figured I’d inspect it…
I had a couple of days to explore the city before my friend Jenn arrived. I decided I’d meet her at the airport. I hoisted an iPad above my head with large scrolling text DEAR JENN I AM YOUR FRIEND. DID YOU PACK ENOUGH UNDERWEAR? She was thrilled with my thoughtfulness and fortunately she did, in fact, bring enough underwear.
I booked another place for us to stay, an AirBnB, and I have to tell you, it wasn’t much bigger than the other place I booked. It was comical. She took the bed, and I was on the floor at the foot of Jenn’s bed. We were cramped.
We got a good rest in and took to the streets the next day.
I was a little pissed off. Jenny had exactly ZERO issues with jetlag, none at all! I was still struggle-bussin’ and out of it and could barely keep my eyes open.
That woman took us on a spirited foot/subway tour of various districts—we logged about 13 miles of walking by the end of the day. She’s a beast. We’re different travelers but a complement to one another, to be sure.
We eventually made it to Kyoto. We took a bullet train for a few hours from Tokyo and were in Kyoto in no time.
The countryside was more plain-looking than the heavily dense metropolis of Tokyo. There were shabby buildings and unkept yards here and there, and there were other well-manicured residents, yards, and greenspace. Much of what I saw looked serene. I wonder how they live. What do their days look like in that little house?
I thought Kyoto would be small. It’s not. It’s a rather large city, tipping the scales at 1.5 million residents within its metro area. Impressive.
There’s a lot to walk around and see and a big temple or two. Shrines aplenty. Geisha can be seen strolling about.
I was in Japan for two weeks and it wasn’t nearly enough