We’re off on the bullet train back to Tokyo after spending three days in Kyoto. I gotta tell you I am still in love with these trains. They are just amazingly efficient, fast and smooth.

But enough about the trains. A bit about the city of Kyoto. Home to 1.5 million people, this is the old capital. You can’t throw a stick in this town without hitting a shrine. I mean it, there are shrines all over the place. Big ones, silver ones, gold ones and small ones. There are actually 1600 shrines and 17 are world heritage sites!

My favorite day was walking the Philosopher’s Path — a narrow paved trail along a crystal clear creek elevated a bit above the city. It was peaceful and quiet and the neighborhood of the silver pagoda — which really isn’t silver — they just call it that because the guy who built it was going to cover it in silver leaf. We spent the day wandering around and had lunch at the cutest little cafe with a husband-and-wife team who ran it. (or at least that’s what we told ourselves).

Kelly led me all over the city and we saw many, many more shrines and walked miles and miles. It was beautiful and exhausting. But fun!

We stayed in the Westin hotel, which I had selected because they had a deal on bed and breakfast and it was located near a lot of shrines. The location and the clean PJs every morning were the best things about the hotel. Oh yeah, they did have a great hamburger and french fries, too! The place looked like it had been built in the 80s and then added onto again and again and again. It was so chopped up looking that we even had a huge pillar in our room. The beds were nice and the room was fine, but if you are looking for charm or a bit of Japanese history, this isn’t the place to stay. I’m not really sure where is good, but a little research should give you some other options. There is a Ritz Carlton, but it is located out of town and I was afraid that location would be problematic for walking around.

On our last morning before returning to Tokyo for our flight to Bangkok, we stumbled upon the Kyoto Ceramic Arts Association store. It was full of gorgeous pottery and we found out the neighborhood around this store had lots of other cute pottery shops. This was near the Kiyiomizudera shrine.

This is our last day of our JR train pass, so we are heading back to Tokyo and then out to Narita Airport to spend the night at the Airport Hilton before our morning flight to Bangkok. Thailand here we come!!

There’s a lot to like about Japan.

For one thing, English is everywhere. If your Japanese is like mine — I know sushi and teriyaki and that’s about it — you’re fine. Every sign, label and street name is posted in English as well as Japanese. Everyone speaks English or at least enough to answer simple question and they are eager to chat with you.

The women are gorgeous. They’ve figured out that the sun is not good for their porcelain skin and carry the most beautiful lace-trimmed and scalloped umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun — not the rain. I wanted one of the umbrellas until I found out they run a cool $200. (Update, our shopping revealed they can be had for $25, but I talked myself out of buying one when I tried to figure out how to get it in my suitcase.)

It gets light early here. When I woke up at 3:46 — thank you jet lag — it was light.

The people are orderly and polite. Even in a city like Tokyo — with more than 38 million people — there are no unruly crowds, no people bumping into each other and no yelling and screaming. People are down right nice. They bow to you whenever you speak to them and treat you like you are some kind of special.

Tipping is considered in poor taste. They pay their service people enough so you don’t have to tip them to compensate for a low hourly wage. What a novel concept! Waiters and waitresses in our hotel actually ran to retrieve requested items.

Tokyo is more modern than most major US cities. Before World War II, fires got rid of most of the buildings. After World War II, well — we all know what we did to each other. Now, if a building is old, they simply tear it down and build a new one. No renovations or remodeling. They like new and shiny.

They have the most incredibly high tech toilets I have ever seen. They warm your seat, spray water and do all kinds of things I don’t understand — because this is one item I have found that isn’t labeled in English. Oh yeah, they put the toilet in its own little room, as I found out when I went in our bathroom and said to Kelly, “where’s the toilet?” She had already found it across the hallway in its own little compartment.

Tokyo is one of the cleanest places I have ever visited. The streets are spotless and I haven’t seen one bit of litter — anywhere.

Public transport is amazing and easy to navigate. Well, especially if you are traveling with Kelly Thomas, the wizard of directions, maps and finding your way. We bought a 7-day rail pass in the US and it will get us all around the city and to Kyoto and back. The trains run frequently, are air-conditioned, clean and color-coded so you know which line to use. Again, English is everywhere and even announcements are made in English.

The Japanese have planned well for disabled and handicapped folks. There are plenty of elevators, ramps and every street has raised pathways to help the blind navigate streets and road crossings.

These guys have thought of everything. Most restaurants have these cute little baskets or bins that sit under your seat or behind it to hold your purse and shopping bags. No oversized purses taking up space in your lap or on the floor. And by the way, it is safe enough in Japan that you don’t have to worry about purse snatchers!

Wi-fi is everywhere and it is free. America, take note.

Iced tea is as good as anywhere in the South! I’m in heaven.