Millions of Foxes

We arrived in Kyoto only to discover that it was a long weekend and accomodation was a bit scarce. We managed to book a Ryokan at the International Tourist Information (9th floor of train station building) and even managed to find it without too much walking around (which would be a feature of our time in Kyoto).

The Kyoko Ryokan is a slightly old, but pleasant japanese style inn. You leave your shoes at the door, change into a simple kimono gown and sleep on futon mattresses laid out on the tatami floors. The location is great (near the station) and the is a great little udon shop across the laneway.

Our plan was to do the 2 hour Fushimi Inari walk through hundreds of tori (shinto shrine archways for the rice gods) and up to the top of the nearby hills. I think we took as many photos of fox statues as we took on The Great Wall (photos later)!

The weather was surprisingly warm and the guide book had poor instructions and a tiny map, but we managed in the end and were rewarded with good views and an interesting survey of tori and foxes. And 4 hours later we made it to the end.