「Gion」 Busy Streets of Gion | originally uploaded by kilcher

Gion (祇園) is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine. It eventually evolved to become one of the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in all of Japan.

Sadly we weren’t able to spot any geisha or the traditional Japanese side-streets because it was already dark and we were already tired (excuses! excuses! excuses!).