Wednesday, May 8
The morning started with an immigration process on the
ship. All passengers, even those not
going ashore, were required to get a day pass and give fingerprints. We were videotaped going through the process
to allow for a facial recognition process to take place. Very fast, very efficient. Staging for the tour was in the Wheelhouse,
where the group waited for the tour number to be called. We were called early, and “queued for the
tickets and our group number. The groups
were assembled early and we all moved to the bus about 15 minutes ahead of
schedule. We boarded the bus from the
left side as the driver drove on the right.
We drove through Osaka to Kyoto. Both cities are modern with older housing
sections. The section between the two
cities was filled with farms, mostly rice.
The highway is raised and life continues in the sections below. Most of the highway was walled in and I’m not
sure if it is to keep the view contained or to keep the traffic hidden from the
rural perspective.
Our first stop was the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Built in 711, it is one of Kyoto’s oldest and
celebrated shrines and is famous for its 10,000 brilliant red gates that arch
over a pathway that leads to a hilltop overlooking Kyoto. Brilliant red gates!! I was very excited about seeing these. We walked uphill through a shop area and
entered the shrine area. Weaving our way
through, we finally came to the brilliant red gates…and I was not disappointed. The large gates were in the front section and
smaller gates in the last section.
