Avg pace =8:01/mi
Total distance = 4.43 mi
Elapsed running time = 35:33
Avg heartrate =133 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort =23
After I got back, I had some breakfast and a shower, then Ann and I took the subway to Kyoto Station to redeem the voucher for the 5-day rail passes and to get our tickets to go to Hiroshima tomorrow. It took us a while, a question to a JR rep about directions (they weren't very good), and some additional looking to find the ticket machine, then another very helpful rep guided us through the process of getting our rail passes, which wasn't trivial. Next, we figured out when to travel to Hiroshima, and another rep took us through the process for getting those tickets. That definitely was not trivial, nor is the process for using the tickets. Should be an adventure for obtaining future tickets (we're doing a lot of train trips coming up). I'm hoping tomorrow's trip goes smoothly. We took a JR train to Inari Station and got off to go to the Inari Shrine. It was cloudy, with alternating periods of sprinkles and sunshine. The shrine was quite crowded, then we entered a path flanked by many, many, many(!) gates and a steadily uphill path to the top of Mt Inari. Was super crowded at the bottom, but it thinned out quite a bit as we ascended. There were so many shrines on the way up through the Torii gates, and at many of the larger ones there was some kind of shop selling trinkets, food, and drinks. It was off putting to me, left a sour taste in my mouth. The wooded scenery was nice but not spectacular. As we climbed, Ann slowed down, at times to a very slow walking pace. Was very frustrating to me. There was a nice vista of the city at one point, but otherwise it was repetitive. When we got to the final, steeper climb to the top, I surged ahead. The shrine at the top was anticlimactic for me, not very elaborate given the implicit buildup of expectations along the way. I waited for Ann to get there and look at it before we headed back down the way we came up, again slow in our descent. I walked ahead at the steeper parts, just couldn't walk that slowly. We came to a point, just after the vista spot, where there was an alternate route down, not through the orange gates. We took that one to change the scenery. It still had a bunch of shrines but went through a more residential-looking area. At one point, we walked by a shrine where a group of cats lived, and it was mildly entertaining to see some of them walking about. Back down to the bottom, I was tired, thirsty, and hungry. To get away from the obvious tourist traps, we took the subway back to our Airbnb, had a short break (I ate a sandwich and had something to drink), then walked to a slightly less obvious tourist trap restaurant, Cafe Vegan Terrace, for a late lunch. Food was pretty good, vegan food appears to e a little more upscale and priced here, probably because it's not so common. I wasn't feeling very talkative; the Inari Shrine visit was a general disappointment for me, and my feet were sore from all the walking and climbing. We walked back to the Airbnb a different way, got sidetracked a couple of times but never lost. The rest of the day was quiet. I had a longish nap after returning, then watched the end of a forgettable Netflix movie, made stir fry for dinner that was actually not bad, given our limited selection of seasonings (oil, soy sauce, salt). We did a preliminary clean of the place and packed up most of our stuff, and that was the evening.
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