I went to meet a couchsurfer in Uji on Tuesday 18th November. I spent more than one hour travelling by train. It was a sunny day and I had to wait at the train station until the couchsurfer came. He was around 56 years old, he was riding a bike and I had to walk next to him. After 15 minutes walking we got to his flat, which was quite messy. I drank one tea and I left because I wanted to visit Kyoto. I hitchhiked to the train station where I ate sushi and I got a map of Kyoto. It was already late afternoon and it was getting dark so I had to hitchhike back to Kayashima. When I got there I went to a local shop with food, I ate soup with noodles, egg and some kind of jelly made from a special kind of potato. Then I went to my host and he also cooked soup with noodles, so we had dinner together and we talked about living in Japan.
The following day I moved to another host in Kyoto. He was 22 years old student and he lived in the center of the town. I met him at noon and we went to his home to put a suitcase. He had to work in the afternoon so I went to visit Kyoto by myself. The daily bus pass costed 500 yen. I saw many people wearing kimono in Kyoto, not only women but also men. Firstly I went to Tofukuji which is a buddhist temple and then I walked to Heian shrine which was nearby.
Then I took a bus to the buddhist temple Kiyomizu dera. I met a Japanese couple there and we walked up the hill together and we took many photos. We saw a geisha on our way. It was the only geisha I met in Japan.
The path was surrounded by many shops with traditional Japanese sweets, there was free tasting so I ate quite a lot of them and also I drank free green tea. We got on the top of the hill when it was almost sunset, there were many people taking photos and admiring red leaves. There was also some fortune-telling, my Japanese friends tried it. Then they went to a Silver pavilion and I went to a Toji temple. It was already dark when I got there, I took some photos and then I had to take a bus to the train station where I also took photos of the Kyoto tower. When I got to my host we went to have dinner in a local restaurant, I had to borrow his clothes because it was very cold. I had miso soup, rice, fried chicken and vegetables and it costed around 800 yen. I put soya sauce on the rice but my friend told me not to do that because only homeless people in Japan used to do that. We had a conversation about Japan, my friend told me it was a westernized country nowadays. He said that it was rude to leave a tip in a restaurant in Japan because people are paid for their job and they considered it offensive if somebody gave them money. When we got to his home we drank some alcohol with little pieces of gold and then we drank also plum liquor. My friend had a typical Japanese heating called kotatsu which is a wooden table covered by a blanket. When I went to sleep I was so cold that I had to sleep under the heating.
The following day I went to the Fushimi Inari-Taisha shrine. I walked on the top and I took many photos there.
Afterwards I went to the Hongan-ji temple. Then I took a bus to Arashiyama where I went to a bamboo forest firstly. I met Japanese girls there dressed in beautiful kimonos and I asked them to take photos with me.
There were also many shops with free tasting sweets in Arashiyama. I went to visit the Tenryu-ji temple and then also the Daikaku-ji temple. Then I took a bus to my host and we went to have dinner in a restaurant. I had fried oysters with rice and it costed around 900 yen. Then I had to go to a train station to catch my bus to Tokyo.
The following day I moved to another host in Kyoto. He was 22 years old student and he lived in the center of the town. I met him at noon and we went to his home to put a suitcase. He had to work in the afternoon so I went to visit Kyoto by myself. The daily bus pass costed 500 yen. I saw many people wearing kimono in Kyoto, not only women but also men. Firstly I went to Tofukuji which is a buddhist temple and then I walked to Heian shrine which was nearby.
Then I took a bus to the buddhist temple Kiyomizu dera. I met a Japanese couple there and we walked up the hill together and we took many photos. We saw a geisha on our way. It was the only geisha I met in Japan.
The path was surrounded by many shops with traditional Japanese sweets, there was free tasting so I ate quite a lot of them and also I drank free green tea. We got on the top of the hill when it was almost sunset, there were many people taking photos and admiring red leaves. There was also some fortune-telling, my Japanese friends tried it. Then they went to a Silver pavilion and I went to a Toji temple. It was already dark when I got there, I took some photos and then I had to take a bus to the train station where I also took photos of the Kyoto tower. When I got to my host we went to have dinner in a local restaurant, I had to borrow his clothes because it was very cold. I had miso soup, rice, fried chicken and vegetables and it costed around 800 yen. I put soya sauce on the rice but my friend told me not to do that because only homeless people in Japan used to do that. We had a conversation about Japan, my friend told me it was a westernized country nowadays. He said that it was rude to leave a tip in a restaurant in Japan because people are paid for their job and they considered it offensive if somebody gave them money. When we got to his home we drank some alcohol with little pieces of gold and then we drank also plum liquor. My friend had a typical Japanese heating called kotatsu which is a wooden table covered by a blanket. When I went to sleep I was so cold that I had to sleep under the heating.
The following day I went to the Fushimi Inari-Taisha shrine. I walked on the top and I took many photos there.
Afterwards I went to the Hongan-ji temple. Then I took a bus to Arashiyama where I went to a bamboo forest firstly. I met Japanese girls there dressed in beautiful kimonos and I asked them to take photos with me.
There were also many shops with free tasting sweets in Arashiyama. I went to visit the Tenryu-ji temple and then also the Daikaku-ji temple. Then I took a bus to my host and we went to have dinner in a restaurant. I had fried oysters with rice and it costed around 900 yen. Then I had to go to a train station to catch my bus to Tokyo.
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