Monday, May 21, 2007

Day 7 - Time on your hands? Go shopping!

Rob and I woke up at 4:30 am and snuck down to the men’s bath for a nice morning sock


The light streaming into our room in the morning was too beautiful for words.



Breakfast was also served in our room, consisting of broiled fish, chawanmushi, miso soup, rice, kamaboko, salad, ham, and a lemon dessert.


Unki got a little confused, he wore on his head AND on his private parts.


We checked out of the ryokan and were so content with our experience. There are newer, cleaner, shinier ryokans out there, but the price and food of Kansuiro can’t be beat!

Today we were traveling by bullet train to Kyoto. We had some time before our train, so what did we do? Shop! We went to the 100 yen store and our favorite store, Muji.


We got some bentos for our train trip. Look at mine!

I think it might have been a kid’s bento, but I don’t care!

We got to Kyoto station in about 2 hours, and there was this bakery with a display of plastic cakes that everyone stopped to ooh and aww over. Rob managed to take a picture of a real cake.

Or is it fake? One never knows.

In Kyoto, I was researching reasonable accommodations when I came across Iori Machiya, which rent traditional Japanese houses called machiya. I thought it would be fun to stay at one, so we made the reservation. We had to prepay and send a wire transfer, so I was hoping that the trouble would be worth it.

We are SO happy we are staying here. It was a little tricky finding the Iori office, but one of the employees, Yuji, walked us to our machiya and showed us around. It’s a two story building that has been wonderfully restored and incredibly comfortable.


Upstairs sleeping area.


A couch! The first of the trip.


Downstairs sleeping area in the tea room.


Downstairs living area.


View to our little garden.


A Japanese soaking tub.


Our little kitchen.

It’s so nice to be in a space where we all can interact and live together, versus separate hotel rooms.

Next – a day that features animals for some strange reason.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Hakone ryokan seemed so worth it with all that food and what a beautiful place in Kyoto. My favorite is Unki with the towels.

Stephanie said...

This trip, and your documentation of it, is amazing. I would love to go here someday. Is it hard to get by with only Engligh? I assume in the cities it is fine, but what about in the smaller towns?

MinaG said...

Glad you and Rob got to enjoy a morning soak... also love the bento fish box, wish I had that! And the machiya looks amazing! Great job researching and finding nice accomodations!

yaiAnn said...

That is so cool! I would love a copy of your intinerary and places you stayed, if you don't mind of course. I wish I was there!

Anonymous said...

your photos saved my day.thanks a lot.and: cat poop can`t be red enough.i have a cat and a garden,i know what they mean.Laughed a lot. Thanks,Barbra

Lisa said...

That place is so COOL.

BTW - did you notice you typed sock instead of soak in your first sentence?

Got knitted socks on the brain?

Sarah-Mae said...

I read your blog almost daily and figured I would become less of a stalker by introducing myself!

I love reading up on your adventure overseas after a long day at work!!!

Also, I've tagged you in my most recent journal entry.

Anonymous said...

oops! you did it again. Got most rules right EXCEPT. I do enjoy your post. lovely pictures expecially the one with the foliage peeping through the ryokan window. AND your little cutie.

monica said...

Thanks for posting about your trip while you're still enjoying it. The men's bath looks so peaceful.