It's been a while since I've woken up to breakfast all laid out for me on the kitchen table. Every single morning before Masa's mom went to work, she prepared breakfast for us, something that she didn't even do for her own son. She even bought snacks and left a little note for us. Talk about good hospitality! Will the Botanist replied back in Japanese while I copied his writing and added my own "arigato gozaimasu", nothing but cute squiggly lines to me. We had a new guy waiting for us when we went to put our shoes on this morning.
After a train and tram ride, we arrived in Arashiyama, a district just west of Kyoto city. We hiked for ten minutes up a forest trail and arrived at the monkey park, Iwatayama. Here, macaques had become habituated, roaming fearlessly among the tourists and at times even demanding for food. To feed them, tourists had to go inside a little shack with caged windows for their own safety. The monkeys would reach between the bars, waving their human-like hands while kicking competitors off. Warning: the following photos contain some sexual content.
Photo Credit: Will the Botanist
Lonely Monkey
Arashiyama is a pretty touristy place and to get away from it we had to walk off the main area. Skipping the biggest temples in the city centre, we strolled through the famous Bamboo Groves and past the traditional homes in the rural neighbourhoods. Our first temple was Gio-ji, a moss-covered temple with a modest entrance, shaded by a scattered collection of maple trees. Will the Botanist was happy. He really likes moss.
Bamboo Groves
Gio-ji
Our next stop was Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, a hidden gem 3.5km from the Arashiyama station. The temple was nestled in a forest and was home to 1200 stone rakans representing the followers of Buddhism. The statues had been carved by amateurs from all over the world and each featured a humourous face.
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji
There were about three others in the temple while we were there but we saw a tour group of about 50 seniors hiking to the temple just as we were leaving. Perhaps not so hidden after all! But at least we dodged the crowd. We crossed the train tracks and made our way back to Kyoto to meet up with Linda and her boyfriend, Pontus. When I was in grade 8, Linda was my science teacher's student assistant and was in the same year as my brother. After completing an internship last year, she returned to Kyoto to do her masters.
We went to a place that offered all-you-can-drink. We talked about Canada and caesars and Clamato. I had raw chicken for the first time in my life. It was actually pretty good once I got past the thought that I was eating raw chicken.
Me, Will, Masa, Linda, Pontus
I almost expected some sort of physical change after eating the raw chicken. But still alive with no symptoms of illness! The boys made silly faces all the way home. I'm not sure if I can ever get Masa's funny face out of my head.
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