Day 09 - 05/01/1998: Traditional Shop Houses: Ah Kyoto the cultural capital (and the capital city long before Tokyo), the Japan of my dreams! Literally thousands of Temples, Shrines, Castles, Gardens, Pagodas, old Shop houses, and Restaurants which go back almost a 1000 years1. Not only that there are also a few marvels of modern Architecture like the Convention Centre (think Kyoto protocol) and the Kyoto train station2.
It was quite a long drive on the express way from Gifu to Kyoto and a pretty one expensive too. The toll is 20yen (about 25c AUD) per km so it starts to add up when you make a long trip. On the way to Kyoto I had my first sighting of snow on some mountains that we passed. I also found out that the express way is the only place where you can go faster than 50kmh in Japan. The speed limit says 80kmh, but everyone goes faster! Ritsuko told me the cops here don't put any speed traps on the express way, but if speed on the normal roads (although the traffic is normally too heavy to speed) and you might get caught.3
The photo above was taken in Gion, the shopping district of the old city where you find all sorts of shops selling traditional arts, crafts, and food. It is also probably the only place in Japan that you don't bother saying "Hello" if you see another gaijin, because there are a lot there.
Gion is also the only place in Japan where you can still find Geisha, but apparently spotting them is hard. However, I managed to see two Maiko (apprentice Geisha) walking down the main street!4
Note: Yes, that is Ritsuko at the left side of the picture also taking a picture!
