Shrines, Parks and Monkeys

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When we arrived at the guesthouse, they gave us a map of western Kyoto, with all the shrines, temples and gardens pointed out on it. Because we wouldn't have to spend a fortune on public transport to reach all of the places, we decided to see as much of it as we could today on foot. So, even with the heavens threatening to open, we headed out fairly early to our first port of call: Iwatayama Monkey Park. It's in the forest on the hillside, and the monkeys just roam free, waiting expectantly for us tourists to hike up there and provide food for them. There's an observation area at the top, which gives great views of Kyoto and the surrounding hills, and the monkeys just drape themselves lazily over the observation binoculars. They're hilarious to watch, especially the young ones, who just kept leaping from branch to branch, determined not to stay still for a photograph! The older ones sit there sagely, silently watching and judging from the rooftops, but they too would just turn their backs on us whenever we got the camera out! I don't think that they're camera shy; I think they were just being difficult, and slightly racist, because they'd pose happily whenever a Japanese tourist wanted them to!

Once we'd left the monkey park, we wandered along the river for a while, which was a beautiful shade of blue-green, and then we headed up into a park. There was a huge bamboo walkway which we explored, and the bamboo grows so incredibly high that for once in Japan I didn't feel tall! We wandered through the streets of houses that are nestled in the hills, coming across shrine after shrine after shrine, each with fresh flowers or little tea cups, to show that they're still very much in use. We did, however, stumble across a shrine in the forest on the side of Mt Mandara that seems to have been forgotten. It was all made from old wood and covered in moss, and as we explored it, everything was completely, absolutely silent. Mark seemed to really like the atmosphere, but I was a little creeped out by it. Anyone who has watched the anime movie Spirited Away will understand how I felt; you really could believe, standing amongst the moss covered statues alone in the forest, that it was the gateway to another world!

We went, from there, to see some temples, and we walked through what felt like a little village, with crop fields and tiny shrines on every corner. Everything was so peaceful, especially when the heavens decided to finally open. The rain made everything feel very...melancholy. There was not a single person in sight, and the rain made the hills seem greener and the shrines more magical. By the time my coat was soaking wet, and the water had run up my trousers, I wasn't feeling quite so poetic. So, having seen the final temple on the map, we headed back to the river, and found a little restaurant to have tea. The food was OK - I'm pretty sure the vegetable curry had bits of beef in it - but it was food, nonetheless. And then, with the rain getting even heavier and the sky growing dark, we headed back to the guesthouse, which is where we're sitting now, enjoying the warmth!

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Comments

[Deborah]

monkey photos please!
That sounds like it's the same place I went. They're fantastic aren't they? Did you feed them?