Another easy, less than 10 mile day. I should be careful about getting used to these things, they might make me spoiled.
Today was the mother of all train-hopping. We took four separate trains to get to this out-of-the-way mountain the Daniel want to climb. I initially was skeptical. O yee of little faith! Today was one of, if not the best day of the trip. The weather was cloudy enough so that I didn't worry about sunburn (yes, even I worry sometimes), the wind was cool enough so that we didn't get excessively sweaty, and the crowds were meager enough to see where we were going. And where we were going was spectacular! No offense to that beautiful scenery of Colorado, but Mt. Kurama has you beat. You might still win in climb-ability, though. Hiking a trail of stairs is annoying.
This was possibly the greenest mountain I have ever climbed. The best part? It was a warrior monk mountain! Warrior Monks! An apparently famous monk, who's name I can't remember, founded a rather militaristic school of Bhuddism that trained Imperial Guardsmen for the Emperor's security. I was three bamboo sticks away from being all Kung Fu Panda. Note: Daniel has just informed me that Kung Fu Panda is Chinese. Dammit. Anyway, warrior monks are cool. We started our hike at the Kurama train station, went up the mountain (by stair) and back down the mountain on the other side (by stair) to the town of Kibune for a late lunch. There are pics on fb that I strongly encourage you to check out, because lunch was really freakin' cool. There's a good-sized river that flows next to the town. There are lots of shrines dedicated to the Water Kami (god) that resides in the river. There are lots of restaurants where you can sit above the water and eat. Yeah. You read that right. As if sitting above a river to eat lunch wasn't cool enough, your food (noodles) would come to you via a bamboo shoot water transportation system. You'd pick up the bunch of noodles with your chopsticks before they floated away, dip it in your cup of dipping sauce, and chow. Maybe a little gimmicky, but it was awesome.
We took it four more trains to get back to Kyoto, finished up gift shopping, and landed in our hotel room to begin packing. Packing sucks. Not only because it means you're leaving, but it also means you have to fit everything you've acquired into the suitcase you came with. It's proving to be difficult. Here's hoping we don't need to buy any last-minute suitcases. It's been absolutely fantastic trip and I don't think anything could've gone better. I've even come to terms with our shoebox of a room. Thanks Japan, it's been fun. See you next time!
Love,
Leah Murphy, stair-mastering explorer
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