Monkeying around
Greetings from Kyoto on day 7 of our Japanese adventure!
After Lucinda's geisha fest yesterday, it was time to get down to some monkey business in the wild and wonderful paradise that is Arashiyama.
Following a good old sleep, we grabbed a quick coffee to go from our hotel and walked to Shijo-Omiya station to catch another rickety old train called the Randen out to Arashiyama on the outskirts of Kyoto.
On arriving at the busy station we picked up a quick street food snack of steamed Kyoto pork shumai (dumplings), before heading down to Togetsukyo Bridge.
At the river we found a little stall renting out boats, so took one for a spin. The guy at the rental place helpfully pointed out which direction we needed to row in if we wanted to avoid "danger". Although stepping into a plastic boat with captain doofus over here at the helm is inviting danger in itself.
Luci let me do all the rowing and we had a grand old time out on the Katsura river, splashing around, admiring the view, circumnavigating around the bigger boats and waving at the locals.
We managed to row safely back to the shore and the boat guy complimented my efforts. I expressed my thanks and passed on how glad my wife was to still be alive.
Once we were back on dry land, we picked up a nice latte from the very busy but incredibly well organised Arabica Café. Having not eaten for at least half an hour, we couldn't resist the beef sukiyaki bao buns on offer at the street food stalls on the way to our next stop.
I think it's important to point out that Lucinda wasn't sure about visiting Iwatayama Monkey Park.
Maybe it was the sign we saw the other day about aggressive monkeys biting people. Maybe it was the 160 metre hike up the hill to get there.
Or maybe it was the warning along the way which advised us not to stare at the monkeys, in case they stop being cute and revert to being wild animals that will happily rip your face off when threatened.
Despite my wife's apprehension, we trekked up the hill, passed the warning signs and entered deepest, darkest monkey territory.
When we got to the top, the views were spectacular.
Out beyond the autumn leaves, we could see every last inch of the Kyoto cityscape laid out before us.
The monkeys, to their credit, seemed unperturbed by the lolloping oafs weaving between them, and just went about their monkey business with absolute professionalism. Screeching adults, tumbling babies and burly teenagers lurched around the hilltop while annoying tourists laughed, pointed and snapped cute monkey photos for their blog posts.
It was almost as if we weren't there, until I bought a bag of monkey nuts and started feeding them through the wire mesh fencing. Then we established some quality mutual appreciation.
After her show of bravery, Lucinda decided we should treat ourselves to a yuba (soy milk) doughnut and a Snoopy hot chocolate with lots of cream.
Then, we ventured a bit further west until we reached the spot every Instagrammer has on their bucket list - Arashiyama Bamboo Forest.
How the social media influencers manage to get any selfies here is beyond me. Despite the fading light, it was absolutely hoaching with people and we had to weave our way through a few family photos to get to the other side.
Having said that, it was stunning, and we took the opportunity to breathe lungfuls of the fresh air which seemed to hit us as soon as we arrived.
On our way back to the city, we stopped off at the picturesque Nijo Castle, before enjoying roasted green tea and red wine from the hotel's happy hour selection.
With just one evening left in the Kansai region (sad times), we used our JR rail passes to catch the quick train to the Umeda district of Osaka for dinner.
The original plan was to get okonomiyaki from the best-known restaurant Okonomiyaki Kiji, which has two locations in the city. We found the first one within about ten minutes, only to see it was closed for the day. Undeterred, we raced across to the Umeda Sky Building hoping for better luck at their second location, but they'd just finished serving.
Tired and in need of a giant pancake with lots of meat, egg and miscellaneous tasty stuff, we had a quick look online and found another decent-looking place called Okonomiyaki Yukari Whity twenty minutes away, so off we went. By the time we'd arrived and got seated, it was almost 11pm. We weren't starving as we've been eating all day, but wanted to make sure we caught the last train home to Kyoto.
Luckily our first taste of proper Japanese okonomiyaki didn't disappoint. Its meaty eggy saucy deliciousness was well and truly demolished by the weary travellers, and we'll probably be looking for more in the next week or so.
Having said a fond sayonara to both Osaka and Kyoto, tomorrow we travel on to Tokyo via Yokohama and the suburbs, with a Michelin-starred bowl of ramen waiting for us.
猿
George
The original plan was to get okonomiyaki from the best-known restaurant Okonomiyaki Kiji, which has two locations in the city. We found the first one within about ten minutes, only to see it was closed for the day. Undeterred, we raced across to the Umeda Sky Building hoping for better luck at their second location, but they'd just finished serving.
Tired and in need of a giant pancake with lots of meat, egg and miscellaneous tasty stuff, we had a quick look online and found another decent-looking place called Okonomiyaki Yukari Whity twenty minutes away, so off we went. By the time we'd arrived and got seated, it was almost 11pm. We weren't starving as we've been eating all day, but wanted to make sure we caught the last train home to Kyoto.
Luckily our first taste of proper Japanese okonomiyaki didn't disappoint. Its meaty eggy saucy deliciousness was well and truly demolished by the weary travellers, and we'll probably be looking for more in the next week or so.
Having said a fond sayonara to both Osaka and Kyoto, tomorrow we travel on to Tokyo via Yokohama and the suburbs, with a Michelin-starred bowl of ramen waiting for us.
猿
George
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