cat /proc/claus | java

This weekend, Me, Marilia, Paulo and Mitsue went together to a brief trip to Kyoto.

Initially, me and Marilia decided to go by ourselves, when Paulo said that he and Mitsue were thinking about going as well. Paulo invited us to go by car, which we did. When in four people or more, renting a car can be cheaper than buying night-bus tickets - usually the cheapest way to travel around in Japan.

There are a few problems with travelling by car: 1- you need multiple drivers, else the weight of driving will all fall on a single person 2- you will need a cheap place to park your car when you get there, for parking is usually very expensive in Japan.

The bright side is that, with only you and your friends in the car, you can mess around much more, and much louder than when you are in a bus/plane or other form of mass transit. The trip there and back again were really fun. (you might think that being able to drive around freely would also be a plus but… see below).

Once in Kyoto, we stayed at the Yurakuso Guest House. I had started looking for lodgings two weeks before the trip. Since our trip was on a national holiday, this was NOT ENOUGH TIME. Most places were booked by the time I got around calling/e-mailing them. If you are going to travel to a hot touristic spot, on a holiday, book at least 2 months in advance. Yurakuso was not that bad, we shared a nice room - but it was not worth the price we paid for it - specially because the shower was basically non-existant (a flimsy plastic cubicle inside the kitchen. Luckly, there was a rather nice sentou nearby).

During the days, we visited many places. On the first day we went to Arashiyama, which was packed with tourists (like everywhere else, though). We made the mistake of trying to go by car there - not only we took a LONG time to get in and out in the traffic, but we also paid premium for the parking. However, the koyou (autumn leaves) were very impressive - specially the famed “takemura no michi” - the bamboo path. At Marilia’s suggestion, we went to a temple in the far end of arashiyama, which was dedicated to Jizous - the statues of deceased infants - it was a solemn and beautiful place.

At night, we met with Igor for dinner, then went back home, went to the sentou (where I saw an yakuza guy with this huge tattoo on his back!) and had a nice game of Carcassone before going to bed.

On the second day, Renato accompanied us on a trip around the temples in the south-eastern part of Kyoto. We first went to Inari Jinja, followed to a quick trip to Tofukuji, Kyomizudera, Yasaka Pagoda, Chion Park, then HouRenJi and Chionji at night. The last two were performing their night light shows (as many other temples in Kyoto in the period). Hint regarding the night light show - wait for at least one hour after the opening time before entering - more if possible. This way, you will avoid the throng of tourists, and (maybe) will be able to experiment a little bit of the peaceful sensation of walking in a Japanese garden at night. HouRenJi was packed when we got there, which took away a little bit of the enjoyment. ChionJi, on the other hand, was much more interesting to see.

At night, we went to the Sentou again, and played Carcassone (Carcassone turned out to be a great game to play in small groups in trips - it is fast, easy to teach, and fun).

The third day we went to Nara - but passed by Kinkakuji first. We were all kinda tired already, but Nara went without a Glitch. On the way back Diogo joined us, and with two drivers, the return trip was much smoother - the DS’ New Super Mario Bros minigames for multiplayer ROCKS.

Pictures? Well - I forgot to put my memory card in my camera AND only found that out in the SECOND day of my trip… keep tuned on marilia’s blog though, she might post some pictures soon.