Dragging my own little tour group around

One thing that’s hard about being on a tour is lack of control – over hotel choice, tour pacing, site selection etc. This being my first trip to Japan, I’ve been really grateful for the safety net provided by being in the safe hands of Shizu and Gate One.

But I was definitely ready to strike out on my own a bit. So we’ve moved across Kyoto to a much nicer hotel near the Gion. It’s a nice perk for a tired group of travelers and it’s far better over here – small strolling streets, walks along the river. I’m not a fan of staying near train stations.

Today we went to the Kyoto Railway Museum and the Kyoto Aquarium. They were a nice break from shrines, especially given the sweeping statements my group has started to make…I never need to see another shrine in my life…etc. It wasn’t until we were en route that I really got the sense that no one cared one stitch about either of my planned sites. But such is the hazard of being the tour planner.

We had a lot of fun there. Mikey and Grace strode past every exhibit and planted themselves at a table on the roof and monitored their Instagram accounts, so I feel like they had a good time. Whenever I checked in on them, they complained they were hungry for food that is not available in Japan. Sam and Cooper showed an acceptable amount of interest in that they were walking around the exhibits. I loved the place – just like at the car museum in Tacoma. Showing vehicles over a period of decades conveys history in a way I grasp it.

Here’s Sam and Ron in front of a Shinkansen train. Shortly after this, Ron got lost somewhere in the museum. It was funny, too, because all over Tokyo and Kyoto, we kept running into each other in a way that boggled my mind. But here, in this single contained museum, I could not find Ron anywhere. I finally enlisted Grace and Mikey to seek him out and they were happy because they had something to do.

Here’s a toilet from an old car. Notice that the contents of the toilet are just set to drop out onto the tracks below.

Here’s an early sleeping bunk trio. The guy on the top gets that comfy strap, but the middle sleeper is on his own:

And then there’s me, elbowing a bunch of little Japanese school children out of the way so I could drive this thing:

From the Railway Museum, we headed to the aquarium. More people announced they were hungry but a Google search of the surrounding areas showed no real dining options. We found a little cafe and pondered their menu for awhile…a pizza sporting a sunny side up egg…when in doubt in Japan, throw a raw egg on the food you’re serving… and then gave up and kept walking towards the aquarium. We found this terrifying sign outside a bathroom. Translation indicated something about a seriously dangerous spider. Ron looked it over and decided he needed to use the bathroom anyway and walked right in (men’s bathroom, not women’s) fearless, and came out unharmed.

The aquarium was a bigger hit with my group. I’ve included a misleading picture here because I’m so proud I caught all three dolphins in mid-air. And while there were some dolphin jumps and tricks during the show, it was mostly 5 creepy clowns running around the tank, clapping and encouraging us to dance. I think it’s funny about Japanese society – so orderly and reserved and with so many customs, but with a separate side that embrace silliness in a way that we just don’t in the US.

I’ll close with some positive comments. Here are things that Japan does far better than we do: toilets, manners, driving behavior, fun items in hotel bathrooms (razors, toothbrush, toothpaste, expense facial washes and creams, hair gel and more), train travel, litter control and graffiti control and gardens. Hopefully that redeems some of my comments on food.

We’re off to Himeji Castle tomorrow.