We decided to see the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto first, so we caught the train going there right at 9:40. We were a bit worried that we'd have difficulties finding the shrine once getting off the train, but then we found out that the train station is built right in front of the shrine. So it was pretty easy finding it since all we had to do was cross the street.
The Fushimi Inari Shrine is where the 10,000+ torii gate pathways are located at. All of the torii gates make for a pretty impressive view. Unfortunately, everyone and their mother thinks the same way because this place was packed. I was excited to get good shots of the gates but there were hoards of people trying to do the same. Here's what I managed -
So yeah, this place is definitely pretty. Once we got out of the first few hundred torii gates and the pathway up the mountain, the crowd died down a bit. Most people stayed near the main shrine at the bottom of the mountain. Although we wanted to hike up the mountain to see more, we also had Himeji Castle planned out so we couldn't stay for too long.
Also, this shrine loves foxes, as foxes were believed to be messengers of the gods. There are fox statues everywhere and most of the souvenirs are fox-related. I got a fox mask car ornament, Riley got a fox coin purse, and Grace got a small fox plushie.
Off to Himeji!
This is where the group split into two. You know how I said some of us are more prone to get lost than others? We lost one of the members and had to find them, which caused us to be late to the shinkansen. Two of the guys decided to just board the one we missed, so the rest of us had to stay and wait another hour for the next one. We finally did make it though!
Himeji Castle was amazing! At first I was a bit hesitant on it, mainly because it cost 1000 yen (about $10), and I'm already starting to get a little panicked about my money supply. I thought the $400 dollars I brought would be fine but I'm having to be a bit frugal with money now. Everyone figured the $10 would be worth it so I decided to buy a ticket anyway.
It was worth it.
Himeji Castle is even better than Osaka Castle in my opinion. The inside of Osaka Castle was built into a museum, but Himeji Castle kept it's original interior (with some renovations to keep it from falling apart of course).
This. This is a castle.
While Osaka Castle had an elevator to go up, Himeji Castle still had it's stairs from way back in the day that you had to climb up. You had to take off your shoes before entering, and all of the different rooms and halls were preserved to how it was when first built.
A small shrine built at the top of the castle
The armory room
10/10 would recommend Himeji Castle. Just make sure to bring some comfortable shoes and a fan 'cause it gets hot.
While at Himeji we decided to split into two more groups. The two guys who went ahead already left the castle and were on their way to Kobe. Two stayed behind to wander around Himeji a little. That left me, Courtney, and Riley to make our way back to Osaka and into Koreatown.
Koreatown was probably the most disappointing thing on this trip so far.
We got there at around 6:30 p.m, but apparently all of Koreatown (except for a gambling place and a few restaurants here and there) close by 6:00. So nothing was open. The street itself was pretty, and you could tell that this isn't a main tourist attraction because nothing was in English. There wasn't too much of a crowd, which served as a good break from Kyoto and streets in Osaka. That was basically it though. All the fashion and k-pop stores were closed.
My friend and current Kyoto roommate Courtney is a huge k-pop fan. The fact that everything was closed was very distressing.
Here's Courtney in varying stages of distress.
Luckily we did find a decently priced restaurant to eat at and they played k-pop on the TV. Again, absolutely nothing was in English so I had to break out Google translate to figure out what all the food options were. I just got the first thing I saw that had the word "chicken" on it. It was actually pretty good.
Finally we made our way back to Kyoto, with Courtney leading the way whilst on autopilot. Her navigation skills are very, very helpful.
And so now I'm back, safe and sound in my hotel room! Tomorrow we all head to Shinjuku (which is in Tokyo) to stay at the capsule hotel. Wish me luck!
Good Luck!
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