Hi friends, We woke up late in Yudanaka. I’m pretty good with sleeping on the floor, and it’s certainly preferable to shitty guesthouse beds, but it will be nice to sleep in a really good bed at home. The baths are only open from 4pm to 9am so I didn’t shower. We walked up past…
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12/17 Kanazawa–>Matsumoto–>Yudanaka
Hi friends, I woke up and took a quick shower before grabbing a taxi to Kanazawa Station. I feel like I use the same action words a lot: grab, head, etc, but I guess they’re descriptive. We had a little time before our train (I always want even more time in the station, there’s usually…
12/16 Kanazawa
Hi friends, It’s really difficult getting the heat right so you’re warm enough during the night but it doesn’t get too warm. The units require constant adjustment. We slept in for a change and around 11:30 we walked to Curio Espresso for coffee and a light bite. Curio is run by an American guy from…
12/15 Kyoto–>Kanazawa
Hi friends, We had our last included breakfast at the hotel and gave omiyage (little gifts) to the front desk to thank all of them for their wonderful help. We grabbed a taxi to the station area and made a stop at Kurasu Coffee, which I’d been thinking about since I’d been there yesterday. The…
12/14 Kyoto
Hi friends, I enjoyed the free breakfast again. We walked through Higashiyama and stopped at the % Arabica Coffee here, which was much quieter and more pleasant than the Arashiyama location (although it was mobbed at 5pm when I walked by the other day). I had a cappuccino, which is a drink I’ve been enjoying…
12/13 Kyoto and Nara
Hi friends, We once again had the included breakfast in the hotel, complete with serviceable coffee and the friendliest staff I can ever remember at a hotel. We walked quickly to the Keihan Railway station, which is a commuter train that runs frequently. We took it 3 stops and changed at Tofokuji (which is yet…
12/12 Kyoto
Hi friends, I’ve been thinking a lot about language and technology. Everything in Japan has been so accessible, with signage in english and Google Maps everywhere, even if hours are sometimes off. I do wonder whether that diminishes the authenticity a little. We had the breakfast in the hotel again, which is really pretty great….
12/11 Kyoto
Hi friends, We started our day with the included breakfast in the hotel. It was pretty nice, with miso soup, scrambled eggs, toast and a little lettuce salad. I’m happy to have an included breakfast. Hotel Inn Gion has been a great deal so far. The wonderfully helpful guy at the front desk tried to…
12/10 Naoshima–> Kyoto
Hi friends, We woke up early today to catch the 7:55 ferry from Honmura to Uno and had a nice walk with the morning sun rising over the mountains to the ferry stop. The ferry was pretty crowded with children clearly heading to school and young adults to work. We got to Uno and stopped…
12/9 Naoshima
Hi friends, I woke up warm, even though the other room was absolutely frigid. A shower helped, and we walked up to Honmura. There were bikes we could take from the guest house, but Jake wanted a helmet and I was unsure if I trusted the bikes to work (or if one would fit me),…