Monkey Park Iwatayama was all that I'd imagined, and more! We hiked up a mountain path, and soon saw a couple of Japanese Macaque Monkeys hanging from the trees. As we reached the top, we were surrounded by the monkeys, who seemed very used to people, just walking by us like we were one of them. My favorite were the babies that rode on their mother's backs, and clung to their side. We were then able to go inside of a building that was like a giant cage for us to feed the monkey's through (we were in the cage, not the monkeys). They hung onto the side, arm outstretched, waiting for more bananas. Such a cool experience!
After leaving the monkey park, we took a rickshaw ride to Bamboo Street, another famous attraction in the area. The poor girl that carried us was so small, i kept apologizing for us being heavy... But she was a good tour guide, even with limited English.
We saw some Geishas on the ride
It takes just 2 months for the bamboo to grow that high!
We left the bamboo park and walked to a cafe for lunch... Corey tried Yuba (Tofu Skin); the verdict was that it was tasty.. Then we walked to a nearby temple, which had a zen garden you could walk through. Our day in Arashiyama came to and end with a stop for coffee, ginger tea, and cake at a small cafe, and some shopping at souvenir shops. What a beautiful town!
On the way back toward our room, we decided to stop at Nijo Castle, but it was closed. So, we walked toward a market I had read about, in the Gion District. The market was so big, we kept walking and walking through vendor after vendor and probably didnt see even half of it. The vendors sold mostly fish, fruit, or sweets.
We ended our night with dinner in a cafe near our hotel... I ordered a club sandwich that had bacon, lettuce, tomato, egg, ketchup, and cucumbers.
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