Fushimi Inari

We came from Osaka to Kyoto on the Hello Kitty Train, in the sunshine. I think there is rain forecast over the next few days, so we enjoyed the sunshine and relatively warm weather while we had it

We left our luggage in lockers at Kyoto Station. ¥700 per locker, which is not bad. Then we caught the train out to Fushimi Inari, where I wanted to go to say hello to Inari's foxes. That's all I wanted to do. No strong desire to wander around the shrine. We came to Kyoto just so I could visit the foxes!  (And, should you ever be following in our footsteps, there are also luggage lockers on the platform to Nara, which is where you take the train to Fushimi. There are also lockers at Inari station, but they seem to be smaller and I think would have been well used)

It is a public holiday in Japan today, for the Spring Equinox. Fushimi Inari was very busy yesterday with, I assume, people who had taken Monday off work for a super long weekend. Even so, I got to say hello to the foxes and we did go for a wander around the Torii gates and the shrines.

Ohisashiburi, kitsune sama. Long time no see, Master Foxes. Happy to see you again

Lindsey took this photo
Lots of people and
one lonely tree with cherry blossom

Lindsey tells me that there is a Facebook page for travelling in Japan where people are inclined to micro-plan their trips. You know-We'll be in Kyoto on this day and we'll do this and then this and we'll have lunch here and stay here, and have dinner here. All well and good, but then you would have missed out on the lunch we had yesterday. 

Mindful that quite often we spend a lot of time walking around, dragging out luggage with us, looking for our accommodation, and given our room is near the Inari shrine, we decided to find it yesterday unencumbered by our suitcases. Hey Siri - take us to our hotel! As we were wandering along, Lindsey saw a ramen shop up ahead and suggested we head there for lunch. Just before it there was a Gyukatsu eatery. A little place, with a short queue of people, both Japanese and overseas, waiting to go in.  On impulse, we joined the queue and found ourselves in a small restaurant which served variations on crumbed beef with various accompaniments. We had sirloin, with rice, grated cabbage, miso soup and a Kyoto curry sauce. It was a lovely lunch which we would never have encountered, had we fully organised the day. 

Back to Kyoto station for our luggage. It's only 10 minutes on the train so didn't take long to collect it and get back. Only to find that our room, comfortable and well appointed as it is, is on the second floor and the only access is some quite steep stairs.  I am possibly getting a wee bit old to be carting a 20kg suitcase up two flights of stairs! Anyway. Eventually we made it to our room. No need for a big evening meal so we raided the local convenience store for snacks, onigiri, sandwiches and wine and settled in for a quiet evening.

A good day.

Foxes guard the left luggage lockers at Inari Station