After the usual Starbucks start to the day, we made our way to the train station and took the local train for the short ride to Fushimi-Inari. The huge torii just outside the railway station marks the entrance to the shrine complex.
Fushimi Inari is the location of the thousands of red torii gates that have been donated by worshippers. There are so many that they form a sort of tunnel of torii that extend for 2km from the base of the hill to the top. One can walk the entire length, or like us, go up just a short way and still experience another "wow" moment.
Having had our fill or torii, we retraced our steps to the station and took the train back to Kyoto station.
We found our way out of the train station to the bus station, and took the bus to the Philosopher's Path.
The boulevard marking the start of the Philosopher's Path gave us a good trailer of what to expect.
However, we decided to grab lunch first at this cafe. It was a decent Italian meal, with a great view.
We then set off towards the Philosopher's path,so named apparently because a philosophy professor loved to walked down this path everyday while mulling over the big questions of life. It is a lovely walk, around 1.5 km long, lined by shops and cafes, and of course, with the sakura in full bloom, it is a sight to be remembered.
I heartily recommend stopping at one of the Haagen Daz vending machines and grabbing a stick to munch on as you walk along.
At the end of the walk, we decided to head for the Heian Jingu shrine, which meant heading for the nearest bus stop. We had bought a bus pass in anticipation of the bus rides we were going to be taking today, and it definitely paid its way.
We walked to the bus stop and took the bus to the Heian Jingu shrine complex, which is heralded from the street by this magnificent torii.
The shrine courtyard is a vast space with sakura in full bloom on the tree right in front, hemmed in by the distinctive orange and green structures.
We made our way to the gardens, which are justifiably famous.
We walked out of the temple complex and then visited Kyoto Handicraft Centre. We managed to buy a good replica of a samurai sword and arranged to have it shipped. We left the Handicraft Centre and took two buses to Sanjo-dori to an Indian restaurant for dinner, and then walked back to the hotel.
