We're now leaving Kyoto and enroute to Hiroshima via bullet train.

We're travelling with the bags which is never too much fun but the Japanese rail system is impressive by any standard and so doing a trip like we're doing (Kyoto to Hiroshima for lunch, a few hours to look around the atomic bomb memorial, and then back on a train for 3 hours to a small place called Kinosaki-onsen (on the north coast, north of Osaka) is definitely do-able. We have JR rail passes and the process for getting booked onto the right trains took just a few minutes - with a Japanese booking clerk whose fingers flew over the keys of her keyboard to get us on each of the right trains. Like I said, impressive.

In the end we "got Kyoto" and enjoyed our time there. We took it slowly - not giving in to the "temple-itus" that a lot of tourists seem to have. As you can see below, we admired their temples to consumerism (actually they were quite revolting). the city scopes at night as well as the temples, the zen gardens and the Geishas (entertainment girls, heading to dinners).

Here's a Geisha, on her way to dinner. The sawn-off flip-flops they wear look painful and the preparation of all that make-up intense...

The toilets are something else. Especially when you press the wrong button and get surprised!

We are somewhat alien here, being both Tall and Large:

Drinking Sake!

The food is pretty much universally amazing:

Temples (everywhere!)

And crowds, crazy crowds in places. In other places it's quiet, almost too quiet:

It's rare to get a truly inspirational experience - but Living Land is one.  It's an organic farm community project on the outskirts of Luang Prabang, Laos. It was set up by Mark, an English gentlemen who they said has supported more than 80 Lao children through education and into jobs within the community. 

We met members of the community who started out life as poor Hmong villagers with slash and burn agricultural practices, no education and no way out of their existence. Through the help of the Living Land community (and the temples), they have been educated in the ways of organic, sustainable farming and rice growing - and found self-esteem and empowerment, even university careers. There are 40-50 people working on the farm who otherwise wouldn't have jobs. Incredible support! The experience was great - learn how to grow rice in 14 easy steps, very hands on, using original and ancient techniques. Ploughing the field with Susan the buffalo was hilarious.

This is one experience not to miss (and you get to eat the rice products at the end too!)

By selling high-end organic, mostly European-species of salad and herbs to the nice hotels in Luang Prabang, and offering tours around their farm to tourists, they can fund their existence as well as doing outreach projects in the Hmong villages, looking for talented young kids with the right attitude but lacking the opportunity of any education. By educating these youngsters they help their families to grow out of poverty and adopt organic, sustainable techniques.

Positive and life-affirming day out!

So far, we've:

Looking for some anti-biotics for S's tummy upset, I turn to the hotel for help and they recommend a pharmacy at the market. This is a stall selling mostly European drug deriatives - mostly made in Thailand. They don't need a prescription and can't speak much English but with some miming and comedy pointing, I come away with some strong anti-biotics (the type where the wiki-pedia definition says they're normally prescribed and reserved for severe cases of bronchitis...), some rehydration electrolyte sachets, some anti-biotic cream for my foot (apparently normally used to treat infections in marine fish...) and some anti-histamine tablets. All for about a fiver. Lao medicine!

Anyway, S is doing ok, still not great, but less fever and aches so I think it's working. My foot is less like an elephant's now and less sore, so hopefully we are saved...