Kyoto Trip: Fushimi Inari Taisha

We've officially been in Japan for two months as of today!  We've been able to do and see a ton of really incredible things since being here, and we've only just begun!  We're going to be here for 3 years, but I just have this overwhelming feeling that I don't want to waste any time--I want to be sure to see everything and do as much as possible.  And so . . . our adventures continue!

Last week, we went to Kyoto for 5 days.  And let me just say, it completely exceeded my expectations!  Kyoto was on the top of Peter's list, and he's even been there twice before, but while I wanted to go check it out, it wasn't my top priority.  But after all is said and done, I am soooo glad that we did make this trip a priority, and that we planned it out and did so much while we were there.  Since we were there for 5 days, and we really packed it in, I'll split up my blog posts so that each one isn't completely overrun with photos!

Let's start with a new favorite spot of Peter's and mine!  Fushimi Inari Taisha.  This Shinto shrine is considered to be the most important of all the Inari shrines.  It is made up of a big beautiful temple and behind it, thousands of red torii gates that wind up the mountainside.  It is so incredible, it's hard to put into words the magnitude and beauty that these thousands of torii gates create.  

The entire trail of gates takes about 2 hours to walk through, and they lead all the way up the mountain.  However, since this was only our first stop of three for the day, we knew we needed to conserve our kids' energy, and so we went about 1/3 of the way up before turning around.  Next time we'll make it to the summit!  But regardless of how far you hike, you're guaranteed to see thousands of gates!

Now, here are about 100 more photos for your viewing pleasure ;)