Kyoto

So after the tournament ended, we all packed up our bags and went our separate ways, except a few of us who were all going to Kyoto since there was a street festival happening there. Our little travel group consisted of Finn, Tim, Darryn, Jono, Andrea (Columbian) and myself – and we all didn’t have accommodation in Kyoto booked or any idea of where to initially go in Kyoto. We safely got ourselves there on the trains and then booked our luggage into lockers at the train station and set out with small backpacks, in high hopes of finding cheap accommodation or a park with nice, soft grass. Jono even made a Japanese sign saying, “We have nowhere to sleep. Will pay to sleep on your floor.” 

Instead, we found a park with not much grass and mosquitoes, as all the hostels and hotels were fully booked or either really expensive since many tourists were in town. We chilled there for a bit, had a nap, played some poker and disc golf, and then decided to find some dinner. 

Since the festival was going on, there were many stalls everywhere and many people walking around, so it was quite a vibe. We decided to then not return to the park and rather sleep in the station. We got our beds made on the station floor and one hour later, the Japanese police told us we were not allowed to sleep here. Luckily, a friendly Japanese man who spoke English told us that we could go to the 24hr McDonalds and sleep on the couches there. 

But after 3hrs or so of trying to sleep and being woken up every 30mins by the McDonalds man, we finally met another English speaking Japanese guy who told us about a 24hr internet cafe where you can rent a computer booth and get food, showers etc. And that’s where we landed up staying for the majority of our time. 

I pretty much slept in a couch or in parks during the day, while at night we left to see the festival and meet up with friends since it was a lot cooler then. We tried to see the Imperial Palace but it was closed, so we slept in the Imperial Park, haha. On the 17^th we missioned back to Osaka airport and flew to Seoul airport, South Korea.