Fushima Inari Taisha, Kyoto, Japan

Another one of the famous temples in Kyoto, this one has thousands of Shinto Gates across a mountain area. It was really busy to start with, but most people only do the small loop while we headed up for the main loop. There was still plenty of people around, but a lot more spread out as everyone hiked up at their own speed.

There were some fantastic views across Kyoto from the viewing points too, but the real amazement was just how many of the gates there were. They just kept going!

It seemed like the temple was dedicated to either foxes or shiba type dogs, as there was lots of this imagery around, and it was all so cute! I could have sworn that one of the dogs was carrying a stick, while the one on the other side had a ball.

It was quite the trek up to the top, and to be honest the three shrines at the top all looked so similar that if one wasn't labelled ''Top' I wouldn't have known we reached it.

We went down a different route, finding a couple of other tourists on our way. One was an American who warned us not to go in one direction as he had just been at the top, came down a side road and "ended up in a local village". He seemed quite surprised by the whole experience!

The other was a woman who wasn't sure if she had made it to the top or not, so there was lots of confused tourists around the mountain. Once we headed down the extremely steep path we continued walking the Kyoto trail.Read more