Crazy lady in Kyoto

No, I did not meet anyone crazy, everybody is super relaxed and polite, not to mention organized. It was me. I am crazy about Kyoto. I always wanted to come here and see the beautiful temples and learn a bit more about the history of the Empiriqal Japan and its ways. Discovering Asia, especially the ancient times is an amazing thing. 

I saw in Tokyo, formerly known as Edo, the difference in climate from the Chinese one. I am not talking politics. ;) The humidity is lessened than in mainland China and it is not so very hot. 

I was still getting used to Asian custom of people constantly thanking you and bowing. And then instinctively I bow, and then they bow again, and it goes on and on. I would really like to learn the rules of it, as it seemed I got something wrong. it's probably the matter of who bows last, how many times, or the occasion. Well, good thing I came to a country that everybody was willing to explain you all of the rules, any time. And even written rules-they are everywhere. Flashing down from buildings, sidewalks, streets.

Sometimes funnily spelled, but I complied, when in Rome.....

Afterwards, the road took us to the famous temple. Well, us and hundrets of tourists with selfie sticks. The street leading up to it offered geisha makeovers, and lots of women did it, walking tiny steps up the hill to the temple. 

And there it was, raising high in the back, the red temple. I saw a lot of groups dressed the same, and a lot of students, as well, dressed in school uniforms, which was funny, because it was Saturday.

The most memorable thing about Kyoto was the bamboo forest. The next day we got to it, it was raining and still, ethereal were a lot of tourists. The sight took my breath away.

It threw me back eons and eons, until I saw the selfy people. I knew that people took a lot of pictures of themselves, but it is starting to get ridiculous. I mean, we all take selfies, but the quantity... It is ridiculous. It's better just asking someone to take the picture for us. 

Kyoto was beautiful with its temples, parks and lovely people. The time was passing by, so we hurried on to Osaka to catch the plane back to Hong Kong. I started wishing to stay here a little bit longer, but that is always like that.

Kisses

Quaky Tokyo

The first time backpacking Asia, I landed in this city with a feeling of 70es being revived on a global scale. Business people emerging from everywhere, having a chat late in the evening, after a long hard day at the office, eating out in tiny fast food places. Really lovely atmosphere. We were really sticking out with those giant backpacks, tired from changing planes and trains all day. But, these people never seemed to notice that it was 11 o'clock in the evening. For getting to know the city, one must adapt to its ways, so we decided to get up early tomorrow morning and explore it to the fullest. 

Waking up to a mild earthquake, now there's an experience. I was told that that was quite normal, but I realized I know nothing about emergency procedures in case of the earthquake. I just stop there with a puzzled look on my face, not standing in the doorway or under something. The whole building was shaking, like a roller coaster. I felt excited and decided to get up afterwards, even though it was 5.40 AM. it was the perfect opportunity to visit the worlds famous Tsukiji fish market where tun prices reach millions of moneys ;) And off we were, just to find out that tuna auction started at 5 and you can't participate just as an observer. It was a perfect opportunity to eat fresh sushi, so we stood in the line, it was exactly 7.20 AM. once we got in the market tiny sushi shop, it was 9.30 AM and we got served a huge portion of sushi and fish eggs with rice and a bit of see weed. It was excellent, even though it was so early in the morning. You have to experience everything the locals do, so we spent a couple of hours at the fish market. 

Frozen tunas that came on the planes this morning were giant. All the variety of fish and shells, and the smell was delightful. We were given the rules on every each step, and basically what they told all of the tourists that they should stay out of the way of working fisherman. 

Again with too little time on our hands, we decided to explore the park, the best place in any city. 

We walked alongside the river, took a metro to get to the royal imperial palace. You can't enter it because the royal family still lives there and I am sure they wouldn't like to have constant visitors that snap photos of them. :) the park surrounding the palace is amazing. All of the herbs, plants and grasses are in their own place, very tidy, orderly and you can stare at it for hours. It was very hot, but no humidity was in the air, creating a pleasant late summer day for the pouring visitors. It was just nice to sit there and read a book while elders of Tokyo gathered and quietly drew landscapes. I find it amazing the business of later generation in Japan and China; they work, get up early to draw in the park, go on hikes or to baths and are very respected by the youth. 

The strolling in the park in the middle of tall buildings is like a breath of fresh air on a hot day- refreshing.

We were lucky enough to witness a traditional wedding in front of a temple situated close to the park. 

That evening was perfect to visit a skyscraper to see everything from up above. There is a top restaurant in busy neighborhood Shibouya loved by young adults who work a lot through week and weekends they like to dress up and hang out in the park. Never witnessed the Goth Lolita's or  any kind of Manga costumes, but night time was packed with people looking to have a good time. The city was even more alive than during the day.

When we woke up in the morning, it was hard to say goodbye to the tiny apartment in middle of Shibouya. We took the bags and went off for the volcano. Yes, a steamy semi-active Hakona volcano. 

Third time's the Paris charm!

I absolutely adore Paris. I don't know why. The people, the food, the glorious architecture and the enormous city. It is all wonderfull. 

I do know a lot of people from Paris. Nobody likes them. They are told to be stuck up, full of themselves, especially women. Everybody says so, it is incredible, even the fellow French. Nobody likes them. Well, except for me. What I like is attitude. And, surely, these people have a lot of it. I find it amazing going through daily struggles of attitude full people just to enter the metro. They are looking through you while stepping on your shoe and hitting you in the passing with their huge groceries bag. And they act like nothing happened while you turn around red faced and angry. That's the trick. Never get angry. Just put a nice forgiving face and plan a revenge.

This kind of an attitude creating comes handy once in a while, because I think that living in Paris could transform me into one of the ruthless Parisians with a ton of courage, self esteem and nerve. I could just imagine myself bitching about everything in a polite, well brought-up manner and cursing through my teeth while giving the most welcoming smile.

Of course, we went to the theatre as well. In London, we saw two productions, both of them were classical and big. Here, we went to the theatre "Cafe de la Gare", a tiny one, packed with lots of books and ancient objects, and saw a wonderful humour peace picturing everyday life. 

I was asked which city do I like better? It is hard to imagine that someone would even ask me that question three years ago, when it wasn't in my wildest dreams that I could visit them both regularly and actually compare them. 

London is beautiful, I loved the fish and chips, the bridge, the evening dates, and everything else. Paris is crazy, lots of people pretending you are not there, stepping on you and being rude at it. When you go to the Info stand, they just say "upstairs on the right", you say thank you, drag your suitcase battling through the crowd and then find there is nothing upstairs on the right, and peacefully cursing through your teeth go down and ask other tourists where you could buy a metro ticket, where they shake their heads and you all become a great lost group wondering an eternity through the underground of Paris, while you could be wondering outside, sightseeing on the way. Made me think...

But, still Paris is in my heart. I don't know why😎. Of I'll go enjoy my last day in hopefully climbing that Eiffel Tower that I didn't do last two times.

Third time's the charm, and we know Paris has a lot of charm...

Even got to see the Louvre while running through the crowds of tourists. Ahhh, spring....

There you go, see some more of the pictures:

That is a cup of gourmet coffee, apparently. :) lucky me.

Paris is lovely, isn't it?

Kisses for now.

Welcome to the wild, wild Fes

 

Once we got to the main train station, we already got to know quite a few people from Fes. And all of the people  that were occupying the compartment were managers of some-sort, a tannery, bars, the best restaurant. They were very kind and told us a lot about their lives and also didn't hesitate to ask about our lives. I usually don’t trust people at first, and they advised us not to trust anyone in Fes. Except for, I guess, all of the people in the compartment – the managers. But not a specific detail was given, just – DO NOT TRUST ANYONE. And they asked for our hotel address, and already made plans for us when to eat lunch, see the shops, etc.  Of course, they provided contacts of all sorts of “cheap” guides.

We continued suspiciously on. While  approaching towards the taxi stand (keeping in mind not to trust anyone) and asked how much to the Medina of Fes. The first one said 40 MAD (approximately 4 Euros), and we said ok (dragging a big suitcase doesn’t give you much arguing space). Luckily, we’ve found our riad in the busy streets of the Medina . The riad was close to the Blue door which was excellent for the sake of orientation (a reference point lately used a lot). Greeted in a customary Moroccan fashion, we drank the over sweeten tea with mint (which I grew very fond of, it is extra delicious), and were shown our room. By now, we already knew that one does not simply enter their booked room in Morocco, you are being shown all the other rooms, and said that the price is a little bit different (you can never get the exact price beforehand, I think it changes with the conversation), so we said no, thanks, and proceeded to our room.

The room was excellent, and the whole interior of riad was astonishing. Colorful Moroccan style accompanied with mosaics of tiles and a big spacious rooms.  African scents (sweet nutty spices mixture) made up for the fact there were no windows to the exterior world – Riads are usually closed to the outside world, but have a middle of the house open and windows towards inside, so you get a plenty of fresh air, not to worry. And the isolation of a riad guarantees a good night sleep. And after Casablanca’s crazy life, we needed it.


Just after settling, it was time for taking a walk through the colorful narrow streets of Fes Medina and seeing what the craftsmen have to offer.

The streets in Casablanca Medina were narrow, but big enough for a little car to pass through (or the taxi drivers would squeeze it through not caring about innocent pedestrians and not even honking.  In Fes, the streets were too narrow for that, and filled with people. The means of transportating the goods from one part of the market to another were mules and little ponies. “Belek, belek”, shouting all around. Later I found out in ment “attention, attention”. There is no right side of the street rule, everybody had their tempo and it took a couple of days for me to get used to it and not move for everything. People in Fes like to play a game of pretending not to see they are about to run into you, and eventually they move out of the way. The little craftsman shops are amazing, and if you want to buy something, get ready to bargain hard and ridiculous, it is the normal fashion here.

The terrace at the craftsman organisation it the jewish neighbourhood of Fes

After 12 hours of sleep(riad was an amazing place), we got up to the breakfast served on the patio in the riad, I tasted the most amazing pancakes in my life, they look like ordinary pancakes, but have layers of delicious dough – anyway, something to try. And filled with energy, we decided to sop hard and bargain heavily. Note – we didn’t succeed, the sellers have a thing of knowing that you like something and they will use it against you. Well, at least I know for the future that walking away is sometimes the best solution. Aaaand, never ever ever buy the thing in huge leather shops next to the tannery. It is much cheaper on the streets.

Last step: Coloring

First step: Desinfection

Ah, yes, the tannery. To get to the terrace on the top (so you can enjoy a view on the process of turning sheep skins into leather and then coloring it) you have to pass the three or four floors of little leather shops with all their products. Once you get there, the awful stench makes you want to run back to riad and never come out again. But, you stick there, because it is probably the last time you will see something like that. The guide tells you a little story how they first put the skins into a dissolved pigeon poo, which explains the smell. And a soon as the story is finished, you run down, just to see other friendly sellers offering the tea, which of course, you cannot refuse (and it is really hard to, it is delicious), and start showing you things.

From the top of the hill you can get the most beautiful view, at least the managers swore on it. You have to get the taxi, and of course go through all the arguing and price changing (it is very important to have either a taximeter on or decide on a price beforehand). The view on the Medina was worth it. Getting up there just in time for their call to the prayer and filming it, was worth the trouble.

The smell of the market in Fes is quite different from the one in Casablanca, but it’s offer is quite bigger (lovely sandwiches, sweets, spices, leather shoes, all you can think of, even live chickens and a half of a cow being chopped to small pieces).  If you want to escape the sounds and smells of the lively Medina, there is the park nearby, called jnans bil, beautiful still place with lots of security which are protecting the plants. Yes, plants, not people.  You cannot touch the plants.

With the memory of all those smells and colors, we continue the journey to the south, the desert.