Hello!
Once again I have borrowed Rachel’s images as I only used my big camera yesterday. Thanks Rachel!!
So… We went over to Fushimi Inari with the intent to hike all the way up and around the little mountain. Something I had wanted to do for years… Just for one reason or the other… Not managed it.
We didn’t go super early… Early enough but the crowds were out in force..
Being a very popular and picturesque spot. I (very wrongly) assumed we would leave a lot of the crowd behind once we walked up past the first bit.
nup uh.
So many people seemed to have a very similar idea.
So yesterday we got a full dose of peak tourism haha.
Still… It was Rachel’s first time to the shrine and we really enjoyed seeing the rest of the area. It’s just amazing. The Tori gates go on and on!!
Businesses buy a tori gate and have their name etched into the pillars and the date. With the idea that good business fortune will favour them.
I like all the nooks and crannies of the stone shrines tucked into the hillside.
And seemingly forgotten small tori piled up here and there
You can still see in one spot, lots of bunches of origami cranes
Lots of small shrines are dotted about too
The hike is a bit of a circuit once you reach a certain point.
At the highest point of Mt Inari, there is a slightly larger shrine…. But around the sides and back are plenty more tori gates stacked up!
And yes… The couple you can kinda see in the above pic really did walk up to the top in beautiful kimonos including traditional shoes…and the young lady still looked elegant and fresh as a daisy! Totally take my sweaty hat off to her!!
Today we have been organising our packs as it’s our last day in Kyoto. We plan to take our friends out to dinner tonight… Then it’s off to Nagasaki if I got all the flight details right!! Eeep.
Apparently the current typhoon is skirting the area… Which is good but the first day or so will be …. Soggy!
xxx
