Today's
excursions were on the edge of the city, so
we opted to take the bus. Tenryu-ji Temple was moderately impressive. You
pay for either the temple and garden, or garden alone. We opted for the
combined ticket but did not really feel that it was worth it. The complex is
open enough that you could see inside everything from walking around the
garden, and the garden really is beautiful and expansive with its greenery,
flowers, and large pond filled with giant carp.
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
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| Tenryu-ji Temple |
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (a.k.a. Bamboo Forest), which you can directly access
by exiting from the North Gate of Tenryu-ji Temple, was absolutely stunning. The way the light
trickled down through, and just the sense of peace that seems to permeate the air
was wonderful. Of note, this is COMPLETELY FREE!
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| Path from Tenryu-ji Temple to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove |
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| Arashiyama Bamboo Grove |
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| Arashiyama Bamboo Grove |
We then did a walk through the woods to be able
to walk along the river to the Arashiyama Monkey Forest, stopping to enjoy some soft-serve to cool
off.
The Arashiyama Monkey Forest was awesome! Be
warned though, it is quite a hike, but only about 20 minutes to the top. We did
not see any monkeys until we arrived at the top, but then they were everywhere.
Spring is their birthing season, so there were a few mommas toting around
babies, and it was entirely too cute. They are wild monkeys and roam freely,
but there are “officers” around to entire that people and monkeys stay in
check. It was well-worth the hike and entry fee.
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| I brought my own primate with me to the park <3 |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest: Recovery from one hell of a night! |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest: Overlooking Kyoto |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest: Baby Love! |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest: Controlled feeding |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest: Feed Me PLEASE! |
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| Arashiyama Monkey Park and Forest |
Our dinner for the evening, at
Chabuya Honten, was absolutely spectacular and a two wa
lk
from our accommodations. We had stopped and made reservations en route
back from the
temple, having been full with a line out the door every evening
we walked by. Fortunately,
there were two seats at the bar
immediately in front of the chef manning the tiny grill, so we
got to watch him
do his craft of cooking the skewers to perfection over carefully regulated
charcoal. He paid more attention to and worked more with the charcoal than
anything, and
after tasting the skewers, I am glad that he did. We ordered a variety of skewer types:
chicken
thigh, chicken breast with spring onion, chicken meatball, and chicken wings. I
had
also gotten to the point that I was ready to kill someone to have
vegetables, and this place
made an excellent salad. The meal ends with small
but delicious chocolate ice cream pods.
