The next morning THANK GOD breakfast was buffet style, because loads of guests had arrived. Mind you it didnt stop the staff waking us up at 8am and taking away our beds. We went down the corridor to be greeted by the familiar smell of.. herring. Oh no!! But much to our relief for breakfast there was a choice of western style or japanese style. I have to say western style won and I have never been happier to
see scrambled eggs in my life!! The breakfast was lovely actually and they even had ketchup which always makes me happy. Beth had come to breakfast in her robe and was relieved to see that a bunch of other people had done the same. It was interesting to see asian people going for hybrids of the two styles of breakfasts. Coconut rice from the Japanese table with frankfurters. Hmm. Or herring with fruit salad. Yummy. I guess for them the western stuff is the novelty but like us, they half want to stick to what they know as our food is all a bit strange..

At the hotel there are two baths one for men and one for women but each day and sometimes during the day they switch which bath is used for which, I think just to try and catch people out. Luckily that never happened to me but at one point I was in the bath with four Japanese older ladies chatting away to me in Japanese despite the fact that I dont speak a word. They understood the international sign language for - its bloody hot in here isnt it! - cue much agreement.. This is why I love Japan. No one in England would talk to a random at a hotel (esp if you were sitting naked in a bath with them), especially if they didnt speak the language. But the Japanese are determined to make you feel welcome. So friendly, its great.

We decided to leave Hakone without doing any more sightseeing as we had to get to Kyoto that afternoon. And its a good job we did because when we got to the station he told us we could take the ordinary train but it took 8 hours and wed need to change a lot. So we opted instead for the famous Shinkasen or bullet train that would get us there in two and a bit hours. Pricey, but the seats were lovely and comfortable, and it was worth it to get there hassle free, as we still needed to find accomodation for that night. This was the only night I hadnt prebooked somewhere as I wasnt sure if we would have wanted to stay an extra night in Hakone (no! I need a lie in!). Unfortunately when we emerged from another fairly epic train station at Kyoto we had the whole Mary and Joseph syndrome where at two places we went to there was 'no room at the inn'. By this point our backpacks were very heavy! So it was back to the station for the tourist information on the 9th floor (thats just mean) and we found somewhere - Gojo Guesthouse. We took a bus there by now fairly exhausted and it was a very cute bus, all the announcements in english about sights that we might like to get off and see. Bless.

The hostel was probably one of the most 'travelly' places Ive stayed in so far mainly because the other guests were having innane traveller conversations about world peace and all that jumbo. And then you get the other lot with the 'yah I think New York is so good for shopping because London is so expensive' blah blah. And smoking. A lot. But it was a nice place, we stayed in Japanese style dorms so on the tatsuni mats again, 6 girls to a room, sharing with some nice fellow brits. I was also very happy that this place had a cafe inside so we had Japanese curry for dinner (i.e. their equivalent to beans on toast style comfort food) and didnt bother leaving the place for a look around at all because it was raining so hard. All afternoon. I find the rain very depressing. If I can avoid it, I wont go out in it. Everything, especially in cities just looks so grey.

The next day it was still raining and we new we couldnt check into our next place in western kyoto (we get around!) til 3pm so we abused their free internet for as long as possible and had a good breakfast set of coffee and toast. Have I mentioned the toast yet? Its very popular in Japan as a quick breakfast and the bread they use is really nice. White and fluffy. No taste, but thats ok cos you get jam. The coffees are good here too which Im happy about given that Ive been having one a day for oo a good few months now and its become a bit of a ritual. And its cheaper than in Aus. Aus is expensive!

In the afternoon we made our way over to the next hostel after a brief stop in the station for Mister Donuts (what!!? we needed energy!). This place Guest House Bola Bola is essentially the family's own home that theyve taken lodgers into. So you feel a bit strange in case youre in the way or going where you shouldnt. but the family were so sweet that it was fine. Beth and I had a big twin room, Japanese style, with mats again. And it was great because the husband could tell us exactly where to go in the area, how to get there, and seemed to have an applicable map for any type of excursion!! Seriously, we have about 20 painstakingly put together maps from our stay there. Out of the possibilities he suggested an excellent hot spring bath house (or Onsen) sounded like the way to get over hauling the backpacks around.

This bath house was fantastic I thought. Rows and rows of the little stools and mirrors for the pre-bath wash, there mustve been about 30 or more women and children lined up along there. And then there are so many pools to choose from!! Powerful Jacuzzi ones, relaing bubbly ones, indoor ones of different temperatures, including one cold one which I learnt the hard way, about 3 outdoor ones with either normal waters or mineral waters, individual baths that were like sitting outdoors in a big flowerpot full of hot water and an area where you lie down (outside) but hot water flows down the stone slabs youre lying on. So much variety! Oh yeah and a steam room where youre supposed to cover yourself in salt and unofficially the worlds hottest (!!!) sauna. I walked in and then straight back out but not before Id burnt the soles of my feet.

It was lovely there tho. Everybody either looked very serene, or were chatting with friends or playing with their kids. They plonk the towels on their heads while theyre in the baths which makes for a funny sight. And again the ladies chatted to me even though I didnt understand although I did understand that they thought the fact that I was so pink from the heat was very amusing. After the baths I went for a Shiatsu massage which Ive had before in London and really liked even though it can be bloody painful! The poor guy tho was trying to ask me which area was 'tired', but in Japanese, and I was trying to explain in English that I had no problem areas, just fancied a massage and there were about 5 minutes where we just couldnt understand what the other was saying. Eventually I made up that my shoulders were very tired, anything for an easy life. Yep and I can safely report that the Japanese do a good Shiatsu massage. Hurray! Thisll probably be the first of an all-around-asia massage tour. Well youve gotta try them eh, especially when youre not paying stupid London prices!

That evening Beth and I headed out for some dinner and Kyoto was bloomin cold!! We plumped for the first place we saw which was a chinese. Even though the food was very tasty and we were happy that we could order in english the portions were tiny!!! Never go for chinese in Japan! With the peking duck you got one pancake each and a piece of duck skin (?), no actual duck. I dont know if this is the norm or if the kitchen was just having a bad day! So afterwards we snuck to a cake shop where all the other sneaky midnight munchies women were too and had big pieces of chocolate cake. Result ;)