What a way to spend a birthday.
I woke in our Kyoto hotel with dreadful back pain, aching legs and dodgy guts. Poor Graham – his big day and I was going to be no fun at all. I somehow managed to get to breakfast, ate lightly and swallowed ibuprofen. Outside it looked gloomy and rain was forecast. I blamed Himeji Castle for much of my misfortune. I’d twisted myself tense climbing up and down the steep staircases there, which must’ve done something to my lower back. I also blamed the incredible amount of walking we’d done without proper walking boots.
I couldn’t face sitting indoors all day so we went out to Kyoto’s main shopping district to have a nose around, buy pills and heat pads. This proved rather more challenging than expected because we didn’t understand a word of what was written on the garish pharmacy labels and the staff spoke barely a word of English. I picked what I hoped were the appropriate treatments following a series of mimes and gesticulations, performed for the benefit of the pharmacists, and handed over my cash in the hope I hadn’t pocketed a packet of laxatives.
Clouds hung heavy over the city but the rain stayed away and I limped along with a suspect mincing action, occasionally breaking for a rest at a coffee shop. We made for Nishiki Market, the main food district of Kyoto. It’s like London’s Borough Market and sells a huge range of produce, from fruit and veg to fish and meat, but much of it I’d never seen before. The Japanese diet is certainly varied and colourful and people are committed to eating pretty much every part of a plant or creature but, having said that, some of the things on display were about as appealing as a plate of tripe.
Moving on, we found a stationery shop with lots and lots of beautiful and refined things, all of which I could’ve purchased quite happily. Graham settled for some patterned paper that will look great in frames.
With my back still hurting but feeling somewhat looser, we crossed the river to Gion and the city’s old Geisha district, Shimbashi. It’s one of the prettiest parts of Kyoto with a canal backed by traditional wooden buildings, which are mainly bars and eating places these days. Trees provided shade and a couple of herons posed for photos while waiting to nab some fish from a little pool in front of one of the restaurants.
A hot bath later, we popped into town to meet Matthew and Paula – the couple from New York we’d met in Takayama. It was great to see them again and we took them to one of our local haunts, Bar Atlantis, sitting outside as the clouds began to draw away. I pondered how rare it was to meet people like this on our travels and we invited them to look us up when they’re next in London.
To mark Graham’s birthday the two of us ate at one of the city’s best-rated restaurants, Chao Chao Sanjo Kiyamachi. Not that it’s flash and Michelin-starred – far from it in fact. It’s spartan, loud, basic and studenty, full of atmosphere and serving some of the best gyoza anywhere. We queued to get in but the wait was well worth it and we kept ordering from our seat at the bar.
After stuffing our faces we returned to Atlantis for more beer, your host hoping that a few too many would numb the back pain. We chatted to a girl from Nara, who was there with a boyfriend and had studied ballet in London. Her other half didn’t speak English so, in a sense, we were lost in translation…