Heading down towards the Kamo River (鴨川), one wonders why in Australia we turn our pretty waterways into big concrete drains. One only need look at what was the Moonee Ponds Creek following the Tulla Freeway to see the attitude. Pretty? Pah! I did hear a farmer on ABC local radio complaining that the recent Australian floods were all due to plants growing in the waterways. Yeesh.

An oddity did occur as we crossed the bridge – a Japanese TV crew wanted to interview us (presumably as to what foreigners were doing in Japan when most expats had been told by their respective governments to flee – one almost expected to be accosted by former PM Rudd with his sleeves rolled up rescuing his Aussie maaates). They only wanted to interview residents, not tourists, so we missed out on our 15 seconds of fame.

The Ponto-cho alleys were historical geisha and entertainment areas. Whilst the alleyways and the restaurants looked nice, the modern iteration seemed to yell tourist trap to me. Apparently they look nice all lit up at night but we didn’t get the chance to return after dark.