(Day 8) Densha Onnatachi

A week has already sailed by us and today we will leave Tokyo and head west to the Kansai region of Japan. There is still many more things to see before I send Mother on her merry way back to Canada, so we’d best get started. Unfortunately, today is pretty much going to be spent riding the train, but not after we head off to Urawa in Saitama (northern Tokyo) to drop our excess bags off at Maya’s house. We packed up and said a not-quite-tearful goodbye to our hotel (aka closet) in Ikebukuro.



Carrying two giant bangs (one filled with gifts not yet given) proved to be an strenuous effort, yet not entirely unmanageable. When we arrived in Urawa, Maya, her Mother and their adorable dog Chobi were there to greet us in their…car. Yippee! I tossed those bags into the trunk with vigor.



A home! Maya’s family was extremely kind and generous to allow us into their home and store our bags there. Her Mother fed us large amounts of delicious food before loading us up again and delivered us back to the station. From there we made it to Tokyo station and boarded our bullet train, the Hikari super-express, bound for Kyoto.











Zipping through the countryside, I looked out the window and with some surprise, a strange object loomed through the clouds…could it be...?



After two and a half hours on the train, we arrived in Kyoto without incident. Yay! Now to trudge the 8 minute walk with our bags to find our ryokan (traditional Japanese Inn).





Thankfully I recognized the kanji for the inn and we found it with no problems at all – except for the fact that I got sweaty carrying my bags and thus was cranky. We checked into the ryokan which was owned by a cute little Japanese family. The son went through every possible detail about the hotel and Kyoto and came with us up to our room to show us the light switches, the aircon, and the whole nine. After he left, we were hungry and headed to the nearby UCC Coffeehouse for dinner. As long as you don’t order a beverage, it was cheap.





Though our day didn’t involve much sightseeing, it was still a memorable day to me – I didn’t spend much money! Hooray! We turned in for the night after a stop at Lawsons for some late-night snacking foods. Tomorrow we get crackin’ on Kansai – Osaka, here we come.