Been a few days in Kyoto which is obviously much smaller than Tokyo with its population of 13.5 million. Even with “only” 1,5 million people, Kyoto still feels pretty sizable. So far, I’ve seen just a few of the thousands of temples that can be found here. Mostly on the hills surrounding the city.

Staying in the old part of town, called Gion, where hundreds of buildings are over four centuries old. In this part of town, you’ll see plenty of young female tourists dressed like geishas shuffling down the narrow streets and alleys in small sandals. There are dozens of shops in Gion that rent out traditional geisha garments and offer geisha makeup.

The streets here are lined with old wooden storefront houses – most of which have been converted into tiny restaurants that cater to the most affluent domestic and foreign tourists. It’s quaint and I suppose, historically interesting. A little too many tourists, though. Surprisingly many for China.

Three Kyoto favorites thus far; Paris Barber Shop (where I enjoyed an excellently close-cut shave today), the famous bamboo forest near the beautiful hills outside of town and the restaurant Chojiro where they serve scrumptious sushi and soba noodles with golden, crispy tempura.

We opted to stay in Kyoto in a traditional Japanese guest house which turned out to be an unremarkable hotel with a half-assed Ryakon theme. It’s as if IKEA had created the hotel’s decor sometime in the mid 1980’s. Also, there’s a really unpleasant yet undefinable odor in the hallway on our floor – something I will definitely include in my review. The staff is friendly enough and the location is as good as it gets in old Kyoto. But after a couple of nights sleeping on the floor – on a thin mattress – in a room with rice paper walls and a family with small children next door, I am so ready to check into the W Bangkok on Saturday morning.