Arriving in Kyoto, we check in and head straight to the doctor to sort out Ness' fever and general poor condition. We learn that Ness has gastro, which become bad news for Tim, who was struck down the next day. Off to the doctor we go and yes, Tim too also has gastro.
The next two days are spent in the hotel until a tour of Gion that we've pre-booked comes up and we decide to try our luck with an evening out. We both survive it - Ness, who was further along the illness and feeling better more so than Tim who felt queasy at one point in the evening and decided not to eat any of the dinner being served.
The tour begins with a performance at the Yasaka Theatre in Gion. The performance is a showcase of seven traditional Japanese arts: Tea Ceremony, Koto Zither, Flower Arranging (a tad boring this one), Gagaku Court Music, Kyogen Theatre, Kyo-Mai Dance performed by Maikos and Bunraku Puppet Theatre. While visually very beautiful, the show felt fairly amateur.
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| (Click to enlarge) |
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Next, we walk through Gion to the Ryokan (traditional dwelling) for a traditional vegetarian tempura dinner, before participating in a tea ceremony. The journey is a huge challenge for Tim who has to stop occasionally to avoid fainting. We sampled some of the food and then headed to the tea house for a traditional tea ceremony. The traditional tea house has an extremely small entrance, thought which one has to crawl through. The purpose of the small doorway was to remove the aspect of class when entering the tea house. Regardless of status in society, everyone would need to crawl in via the door and warriors were forced to leave their armour and weapons outside in order to fit through the door - an element representing peace.
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| Tim putting on a brave face at dinner (Click to enlarge) |
Tiny entry way Making tea
The next day is spent recovering in the hotel room, alternating between sleep and episodes of Breaking Bad, in an attempt to get as well as possible before we need to make our next journey to Hiroshima. On our final day in Kyoto, we check out in the morning, leave our bags with the concierge and head off for a cooking class! We are both very excited but unfortunately, by the time we reach the cooking school, Tim is feeling a bit worse for wear. Fortunately, our hosts are incredibly hospitable and also have a room above the school used for AirBnb. They kindly offer it up to Tim so that he can rest. While Tim is resting, the cooking class goes on with Ness and three other participants. There is a lot on the menu and after 3 hours of cooking we have: sushi; chicken sukiyaki, tempura, egg rolls, salmon karrage and fresh edamame.
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| Preparations (Click to enlarge) |
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| The finished product (Click to enlarge) |
After the class it was back to the hotel to collect our bags and head off to Hiroshima, with a sick Tim in tow, fortunately feeling moderately better after having had a rest.
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