Geisha Girl..

On a recent trip to Kyoto I underwent a transformation... I became a maiko, an apprentice geisha.

Kumano Kodo: Part 2!

After a relaxing evening, we set off for the second day off our hike... (This post combines the second and third days - we took far too many photos of the beautiful nature).

Kumano Kodo - an ancient pilgrimage hike

We finally made it to Kumano Kodo! We had to cancel our plans twice before because of the typhoons, but we made the most of the national holiday and went this week. Kumano Kodo is an ancient pilgrimage site and a World Heritage site too. It was a fantastic, but exhausting, 3 days.

Osaka Castle

Today we visited the incredible Osaka Castle. 

Nagai Gardens

 Today we went to Nagai Park to see the Nagai Botanical Gardens. Nagai Botanical Gardens is huge – it takes up 24.2 hectares of Nagai Park. I imagine that the whole atmosphere of the park will change with the seasons as new plants begin to bloom and blossom… However, our visit in autumn was beautiful and it seems like any other season couldn’t compare. 

Tengu Festival in Arashiyama

  

Today was a fantastic initiation into the Japan outside of Osaka, our new home town. We took a combination of local trains to a part of Kyoto called Arashiyama, which is famous for its gardens and temples.