Nishiki Market, Kyoto

Our first real outing was to the Saturday morning Nishiki Market in Kyoto. We had arranged a tour ahead of time through Context Travel (highly recommend this company for several reasons; I’ve made a note to return to that discussion in another post). One of our gang—Karyn—was arriving that morning from Hiroshima and had agreed to meet us at the tour meeting point. After finding something for breakfast, the rest of us headed for the subway to travel up to the market. Descending on the (left side of the) escalator outside the hotel, I thought the woman six steps below me looked uniquely unJapanese. When she turned slightly sideways, I shouted “Karyn!” She had gotten an earlier train and was looking for coffee before heading to the market. So … all caffeinated, we all negotiated the subway trip and 15-minute walk to the market together.

We were joined on our market tour by one other woman, from Australia. A nice small group to negotiate the narrow alleys and crowds. Highlights:

I make light of the oddities to our western palate, but it was a fascinating, educating, and stinky experience. A few of the group enjoyed baked eel spines that tasted—and I quote—“like crisps.” We tried some sansho pepper powder that make our mouths tingle for 15 minutes. I did buy some bean cookies that we watched being made and some orange honey syrup to make a very refreshing drink. A touch of vodka or rum might even improve it. More experimenting.