Train ramblings

NOW HERE'S THE WEATHER
I stink. I'm sure I do. Who said travelling is glamorous. The heat was far less in Nagasaki and in Himeiji I could swear I felt a breeze. It's those long tunnels across the train station to the Shinkansen platforms that are killing me. I just hope it's clear the day I go look at Mt Fuji.

ITINERARY WHAT ITINERARY
I ummed and ahhed about where to go all day. And to make things more difficult the date on my watch is wrong. I know it is because it changed date at midday. But I don't know what date or day it is to correct it. I went to the tourist information to ask them (seriously) but they were really busy. I reckon it's about the 14th. Anyway, I really wanted to stay at a hotel tonight. I didn't want a curfew. I wanted my own bathroom, laundry (or a sink to wash in, not a sign saying "no washing in sink"), I wanted to play Kati and Nina's CDs, repack, have left luggagge facilities (lockers are costing 600Yen a day), I wanted to sit on a chair to type. Want want want! Shimononeski looked great. I remember Christian had been there. I wish I had paid more attention to what he said! But I also wanted to put some distance between me and Hokkaido and nudging the edge of Honshu was not quite close enough.

So I chose Himeji. It was virtually a direct train. The expensive hotels had reasonable rates and I was sure there would be more available than was listed, as had been the case in every town I had visited. Himeji has a castle which is apparently the castle to see if you're in Japan. It was also a stone's throw from Kyoto and a bullet train from Tokyo. Done deal. When I got to Himeji though, the gods had a different plan. Or more to the point, I made a shit decision. No maps, no tourist information, no English. First phone call to a hotel - please speak English. We worked out they had a room but it was 8000 yen, we could not work out between us if that was with or without tax and it didn't have internet access. Second hotel full. Third hotel was too pricey to even call.

No problems, I went for a walk. No signs, no hotels, just a load of shops. I walked to the castle. It looked like an elegant example of SomethingSan architecure. Apparently it was one of the few that aren't concrete. I didn't knock on its walls to see. It had an amazing five storey donjon (really that's what the guide book calls it. Nothing to do with Miami Vice). The main drag proved hotel-less so I hit the back streets. They were just rows of undercover shopping arcades linked together, no matter where I turned. I found the 8000Yen we speak no English Hotel Washington. For a major and pricey chain, I was disappointed they didn't speak English. I found it somewhat amusing that they didn't point out there was a 24 hour internet cafe underneath their lobby but it is hard to mime over the phone.

The internet cafe also practiced mime. I have laptop (computeru) down pat in charades. The chap behind the counter even knew LAN cable. "Ah ah LAN cable?!" he asked. "Yes I have LAN cable!" I exclaimed. The Washington hotel was about to get another customer and owe this young man commission. "LAN cable, no we cannot." Ah. That's that then.

So back to the train station where I decided to take the next train out of town and write Himeji off as a beautiful castle but terrible shopping malls. Sorry Christian, but as a princess, I am used to living in castles not visiting them!

With an hour to kill before my train, I sought out a supermarket. I wanted to see square watermelon and packets of things. It was not to be. The grocery section was really normal. The confectionary aisle didn't even hold anything with funny names. The fish and seafood aisle held a bit of fun and I took some photos. The shop was quite busy, otherwise I would have done a couple of Rex Hunt fish kisses... Mwa.

A quick visit to a Pachinko parlour nearly reduced my hearing. Pachinko parlours are full of arcade games like pinball and fruit machines. They are always very busy (depsite my photos, I was trying not to attract attention). They are horrendously loud, smoky and full of bright light. People love them.

Much more my scene were the cute game houses where you can free little toys using "the claw". See the post St Elmos for that story.

So, I now have a hotel room in the nightlife area of Kyoto - for only 6000 something Yen! It's supposed to be a business hotel, so it might have internet. They don't speak a lot of English (confusingly the man said, "sorry we have a lot of people" and I thought it was his way of saying there was no room). It's right near Gion, the geisha area I really love, so I am super duper excited. Sometimes things work out for the best.

More from Kyoto...