Japan -Day 6 - Arashiyama area and monkeys!

Arashiyama is located in the west of Kyoto and known for it's bamboo forests.

To get here, get your usual 1 day bus pass from the tourist information centre at Kyoto station (I did see vending machines selling it too) and the information centre will show you which bus to take. It was only recently in 2014 that the bus pass covers the Arashiyama area, before you had to take a local bus (that wasn't covered by the pass) or a train. Anyway, they have made it very easy for tourists to get there now :)

This is what you are greeted with when you step off the bus.

Walk up towards the intersection and turn right and follow the crowd to the bamboo forest.

Since it was hot, we stopped off for some ice cream. We got the black sesame and soy. Apparently it is a feature that you can turn the ice cream upside down and it doesn't fall? I wasn't sure what she was trying to tell us, but she kept on turning the ice cream upside down. What was important was that it was tasty.

It was a lot cooler in the forest, but unless you are there really early in the day, be prepared for crowds

After that we had a quick lunch stop of udon and soba, nothing that special. Then we went across the river to the monkey park

550 yen entry and be prepared for an uphill walk. It does get quite steep in places and the path isn't all that great. Lots of rules to follow, but you don't see that many monkeys until you get to the top of the hill where there is an observatory. You are only allowed to feed the monkeys when you are in this building.

Peanuts and apples are their favourites. The monkeys hang on the bars and stretch out their hands for food.

This one didn't like being photographed. Either that or I made eye contact with it, it started growling at me, so I thought it was time to move on.

We were there around 2:30 and suddenly there was music blaring and the handlers were walking around throwing food on the ground and there were monkeys running and jumping in from everywhere! So it was a call for the monkeys to come to the courtyard for a show. The handlers gave a talk (of course in Japanese) and we decided it was time to leave. I noticed that the monkeys got chestnuts that day.

Nice view of Kyoto from the top.

You can take a slight shortcut down the hill by using the slide at the playground ;)

 We then headed back across the river to Tenryu-ji temple. We got the temple and garden pass. You get to see the garden from the temple, but the difference with the garden pass is that you get to walk through it. Worth getting both as the garden is quite extensive. At the temple, it is off with your shoes. It's lovely to walk along the covered verandas and you are welcome to sit and enjoy the garden from the veranda.

This is the main part of the garden that you see from the temple but there is more to look at towards the right.

The covered walkways from the temple carry on for ages! I liked sliding my feet along the tatami, so smooth and cool















 From there it was back to Kyoto, but first a stop for some fried mochi

 
















We walked around the shops for a bit and decided on a restaurant called Buta Gorira (pig and gorilla?) for tonkatsu. We chose it mainly because it had an English menu and warily climbed up the rather grimy stairs to the first floor. The place is small but we got a big Japanese style table to ourselves (you have to take your shoes off and climb up the platform).

You can have your choice in the size of your tonkatsu fillet, but we just chose a normal size one. We also had a mince-tonkatsu, which is a mince meat pork patty that has been crumbed and deep fried.

Firstly though,, you get a suribachi to grind your sesame seeds into a paste. You add to it whatever amount of tonkatsu sauce you want. You get your choice of sauce from the pots and one of them contains a sesame dressing for your ginormous shredded cabbage salad. You also have a smaller pot full of pickled vegetables for you to help yourself. Free cold tea at the table.

Then the mains came. The normal tonkatsu, which had juicy pork within

 Then my mince katsu, which is smaller and lighter than the traditional tonkatsu. I have to admit, this one is a lot tastier and I think better suited for females. Of course you have rice and miso included. The price was quite reasonable.

Feeling full of pork goodness, we headed back to catch our bus back to the station. We were off to Osaka the next day!