Kyoto, Day 3: Fushimi Inari, Chion-in, Ninenzaka, and Kiyomizu-dera

Our plans for day three in Kyoto started with a trip to Fushimi Imari-taisha. While the main shrine at sits at the base of Inari mountain, the real draw to this site is the complex web of trails threading their way up the mountain through thousands and thousands of red torii gates and connecting half a dozen or so smaller shrine sites. It's a popular tourist destination that involves 2-3 hours of hiking confined to narrow passages - not something we really wanted to undertake with thousands of other visitors. I thus made the executive decision to set my alarm for 5:30am on Kyoto day three. We were out the door by 6am and approaching the main shrine at the bottom of Mt Inari by 7am. 

The main temple was beautiful - as they all have been - but we didn't spend much time looking around here as the hike was the main purpose of our visit.

Just behind the main shrine, the trail up the mountain begins - it's hard to miss as it's essentially a long tunnel of torri gates:

Though originally known as the god of rice, Inari has in more recent years become recognized as the god of business and is traditionally worshiped by merchants and manufacturers. To bring prosperity to their businesses, companies and individuals buy and donate the torri gates to the shrine. Each gate is inscribed with the donor's name and date of donation. The cost of each gate starts at around 400,000 yen ($4000) for the smaller sized gates seen below and increases to over one million yen ($10,000) for a large gate.

This was definitely one of those places were the pictures just don't come close to doing it justice.

For mile after mile (nearly 3 miles in total) the covered trail wound right...

...and left...

...up steps...

...out to beautiful views over Kyoto...

...and through tiny "villages" of shrines. We passed through maybe half a dozen of these. They each contained a small "shop" selling items for worship (tiny torri gates, incense, etc) as well as souvenirs, drinks, and snacks. In the picture below, the "shop" is on the right.

On the left, across from the shop, is a small complex of many small shrines:

Each "village" included a plot layout for the shrines housed there.

As we neared the top of the mountain, the gates became a little more spread out, but they were still plentiful.

They made a fascinating site winding through an otherwise remote, dense forest.

At the top of the mountain was another complex of smaller shrines.

After resting at the top, we began the walk down - no less adorned than the path that lead up:

Throughout the hike we encountered countless fox states. Because it is believed that foxes are messengers to Inari, they are frequently found at shrines dedicated to the god.

As we reached the bottom of the mountain, the trail got busier and busier to the point where we had a hard time getting through the crowds in the main shrine courtyard to reach the exit. I was so thankful we had gotten an early strart!

After the early start to the day, Fiona and I decided to go easy on Jason and let him have a little nap before continuing on. We all rested a bit and then set out for our afternoon of exploring a section of Kyoto just east of the Kano River that is home to several temples, Maruyama Park, Ninenzaka ("old Kyoto"), and the Gion district (the historic entertainment district of Kyoto famous for being home to many of the tea houses frequented by geishas).

As we entered Maruyama Park on our way to Chion-in, we passed rows of street vendors selling all kinds of souvenirs and foods. Jason and Fiona decided to try the crab on a stick - I guess it wasn't bad because they finished it off pretty quickly.

I'm not a huge temple/shrine hoping fan. Don't get me wrong - they are beautiful and impressive to look at, but I'd much rather see a few in detail than try to squeeze a bunch in. So as we toured around, what I enjoyed looking at more than anything was the crazy juxtaposition that is Kyoto - bustling, modern city where, around any corner you're likely to stumble across buildings hundreds (in some cases more than 1000) of years old.

When we reached the Chion-in main entrance gate, we found this huge structure - the largest wooden gate in Japan!

After passing through the gate, we were greeted by another daunting set of stairs. As Jason and I stopped to catch our breath, Fiona took off to tackle the challenge. She's that tiny white dot halfway to the top.

Her energy is endless - heat and humidity have nothing on this girl.

Sadly, when we reached the top of the steps, we discovered that the main temple is undergoing a huge renovation - so extensive that the entire structure is covered in an external scaffolding. We walked around the grounds for a bit taking in some of the smaller shrines before making our way back to Maruyama Park.

The park itself was beautiful - flowering trees, ponds, and bridges. It was a great place to explore...

...and take a break for some refreshing drinks!

On the other side of Maruyama Park was Ninenzaka - old town Kyoto. Despite being packed with tourists, the narrow, alley-like streets lined with authentically preserved, wooden buildings and merchant shops immediately transported us back to historic Kyoto. We had a great time perusing the shops...

...and taking advantage of the old fashioned "air conditioning" provided in the streets!

Can you spot the very un-historic shop behind us over Fiona's head?

Yep, that's right - Starbucks has even managed to negotiate its presence into old time Kyoto!

At the end of the winding streets of Ninenzaka is the entrance gate to Kiyomizudera - a UNESCO world heritage site that I added to our site seeing list because of it's huge raised wooden deck that juts out from the hillside on which the temple sits and offers stunning views of Kyoto. Disappointingly, this temple was also undergoing massive renovations and closed to the public!

It's beautiful pagoda was still accessible:

The courtyard area was packed, so we didn't stick around long.

In an effort to avoid the crowds, we weaved our way around down a side street and exited past this massive collection of shrines:

Hot, tired, and hungry, we started our walk toward the Gion district where we had plans to try to get seats at a popular gyoza restaurant. On our way, we passed this randomly placed corner vending machine - selling batteries!

Finally, we made it to Chaochao Gyoza. While I was researching our trip, I read about a highly rated restaurant selling (arguably) the best gyoza in Japan. Being that we have all developed a strong love of gyoza since arriving, we couldn't wait to try it.

Luckily, we got there 15 minutes before it opened because within ten minutes of opening, the place was packed! We ate a TON of delicious gyoza, and the entire time, Fiona talked nonstop about how she couldn't wait to go see a geisha after dinner. I had read that it's not particularly common to see them walking the streets, so I was more than a little concerned we wouldn't be able to deliver on that one...

As we left the restaurant, we were so glad to have arrived early!

Fiona immediately set off in search of a geisha. She checked every corner, crevice, and alleyway she could find. All to no avail. It got later and later and she showed no desire to give up the hunt - despite the fact that Jason and I were tired, hot, sweaty, and ready to go home. Finally, we got desperate and bribed her to call it quits in exchange for an ice cream cone.

We're moving "see a geisha" to the list for next time we're in Kyoto. As Fiona made sure to clarify, "We aren't quitting, we're just going to try again another time!"