Sometimes I regret sharing certain travel tips in the past..because then I realize people actually do them and then it’s no longer a secret or good tip 😂 I thought we’d be good getting to one of the most famous sites in Kyoto, the Fushimi Inari Shrine, at 7am…but many people had the same idea, and I’m not going to lie, I knew it should have been closer to 6am! During my first solo trip to Japan in 2017, I took the ladies-only overnight bus from Tokyo to Kyoto. It dropped me off at a bus station at 5am, and I couldn’t check into my capsule hotel until 2pm so I looked up the closest shrine on the map and walked to it. The ticket booth wasn’t open, not a soul was in sight, and I felt slightly guilty but just went ahead in (later found out it’s free and that counter was to buy your fortune). I had never seen or heard of Fushimi Inari before. These epic photos hadn’t been posted thousands of times yet. So you can imagine my amusement and awe when I saw these hundreds of Inari making a tunnel! I took the photo in the reel with a selfie stick and didn’t realize that shot was going to become so popular! I posted how I got it back then, and like most popular places, it makes sense to go that early. So what do you do if you don’t want to wake up at 5am for photos? You should still try to go as early as possible. Keep in mind most tour groups arrive by 9! There will still be people. The biggest strategy of all is patience and respect. Don’t tell people to move. It’s not YOUR place. Patiently wait for a gap in the crowds, let others pass, or just find different angles! Both of the videos in this clip were actually going backwards against the flow of the crowd. So it was easier to peak and see if anyone was coming out, then jump in, than constantly have people behind you needing to pass or take pics (but again, don’t block people’s path or force them to go around you, be a ninja!) Fushimi Inari is truly a magical, spiritually strong, and energetic place, so I recommend the 5am option to truly embrace it. Don’t forget to live the experience there and not just go for photos/videos! #fushimiinari #fushimiinarishrine #kyoto #kyotojapan #mylifesatravelmovie

mylifesatravelmovieさん(@mylifesatravelmovie)が投稿した動画 - 2023/04/05 19:45:07