A day that met with vivid vermillion & a serene Zen garden

You know how planned tours can be...a bit same old, same old - a big yawn some of the time. And then something amazing comes along and all is forgiven. Yesterday's tour was like that. I was on a walkabout that took us to a few interesting places but it was the Fushimi Inari Shinto shrine and the Gion area that did it for me. The shrine, in Fushimi-ku in Kyoto, is done up in vivid vermillion, and is the hugest I've seen so far, winding all the way up to the top of the hill, via a seemingly endless path of torii structures that are donated by Japanese businesses to bring them good luck.

Fushimi Inari Shrine...

Walking the tunnel of thousands of torii pillars...

 

 

And then beautiful Gion, the oldest Geisha district ...Kyoto...pale pink cherry blossoms...(apologies re the pics, the day got dark and grey )

 

And the most beautiful willows...

 

In Geisha outfits...(not real Geishas though)...

A real junior Geisha...(junior Geisha's wear the higher heels)...

 

Old streets...

 

 

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