April 25 First Full Day in Kyoto

As our first port of call for Kyoto sightseeing, we chose the area known as Gion. This is where you will find the highest concentration of private inns and teahouses where Japanese men come to enjoy the company (and whatever else) provided by geisha (usually known locally as geiko). Although there are some tawdry areas in Gion, it is largely a really lovely "old quarter" and a fascinating place to walk around.

One of the lovely streets in the Gion area. Although we missed the best of the blossom, Gion managed to save some for us!

What became clear to us "Japanese Novices" after a short while was that we really should have waited until later before visiting Gion, as it obviously gets much livelier later in the day and into the evening. Nevertheless, it was so pleasant strolling around that we decided to stay around for a while. We thought we had been rewarded when we spotted two lovely maiko (apprentice geiko) tip-tapping their way down the street, and when they spotted me raising my camera, they even stopped to pose for me.

However, acting on Kelvyn's advice, we later visited Google looking for places where tourists can go and have a complete maiko or geiko makeover - all the clothing, the full make-up etc - and discovered that it is possible to include a half-hour stroll round the local area once you've been prepared, so it may well be that these were just two ordinary Japanese girls having fun. We'll never know!

We carried on, walking round the area, which is full of traditional wooden Japanese houses, like these. If you look carefully, you can see a heron on the far right, waiting for a hand-out from the kitchen window of a local restaurant.

We were walking down this same street later in the evening when movement in an upstairs window caught our eye. Although flimsy blinds had been lowered, the interior of the room was brightly lit and we were treated to a tantalising glimpse of geiko at work. The men were wearing traditional costumes, and one geiko in particular was dancing for them. There was a lot of laughter and shouting, so I guess they were having fun....

Getting back to our morning stroll, we crossed the Kamo river to explore Pontocho Alley. This street, first constructed when a sandbar was developed in 1670, runs parallel to the Kamo and is the best preserved section of authentic wooden ochaya - the traditional teahouses where the geiko meet their clients. Again, we were aware that it would be more interesting after dark, but it was interesting to see it in daylight when the area was nice and quiet.

Pontocho Alley in daylight.

A mural entices customers to a bar just off Pontocho Alley.

In due course, we walked all the way back to our hotel (about 2 miles) to rest up and have our baths before venturing back to Gion for a drink and supper. On arrival at the railway station (our hotel is above the station - will post pictures of this amazing place in a day or so) we saw this...

...a large school party being addressed by the chap on the right with a blue folder in his hand. So what? I hear you asking. Well, what struck us was that every single child (and we watched them for a few minutes) was sitting still, facing the speaker, perfectly quiet, and paying full attention. Admirable. In fact we've seen many groups of schoolchildren walking around in Kyoto (they all seem to wear uniforms) and they are immaculately behaved, even when no teacher is present!

In the evening, we returned to Gion. We decided that it was unlikely that the small bars and restaurants in the area would take plastic, so we found an ATM. It had a button on it which said "English", which was a good start, but then displayed a message, in English, saying "This machine only accepts cards issued by Japanese banks". If you're planning to visit Japan, be aware of this problem. It took us nearly an hour, and some help from a lady on a shopping mall information desk, to find at ATM which worked for us. Top Tip: the ATMs in 7-11 stores work well!

Finally wedged up, we found a nice, if expensive, bar in Pontocho Alley. The Japanese girl who served us spoke good English because her family now lives near Los Angeles, although she has returned to Japan to finish university. She was interested to hear about our trip and we spent a pleasant 45 minutes or so. We then had problems finding a restaurant which offered an English menu, but eventually found one which served Italian-type food but with a Japanese twist. It wasn't bad, even though it was not really what we were hoping for. After walking round for a bit more after dinner, we decided that we were lost, so jumped in a cab to get back to base. Japanese taxis seem to be very good, and reasonably priced, unlike their Chinese counterparts!

Tomorrow promises rain, so not sure of the agenda yet.

Jenny's bit:  Having been practically flattened against bridge railings in Boston some years go by a group of six-year olds out for a jaunt with their teachers, I'm all in favour of the 'shut-up, sit down and listen' method of dealing with students. Jx