The golden pavillion in Kyoto is one of the most iconic sights in Kyoto. It is a small zen temple surrounded by a beautifully manicured landscape.

It is however very touristy with large tour buses and large crowds, but still worth the visit.

Asiyama is on the outskirts of Kyoto and this is where people go to see the Bamboo forest but there is also lots of other things to see in the area such as monkeys and more traditional sights such as temples.

The bamboo forest itself is very crowded and the foot paths are fenced in and to be honest there are so many bamboo forests in Japan in the land districts that it is hard to see why this particular forest is so special.

It is lovely to see people in traditional kimono's being transported in rickshaws.

From the place where there are monkeys, there is also a view of all of Kyoto.

The Gion district in Kyoto is the traditional Geisha district and one of the very few places in Japan where it is still possible to spot Geishas and see them perform.

It is a lovely little district with all its narrow lanes and old traditional wooden buildings.

We went there a late afternoon and were lucky enough to see a couple of Geishas heading out to perform.

Later in the evening we went to a performance where they both had Geishas perform as well as some traditional Japanese theatre, comedy and tea ceremony.