Arashiyama Monkey Park

Today I sat down to write some posts about the upcoming Marine Corps Ball and my preparations when I realized I had never finished showing all our adventures in Kyoto. After all the temples and shrines we opted to fill a day with something else. So we took a train to the west side of the city to visit the Arashiyama area. This area is very touristy with lots of expensive restaurants and high-end boutiques. Nearby is Iwatayama, a mountain worth climbing because it is covered in monkeys!

At the base of the mountain we bought tickets and started to climb. Along the way we kept seeing signs that were quite comical.

It started to rain on us so we paused under a large tree. All of a sudden the tree started shaking!

The trees were filled with Japanese macaques! They were cooing and squabbling at each other as the rain started. When we reached the top of the mountain we came to a feeding area. According to our brochure there are over 130 macaques living in the area. They are all given names and are observed by students and researchers. I bought apples (listed as their favorite treat) and fed them in the feeding area.

 

While visiting the park we saw deer and this crafty scavenger!

The view from the feeding area was spectacular. All of Kyoto in one place.

 

 

 

 

Babies!

 

 

It was neat to be so close to the monkeys without fences. They just walked around around while we ooh'd and ahh'd!