Osaka - Kyoto

I woke several times during the night from around midnight, finally turning the TV on at 3am to watch the Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa. I dozed off once or twice during the match, partly because I was tired and partly because it was so dull.

After some more sleep, I got up and went out for breakfast at around 7.30am. I'd planned to eat at the hotel restaurant, but I went outside instead and in no time found a coffee shop/bakery that offered a typical Japanese "Western-style" breakfast of a boiled egg, salad, toast, and coffee for 400 yen. Shops open late in Japan (usually 10 or 11am), so I wandered around the station area for a while and then went back to Mont Bell, where I bought a long sleeve top and bear bell (pictured). I also bought a 2GB memory card at Yodabashi Camera. This together with the 512MB card I already had I thought would be enough for all the photos I'd take during the trip. Next it was back to the hotel to check out.


My blisters had looked OK when I got up, so I'd left off the blister plasters I'd been wearing for the past few days. However, they looked worse after my little shopping expedition, and although they weren't sore, to be on the safe side I patched them up again before checking out.

Before heading to Kyoto I had lunch at Enchante, the pizza and pasta restaurant near the hotel I go to just about every time I visit Osaka, and browsed in a couple of bookshops. I then picked up my pack from the hotel and caught the 1.35pm train to Kyoto Station, from where I walked to the Hotel Aranvert some three or four blocks away. At reception I picked up the mobile phone I'd ordered before leaving New Zealand.

It was after 3pm. Time for coffee, so I went out to find a cheap coffee shop. I didn't have much luck, and ended up walking down to the Kamo River and back. Next it was to Isetan department store by the station, where I checked out snack food (nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate) for the walk. At 5.30pm or so I went to Erik's hotel to await his arrival. He finally turned up at around 7.30pm, by which time I'd nearly finished reading Lost Japan. (This was good, because I didn't want to take it with me on the walk, but wanted to finish it before we left.) We had dinner and got our mobile phones working. Erik then walked me back to my hotel.

The blister on my left heel had broken. I peeled off a chunk of skin to reveal a large, slightly red but dry area underneath. It wasn't painful at all, which I took to be a good sign.