I fell in love with Kyoto for so many reasons. The graciousness and kindess of its people. The ease of getting around by bike or foot without getting hopelessly lost. The narrow winding riverside streets. The deeply spiritual vibe in every temple, shrine, and garden. The sheer beauty of it all. Don't get me wrong; at first glance of its drab concrete and buzzing neon, Kyoto is just as ugly as every other Japanese city. But like San Francisco, Kyoto is surrounded by undeveloped mountains snaked with hiking trails and views. Add to that the serenity of a raked Zen rock garden, a row of red Shinto torii (arches) and the graceful architecture of hundreds of Buddhist temples, you have a place that could keep its mysteries hidden for quite some time. If you can just ignore the omni-present din of the city's pachinko parlors and inexplicably amplified voices below, it's truly spectacular.

I left Kyoto on Friday to visit Naomi, a friend of Mike Lavigne's in Kobe. She was lovely and we spent Friday and Saturday nights together having a fun but mellow time out on the town. I spent Saturday an hour outside of Kobe at Himeji, the best preserved castle in Japan. While the castle was impressive, there was a big Sumo festival going on that day and the sheer number of visitors was overwhelming given the time I'd just spent in Kyoto. On my way from the train to the castle, I stopped by a small street festival that made me laugh out loud. I do believe the Japanese could use a visit to the States for a crash course on street-fair throwing. First of all, when I go to a festival I expect food and lots of it. Greasy grills, tasty, sweet, salty aromatic offerings from every booth. I expect good music-- perhaps a DJ or a lively band with a crowd drawn, maybe even a person or two dancing. I expect the booths to be hawking things that might actually be interesting... I dunno, perhaps 10-minute chair massages, jewelry and clothes, maybe some nice art. Heck, I'd even made do with some free Power Bar samples.

This had to be the most sedate festival I've ever seen. There were dozens of booths offering, uhh, what? I can't read Japanese but I do believe the vast majority were handing out informational pamphlets of some variety or another. And oh, there was a band, but it was the worst male/female singing duo I've ever heard and everyone was watching in stoned silence. There was NO food, NO beer, save a tiny soba stand way off on the side where people would buy their noodles and plunk themselves down on a bench, since the Japanese never walk and eat at the same time. The most interesting booth I found offered an interactive display demonstrating the benefits of forest conservation dams (see photo album). I quickly left and made my way toward the castle, where there was a bit more action in the form of the traditional Sumo portable-shrine ceremony. I couldn't quite figure out what was going on, but it involved dozens of grown men wearing what looked like cloth diapers occasionally lifting fake-gilded shrines up on their shoulders, then putting it down after a minute or two and doing a little mosh dance with each other. It was riveting.

I decided to head back to Kyoto for my final day (Sunday) since my hostel in Kobe was pretty expensive and I'd been having such a wonderful time in Kyoto. I spent my final day visiting Chion-in temple, which had yet another gorgeous hike behind it. This led me to Shoren-in, another temple at the top of the East hills that was completely deserted except for me, and I spent a fair amount of time sitting in their garden thinking.

One of my goals for this trip has been to take time to think hard and evaluate-- to keep my eyes open for a path laid out for me that in my everyday life, I've just been too busy or blind to see. The days I spent in Kyoto gave me the perfect environment to spend a lot of time alone to think, explore and just be. I've tried to allow each fork in the road to speak softly to me, gently nudging me in the right direction in a way that has opened me up to more possibilities, almost more than I am prepared to deal with. I've had several "aha!" moments that make me feel I am closer to finding it than I am far, but still often find that I talk myself out of these moments for any number of reasons and am often left feeling more deflated than when I started. Thoughts like this make me realize I should start a journal, as the number of ideas and impressions I have every day while away from the computer are too many to count.

My final night in Japan was spent with Aurelio and his friend Rickie in a karaoke box. They got wasted on cheap beer and I had milk and cookies (I was serious when I said I was off the stuff). I sang Bohemian Rhapsody, Like a Virgin, Hotel California, Obladi Oblada, Vision of Love, and American Pie. It really was good fun I must say.

I am leaving for Bangkok in a few hours and can't wait for what awaits me there. Until then, sayonara!