Even though my feet were killing me from the day before, I knew that I wanted to go to Fushimi Inari Taisha! It's always been on my list ever since I saw it in Memoirs of a Geisha and the stunning beauty in person has been a highlight of my trip so far!

Fushimi Inari Taisha

The shrine is just a short trip from Kyoto station either by bus or JR. The shrine is directly across from the station, which is a trend I've noticed with Kyoto. The gate to the shrine is nestled amidst a charming street, and impressive right off the bat! There were priest praying in some of the buildings, while people outside prayed. There were also some shrine maidens performing a ceremony to bless some travelers, but no photos allowed. After the main area is the long climb up the mountain. There are numerous paths to take, which leads in a loop around the mountain. Fushimi Inari is known for its amazing thousands of orange gates that line the path.

The steps were a mixture of smooth walkways, paved steps and steep stone stairways. It winds up and down the mountain, eventually coming to the top. It was fun to check each map on the way up and seeing that you had only traveled a small distance! The mountain is covered in lush forests and streams, including some bamboo which was very beautiful. There were also a lot of spiders along the route, so I stayed in the middle of the path when it wasn't crowded ha-ha.

Along the way there were many smaller shrines and souvenir shops. I also enjoyed going off the path to the quieter and older shrines. Some were forgotten while others had incense lit and food left for whoever resides there. Needless to say, my knees were shaking on the way down!

Gion District

After meeting a couple cats, we headed back home to pick up more people for Gion. Kyoto is probably best known for its Geisha district, so the old ryokan buildings were on my bucket list as well. So after grabbing a quick meal at Yoshinoya with the local businessmen, we hopped on the bus again.

Chion In Temple (We were too late for visiting hours)

Yasaka Taisha

We couldn't help visiting a couple more shrines and temples on the way, as many people were in kimono for a festival. A bunch of old ladies actually came up to Gage and I to tell us we were good looking and asking where we were from. It was a very flattering and surreal experience. I had heard its common for people to comment on your appearance in Japan, but to actually have a conversation with someone like that was unexpected for sure! They were very sweet.