Kyoto: We're big in Kyoto

We arrived on day four of our Japan world tour in the aggressively modern and massive Kyoto train station. A station so huge that we actually got lost in one of its many shopping centers while trying to find the exit.

We finally escaped onto a wide street lined with glassy high rise towers. That first view of Kyoto was deceptive. Walking about five minutes led us into streets so narrow we had to press against the walls to allow mopeds to pass. And pass they did, at about 60 miles an hour.

The Ryokan Shimizu is no trouble to find. Just walk down the tiny streets until you see the sign. Ryokan, in case you were wondering, means inn. And this was a traditional Japanese one.

We ducked under the half curtain and slid the door open. With our backpacks on, we easily filled the tiny foyer. Before we could step up into the lobby we had to take off our shoes and put on a pair of the Ryokan's slippers.



The man behind the counter checked us in and then led us up wooden steps to our room. He directed us to leave our sandals in the entryway before stepping up into the room.

The room itself was tiny, but it had all the amenities. Just to the right of the door was a sink and mirror. To the right of that was a tiny room holding only a toilet, with a heated seat of course, and a pair of bathroom sandals.

At the end of our tiny hall was a small bathing room. Half of the room was a bath tub deep enough to swim in. The other half was a shower. It had a drain in the floor and a shower head on a hook on the wall.

Finally he slid a door open and showed us our bedroom. The floors were tatami mats. Our beds, which lay directly on the floors, were three thin cushions with a foam pad on top. The comforters were covered with fitted sheets. I don't know why. The pillows were hard and thin.

We also had a tiny television, a table with tea things in a box on top, and a little basket full of towels and robes.

The windows really were made of thick paper, but they had glass on the outside to keep out the cold. The doors were only about five and half feet high. Grant hit his head on that door frame every day.

Other things that happened every day: we went exploring. We had to because the Ryokan rules said you had to be out of your room by 1000 and couldn't come back before 1600. Every time we left the staff handed us little hand warmer packs for our pockets and every time we returned they brought us little cups of orange tea.

They served breakfast as well, but Grant and I didn't eat any. A Japanese breakfast usually includes fish fillet, white rice, miso soup, some kind of fruit and green tea. Not the kind of thing I can stomach at eight o'clock in the morning.

Staying in the Ryokan was like staying at your grandmas house, if your grandma happened to be both Japanese and obsessed with cleaning.

I leave you today with a quote from my all time favorite show Futurama, "Welcome to Kyoto, the anagram lovers Tokyo."