We visited lots of beautiful gardens, temples, and shrines in Kyoto. While the architecture is distinctly Asian, it has a much softer and simple aesthetic than other parts of Asia. What's more, the places we visited were nestled into the hills and surrounded by trees with the glorious, pollution-free sky above. It was such such a treat for our often over-stimulated Hong Kong senses. We loved being in nature, seeing interesting trees like this:
I won't even attempt to give the names and history of the sites, but will share some of our favorite photos of the places we visited - and some interesting people photos.
It's unforunate that power lines somewhat obstruct this otherwise amazing photo:
Lanterns, like the one below, were absolutely everwhere. However, they came in all shapes and sizes.
We saw some real Zen gardens with really interesting and elaborate patterns raked into the sand.
While most structures were predominately neutral tones, the preferred bright color appeared to be orange. It was a bit bold, but did provide a splash of color!
As for the people, most people in Kyoto and Tokyo were well dressed - very fashionable, sophisticated, and put together. (One of my friends here, who lived in Japan a few years ago, said that Japanese moms would wear business suits to drop their kids off at school. And those were the stay-at-home moms.) At the temples, we saw lots of people in traditional kimonos - many of them were extraordinarily beautiful in person.
Japanese women going to a temple:
I'm not sure if this person was paying homage to the shrine or was begging in silence, but it made for an interesting photo.
Next up: Cherry Blossoms!
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