Absurdity

We went to Kyoto today to see the shrines there. Finally got to go on a bullet train, it was what was to be expected. We got a little lost on the second shrine we went to, we ended up in a small village, and after a bit of walking we found our way to a train station. We climbed to the top of the Fushmi Inari-Taisha grand shrine, and luckily for us there was an old lady to show us what to do. We rang the bell, donated some coins, made a prayer and then followed her to the side where we shook a metal cylinder and took a long metal piece out of it (that was still attached so you can't steal them I guess), and then compared it to a chart that was beside us. The chart was in Japanese, but the old lady did her best to translate, telling Diana her's was "good" and mine was "happy". On our way down there were some candles to buy, and I thought I'd get a souvenir for Mom. It turns out the candles were to be lit there, and I believe depending on where you lit them it would bring you luck in that specific category. So the woman there was very kind and gave us some cold tea and a cold cloth, and then gave us the candle and tried to explain to us what to do. We lit the candle and came back and the woman gave us a gift. We then tried to leave and that was when we got lost. It was a really nice climb to the top of the shrine, lot of work, lot of steps, it was a good idea as to how Mt. Fuji is going to be, lots of fun.

We tried to go to another shrine after this, but they closed just as we got there, so we headed back to Tokyo. We saw Tokyo at night and it looked amazing, so we changed our plans a bit so we can be in Tokyo at night tomorrow, to see the lights and the night life. I hope to find a sword tomorrow while we are at the marketplace. We were finally on a crowded train where everyone is pushing against everyone when we left for Tokyo in the morning, was a fun experience as I was being pushed against some poor girl. The JR Rail Pass is really useful as it's getting us around everywhere, it's already paid for itself in travel costs, definitely worth getting if you're coming to Japan (tourists only). My legs are killing me, and it's a bit hard to walk now as there are blisters everywhere. I was trying out a new pair of shoes that I bought that separate the toes to allow for more natural walking. I think it's a size too big, but I think the blisters are from all the walking I did, since I kept walking ahead of Diana and then walking around while waiting for her to catch up. I'm not burned anywhere anymore, which is nice, though Diana has several rashes now, she says is because of all the sweating, I told her to bathe more, few times a day to help. There was also a red-headed girl at the first shrine we went to, we made eyes. Diana says the room makes her dizzy, that it must be the wallpaper.