where I've never been : Japan Day 11 - Kyoto's Arashiyama & Fushimi Inari Shrine

We checked out and set off this morning at 8:15 am with a 10 minute walk to the Kurashiki station. After a short train to Okayama, we changed to the Shinkansen bound for Kyoto. The ride was smooth and took less than 90 minutes.

Our Kyoto hotel is right across from the station and we did a luggage drop as it was too early to check in. Since it was the last day for our Japan rail pass, our guide took us to Arashiyama. That is what I was going to do tomorrow on our 'free' day but she has changed the plans.

Arashiyama was super crowded - noon was a bad time to get there. Oh well. I saw what I really wanted to see - the beautiful bamboo forest groves. I took SO many photos until I just couldn't think of another shot to take. I was happy. Bamboo is so awesomely beautiful!

I wanted to find the famous bridge but I had no map with me and our time was limited. For lunch I grabbed a Japanese sausage cooked in bread. It looked a lot like a hot dog but the soft, yummy bun was actually cooked around the sausage. I looked in a few shops for something made from bamboo to no avail.

We caught another 2 trains then visited the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Wow! You can walk through over 10,000 Torii Gates, large red pillars with a third pillar across the top of each one.The gates straddle a network of trails which lead into the wooded forest of Mount Inari, standing at 233 meters.

Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, hence, there are many fox statues across the grounds.

They are engraved with the name of the donor who sponsored the gate. I walked through quite a few levels, but not to the top. There wasn't enough time and I likely didn't have the energy. It is at least a 90 minute return trip.

I found a couple of nice fridge magnets and a cool shopping bag before I had to meet up with the group.

It was back to the hotel by train then on a slow, crowded bus to a tea ceremony for 5 pm.

Unfortunately we couldn't take any photos during the ceremony but we could afterwards when we were given the opportunity to make our own tea. The procedure is quite a number of complicated steps.

The cloth used for wiping the cup and utensils is folded just so. The cup is turned one way while drinking the tea, and another way when the cup is empty. There is even a ritual for finishing up the ceremony when the tea cup is empty. It was most interesting.

Supper was at a restaurant near the station and our hotel (comparatively speaking). We sat at a counter and were able to watch our food being prepared in front of us. Our guide called them 'Japanese pizza'. It was cabbage, flour and some other stuff cooked on a flat grill.

Then the additions we ordered were put on (pork, cheese, etc.) It was served on the part of the grill closest to us and we were given our own metal spatula and a little plate. You cut off a piece, put it on your plate, and then ate it with chopsticks.

After supper, we went through the mall in the train station to get back to our hotel. There are 11 escalators all in a row with a few steps in between each one.

The biggest Christmas tree I've ever seen was lit up and standing in the center.

There were rows and rows of benches facing the tree and they had lights positioned so that you could see them from one direction but not the other. The lights flashed with different colours and patterns. Oh! My! Gosh! What a lot of money went into that display!