Japan 5/10 - Kyoto and Nara : Beautiful Fushimi Inari Shrine, Todaiji Temple, Nara Park

Explore Nara in half-day? Hmm..I did it though and still fun :)

"The only trip you will regret is the one you don't take" - unknown

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, spectacular! :)

Day 4 - Tuesday , 19 April 2016

We decided to go to Fushimi Inari Shrine in the morning around 7.30 AM to avoiding crowded, we went there by bus from Kyoto Station, there's only 2 bus to Fushimi Inari (南5 or 105) and not too frequent so it's kinda took longer than usual, actually it's not that far to go to Fushimi Inari around 15 minutes, from the bus stop we walked about 10 minutes, passing the rail train and finally we arrived in Fushimi Inari, the whole place ambiance is red orange. There were not too many people yet, we arrived around 8.30 AM and strolling around the area, it's FREE by the way.

my guesthouse lobby

on the way to Kyoto Station, that's Kyoto Tower btw

waiting for our bus to Inari

Fushimi Inari is an important Shinto Shrine in Southern Kyoto, famous with thousands of torii gates (Senbon Torii) start with two dense, parallel rows of the gates where everybody will come there to take pictures in the middle but this one is really interesting to see and we love it! You walk follow the path, it usually take 2-3 hours to hike to the mountain and go back. We didn't go up til the end of path so we went back to the bus stop and waiting for our bus to our next destination. You may find bus schedule in the bus stop, actually the bus stop sign is just a short pillar.

so lovely, isn't it?

We took the bus and alight at the bus stop nearby Sanjusangendo Temple, we decided to go here first before heading to Nara, because we didn't want to rush at Nara, since this temple is closed at 5.30 PM. So we went to this temple first, Sanjusangendo Temple, ‎¥600, this place is really close with our guest house actually, this temple famous with its 1001 statues of Kannon, goddess of mercy and the length of this temple is 120 meters which is the Japan's longest wooden structure. To enter this temple hall you should take off your shoes and take pictures are not allowed.

will laugh if i see this pic, they waited for the next bus? kkkk

Sanjusangendo Locket

Admission Fee ¥600

so many students go there

Back to Kyoto Station, around 11 AM we heading to Nara by Kintetsu Railways, Direct Express Train (hourly) ‎¥620, 49 minutes. We arrived at Nara around 12 PM and exploring Nara by foot. We starting to see deer roaming like everywhere on the street, we did exploring the city, went to Todaiji Temple is a great temple in Nara, is listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the Historic Monuments Ancient Nara. At the entrance we also saw the Nandaimon Gate, a larger wooden gate. Inside the temple you may find the main hall called Daibutsuden/Big Buddha, pay ¥500 if you want to get inside. We didn't and we only follow the path, go out and strolling at Nara Park, we passed Kofuku-ji Temple and Three Pagoda. We walked in different way so we could explore Nara more and glad we did it, we passed into small street that cherry blossoms are still there even just a little, and on the side way, full with shops and we walk until shopping centre to go back to subway back to Kyoto. 

ready for Nara :)

having my lunch before Todaiji Temple

Nandaimon Gate, so big and looks very old

Guard statue at Nandaimon Gate, there are 2 left and right

Daibutsuden/Big Buddha, if you want to get inside you should buy the ticket

oishiii

We found supermarket there and actually some stuffs are cheaper than Lawson or Family Mart, even the chocolate like Kit Kat etc are cheap in here, I only bought some snacks because I don't want to bring so many stuff, too heavy, anyway for mineral water 1 liter, it is less than ¥100 there so I bought 1, so cheap haha

Back to Kyoto Station and along the way we were sooo tired and sleepy, we slept on the train, arrived in Kyoto Station we planned to explore Kyoto Station, it was so interesting to be around Kyoto Station, the station is very big, it's the center of every commute, train, shinkansen, subyway and bus, so cool! We found 3 Coins shop, good place to buy souvenirs, every product cost 3 coins of ¥100 which is ¥300. You can buy things here, mostly are very cute things, tote bag with Kyoto and Osaka written on it, cute rain coat, socks etc. Me and friends bought few things in here.

If you want to eat in one of restaurant in here you need to prepare at least  ¥800, kinda out of budget for us hehe..we went to visit Daiso inside the Kyoto Tower building, we didn't go on top of Kyoto Tower since kinda expensive and we just feel not thta worth so we just go inside and window shopping in Daiso, and then we we went to Uniqlo that located next to it. We tried to start hunting Sale Products and we found it! yeayy..such a good deal, I found nice sweater Mickey Mouse and it's only ¥790, and I also found another sweater which is only ¥500. What a good deal and we love it!! Yayy..haha..we feel like we want to buy quite a lot but it's gonna be very heavy haha since we need to move from another city to another city and so on so on. We thought we just in beginning and we still have more days in Japan, so we endure it lol xDD

spent our time and money in here haha

Kyoto Tower at night :)

so cuteee

I love it!

my kinda dinner :D

One thing that I admired in Japan is they provide public toilet in everywhere, subway station or even in the public area and it's FREE, and they also provide tissue etc. How cool is that! Even though sometimes the public toilet doesn't water especially in public area but at least they provide it and you can just be patient and go to the subway one if you need water :D And one more, I don't need to buy mineral water that much though because I can just drink from the tap water in my guest house :) Back to our hostel and laying down in the cozy lounge, packed our things in the corridor because people already sleep in our dorm :) and get ready for tomorrow morning heading to Osaka!