kyoto: day 1

Kyoto was a pretty cool area.  There was a ton of really amazing things to see, but the city itself kind of blew.  The transportation sucked, especially for such a touristy city.  The buses were the best way to get around, but they didn’t use much English, and they stopped running at odd hours (one main bus stopped at 5pm).  I was also thinking that since it was a smaller city it might not be as expensive as the others.  Wrong.  One ride on the bus costs about $2.20 and with the won-yen exchange rate not being in our favor, I ended up spending a ton of money just on transportation and food.  Not that it wasn’t worth it, I just could never live in a country that is so pricey.

The whole fam (minus photographer Justin) on our way to Kyoto from the airport.

The neighborhood around our hostel was quaint.

Anything you hear about vending machines in Japan is true.  They have everything from beer (here) and sake to tomatoes.  I swear I saw a tomato vending machine.  And this was only in the “small” (maybe 2 million people) city of Kyoto, so I can’t wait to see what weird stuff I’ll see in Tokyo in about a week.

The Golden Pavillion

Kimonos are so pretty.

Everything in Kyoto was so scenic and beautiful.

A little shrine we came across in our neighborhood.

Such a weird ass picture to have at a wedding reception.  I especially like the groom’s face.

Then they came out!  The bride’s dress was insane and I loved it.  (Pic from Karissa)