Kyoto: Fushimi Inari Taisha

This morning, we checked out of the Pocket Hotel and prepared to experience staying in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. We deposited our luggage with the Yamamoto Transport Service, located conveniently across from the Pocket Hotel. It cost about $46 to have our two suitcases delivered to our hotel in Osaka in 2 days, well worth the effort of hauling luggage on crowded trains and stations. We will have just a backpack each when we check into the ryokan this afternoon.

In the morning, we took the train to visit Fushimi Inari Taisha. It is a popular spot for tourists, the photos below show why.

We walked around and were back in Kyoto by late morning, lots of time to kill before checkin at 4 pm. My daughter went shopping while I walked around the historical part of Kyoto. Took lots of photos of the houses and store fronts; I felt like I was in the set of a traditional Japanese movie. More on traditional Kyoto and our experience in a ryokan in the next post.