It was the dawn of another beautiful day in Kyoto. We packed our bags for the last time (the usual struggle to close the suitcases with yet more souvenirs enclosed!). After breakfast, we walked to Gion Shijo Station (an easy 15-minute walk from our Ryokan) and caught the train to Fushimi Inari Shrine.
This is one of the most important Shinto shrines in Kyoto, but most tourists come here to bare witness to the thousands of torii gates which start at the bottom of Mount Inari and follow the forest trail leading up to the top of the mountain.
The Japanese buy Omikuji which are small pieces of paper which tell your fortune. They are purchased for a small fee and once read, they are tied around the branches of pine trees.
We descended back down the mountain. On the way down we passed several shrines, statues and gardens.
At the foot of the shrine we passed food stalls selling Japanese street food.
After spending several hours at the shrine we caught the train back to Gion.
Realising we were running out of time before having to depart Kyoto, we power walked to one of the most celebrated temples in Japan, Kiyomizudera. On the way we walked through the Higashiyama district, with its narrow lanes, historic old buildings and traditional merchant shops. It was Saturday which is the most popular day for locals to visit the shrines, so we had to battle our way through the crowds towards Kiyomizudera.
It was well worth the effort. This temple was very impressive and unique with its wooden stage which extends 13m above the hillside below.
It was now 1pm and time to head back to the ryokan to collect our luggage and make our way to Kyoto train station to catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. We enjoyed a lovely meal at the train station, then boarded the train. On the way we enjoyed a stunning view of Mount Fuji as we shot through the countryside at 300km/h.
We caught the local train to Haneda Airport and had a quite evening waiting for our late night flight. We were relieved that the weight of our luggage fell under the 23KG limit (we had a bunch of hand luggage which helped. Luckily they didn’t look too closely at that).
We flew JAL and the seating was comfortable, but the service was not outstanding.
DEAR FAMILY & FRIENDS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN FOLLOWING OUR JOURNEY. IT WAS TRULY AMAZING AND AN EXPERIENCE WE WILL NEVER FORGET.
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