Sunday (3/9)

Today, I got up kinda early and headed over to Arashiyama (the west side of Kyoto), because that's where Iwatayama Park is. It's a park where there are hoards of macaque monkeys running around. There's a bit of a climb to get to it, but when you get to the summit, they usher you into a rest area.



This is the first little guy that I saw on the hike up the path



While you're in there you feel like you're the one in a cage, and the monkeys have come to take a look at the humans on exhibit. Inside you can buy apples and nuts to feet to the monkeys through the windows. Then, you can also go outside and just hang out with them (but you can't feed them once you go outside). I got some video, but that's going to have to wait, since I need to edit it down, and pick out what's worth uploading.



And the view of Kyoto is pretty spectacular there



A video of one monkey grooming another



And then on the way back down, there's a little children's play area, and the monkeys were enjoying it, too





Then I came back down and walked along the river a bit.



I stopped at a restaurant and had an unagi bowl for lunch, and an ice cream cone afterwards with sweet red beans and mochi. Then I wandered around and happened upon a shrine.







I walked around some more, and found a thicket of bamboo.





Then I wandered through what looked like more residential areas, and eventually found my way back to the main street (丸太町通り or marutamachi dori) and caught the bus back to the hotel.

The imperial palace grounds are starting to get quite a few trees blooming. And you can already see tons of people having picnics and enjoying the brisk weather.



I'm gonna rest for a little while, and then head back over to that Teramachi outdoor mall.