Trekking Japan: Fushimi Inari Taisha

The weather in the morning was ok, but not great. I decided Fushimi Inari-Taisha would be a great place as it didn't matter if the weather was good or bad for the pictures I wanted. I think everyone has seen a picture of this place, it is a big shrine area with so many orange shrine gates they make tunnels. I always thought is was only a small section that was like this, but oh was I wrong. These things go up the whole mountain and it is a long stair climb. I thought i'd be here for an hour tops, but it actually took most of the day. No complaints here. This place is really easy to get to, only two train stops from Kyoto station, and its right there when you get off the train.

I had to stop myself from taking pictures of the gates as they just went on and on. There were many shrine areas and stores at rest stops along the way. At one stop I notice a small shrine away from the main area and a path past the bathroom. All the other tourists area oblivious to these side paths so I check it out. I'm greeted with a very cool bamboo forest area and small shrines most people probably don't see. There were a lot of people at the start, but less and less as I went up the mountain. My pictures are deceiving as it was not void of people as it seem. I had to wait many times to have people walk out of view and check if people would pass me to get in the shot. Lots of black and orange. In the end a truly amazing place.