After hectic Tokyo, Kyoto feels like a different country - one where the sun comes out and stays out. There are shrines and temples everywhere you turn, some turning out to be huge as you find your way around the ornate gardens. We're staying near the Silver Pavillion - but my favourite today was Fushimi-Inari Taisha - where a path made up of thousands of red torii gates leads between the temples. It was whilst walking along one of these paths that a stranger we were passing thrust some sweets on us, smiled and walked away. Being well brought up, respectable types, we were always taught not to accept such things - but he was gone too quickly to put that into Japanese, so we smiled back and said thank you. They were nice too.
Our other diversion of the day was spotting our first proper geishas - they really do exist - and handily, they walk very, very slowly in tall wooden shoes, which makes it a bit easier to get a photo. I actually plucked up the courage to ask the two above for a picture in the Gion district. They obliged, but as you can see, the one on the right didn't look too impressed. Maybe those shoes hurt....
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