To Kyoto - 28th May 2015

In spite of all the deer and whatever else making noises I had a good rest last night. I packed up early in case someone was going to come up and get upset by my presence, so I set off rather early, and as I was descending the mountain I saw this creature:

I think it was a baby fox

Its mother was nowhere to be seen

Regretful that my camera does not take better photos when zooming

On the wildlife so far, I have seen deer, mountain goats, a wild boar, lots of snakes, a civet, squirrels, hawks, cranes, so many different, interesting and annoying types of bugs I can't even count, and monkeys. In almost every instance the animals run off as soon as they see me, and the only attack (if you could consider it that) I have suffered is by the bugs the other day. Oh, also the snake biting my trekking pole when I poked it to see if it was alive. Apart from that I think the wildlife offers little threat in Japan.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, with the trail leading me into the residential areas around Lake Biwa just outside Kyoto, and then up Mt Otowa:

The trail took me along the Seta River

It runs into Lake Biwa

And then through some suburbs

Lunch

And then out of town to Mt Otowa

Back into forests

At the top provided a view of Kyoto

I had been on the trail for six days straight which was enough for me, and earlier in the day I had stopped at a convenience store to use their internet and booked a bed in a "space themed" capsule hotel in Kyoto. It has always been a ambition of mine to stay in one of these just to see what they were like. Basically you stay in dormitory style accommodation, but instead of bunk beds you are provided with your own "capsule," think of an oversized coffin with a bed in it. So I got down from Mt Otowa by 3pm and I caught the train into Kyoto from Otani station. I had a bit of trouble finding the place, but I eventually did and was not disappointed by the theme:

The "Men's Space Room" 

It felt like I was in a scene out of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey 

I checked my GPS data and I have now walked 991km in total. I am going to take a few days rest here, and then finish off the last section of the walk to Osaka, which I think it will take me another week and a half or so, just in time as it is getting hotter every day.



Distance: 24km