Morning
Afternoon
Night life
Our last morning in Kyoto! After everyone packed their suitcase and had breakfast, it was time to hand over our suitcases to a transfer company as we would say goodbye to our suitcases for the next 2 days. As many Japies went to a karaoke bar and/or club yesterday evening, the amount of hungover Japies (or still drunk Japies) was high. It even led to some Japies being waked by the committee, as they slept through their alarm.
After handing over our suitcases it was time to take the train to Nara. As told by the committee, there was a possibility for us to encounter some deers in Nara. This was a big understatement. After our arrivel in Nara, a 2 minute walk from the train station resulted in us greeting many deers. In Nara, around 1200 deers walk around freely in a park at the edge of the city. You could even buy some cookies to feed them, which is what many of us did. Then, we had some free time to explore Nara on our own. Some of us went to the Nara National museum, some went to the botanical gardens whilst others walked around in the Nara park to explore some more nature, temples and deers.
At 15:20 it was time to travel to our next hostel where we would sleep the next night. After a train ride and a bus ride where all Japies felt like “sardientjes in een blikje”, we arrived at our temple hotel. Thats right, this night we would sleep in a temple! We were greeted by some monks, and guided to our rooms. These rooms unfortunately did not have any beds and a mat on the floor should sufice for the night. Luckily these mats were more comfortable than they looked. In the rooms some traditional yukata could also be found, which most japies immediately put on for dinner. The diner consisted of rice, miso soup, a variety of tempura and pickled vegetables, udon, tofu, mochi and fruit.
When all Japies were full and satisfied, we had the possibility to take a hot public bath. As there were no showers present in the hostel, all Japies were forced to clean themselves in this very hot bath, after which we were even more sweaty than before. Some Japies also went for an evening walk to discover some more beautiful shrines, arches and views that were next to the hostel. Finally, it was time to go to bed as most were planning to wake up at 04:30 the next morning to visit a real praying ceremony.
Written by: Manon Ritten & Luke de Jong
