Kamakura to Kyoto

I woke up surprisingly late and rested on Sunday – it was bright in the room early, but when I finally stirred it was raining! Neither of us were anxious to go anywhere in the rain, so we took our time and both marveled at how well we slept considering how freaked out we were about the bugs….

Breakfast sushi

After booking a hostel for the evening in Kyoto and Stefan arranging his plans to get back to Tokyo, we left the spider cave to get breakfast. Stefan knew of a take-out sushi place, so we grabbed boxes of breakfast sushi (mmmm, raw fish for breakfast!) and found a temple courtyard to eat in. It was great to sit surrounded by the quiet and the cool stone walls, and we listened to the rain fall while we ate our sushi.

We took the long way back to the house, and stopped at a few more temples. Each one was different in its own little way, and even though they were beginning to blend together, we agreed that they all had a nice sense of calm and beauty.

When I realized it was after noon, we made an actual effort to get back, pack up, and head to the train! I still had to go back to Yokohama, get my bag, get to the bullet train, and make it to Kyoto!

We were NOT sad to get out of the house, and we locked the key right back in the box and didn’t look back. Stefan was a great guide, but maybe next time I agree to go on a spontaneous overnight trip, I’ll ask to have a say in the accommodations ;P

We got back on the train, but I was a little sad to be saying goodbye! Most people kind of scattered on Friday and I didn’t get to say “sayonara” to many of my classmates in person, and saying bye to Stefan made me realize how quickly the week had flown by! But alas, we were obliged to part ways in Yokohama.

Bullet train!

I wasn’t paying attention, and totally got on the wrong train when I was making my connection back to the hotel (two train lines on one track…sneaky!!). After going back to where I could get the right train, I realized how late it was! Doing the math, I discovered there was no way I was going to get to Kyoto before 9pm, so I had to e-mail my dinner date and postpone: a former labmate of mine, a Japanese professor named Masa, had offered to show me around and introduce me to his new lab members!

Eventually I got my bags, found my way to the bullet train station, and bought a ticket! I was actually really excited to ride the “shinkansen!” The pictures of them looked so cool!!

Dinner

I asked for a window seat and grabbed a dinner bento box from one of the vendors in the station. I never know what food I’m actually ordering, but all the pictures and plastic models of the food looked good, so I just chose one.

Rice, veggies, and who knows?

I went to the platform a little early so I could watch the trains – they really ARE cool!! They are so sleek and fancy looking, and they move so quietly compared to the other trains. I threw down my bags and took a few pictures, but was the target of a few angry security whistles for being past the arbitrary yellow lines on the platform while I was enthusiastically snapping away :P

But soon enough, my train arrived and I got on and found my seat. It was a lot like Coach on an airplane (smallish seats, little overhead space), but I was still psyched, and I settled in for the ride. I ate my bento dinner and watched the scenery whip by, but by the time the light was fading I passed out. I woke up in what felt like a minute and we were arriving in Kyoto!

They are SO FAST! It was awesome!

After two more local train rides, I made it to my hostel and was pleasantly surprised to have the whole 4-bed room to myself. I was drained, and I went to bed not too long after my arrival :)