I want to ride my 自転車！ (bicycle)

It was hard to leave the Ryokan. They do a good job at making it feel like home. It was a little lonely and quiet, though, and I was looking forward to stay in a backpacker's hostel.

I moved my bags to K's House, the hostel, and spent $7 to rent a bike for the day. It took me almost 3 minutes to figure out how to unlock it. There is a lock in the back that inserts a metal rod into the spokes of the back tire, and when you unlock it, the rod springs back into it's cover. Self contained, simple, Japanese.

Kyoto was made for bikes. The outer rims of the city are hilly, but most of the rest of it is flat. I had a few close calls due to the overwhelming pedestrian and bicycle traffic, but I enjoyed the dodging game. The Kyoto sidewalks are the most disorderly thing I've experienced in Japan. They have marked parts of the sidewalk for bicycles, but no one pays attention to them. I try to stay to the left, but this often ends in a game of chicken with an incoming pedestrian or another bike. Eventually, I get the hang of it. It reminded me of the madness of Chinese traffic patterns.I biked quite a while uphill to the Golden Pavilion. It was touristy, but pretty, and worth the trip.

The ride back was even more fun. The trek back to the hostel was all downhill, and riding through the wind cooled me down. I headed East to the Kamo river, which I had a picture of in my last post.
On either side of the river there are trails made for pedestrians and, of course, bikes. I ate lunch at a French style cafe, and parked my bike when I saw this pathway accross the river. 7 kids were armed with nets, trying to catch bugs, fish, and who knows, maybe a frog. I put my hot sandled feet into the running waters: refreshing.

I got back to the hostel with it's free, fast internet. Thank god. I'm sunburned, worn out, but sitting on a nice lounge style couch surrounded by travellers of all nationalities.

I won't be able to post tomorrow because I'm headed to Mt. Koya to do a shukubo (temple stay). I'll be sure to take pictures and let you all know about it soon!