Arashiyama Monkey Park

This one was supposed to be for the kids (Logan mostly, for obvious reasons), but I’m sure that Jake and I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than they/he did.  The mountains around Kyoto are a native home to a species of monkey called the Japanese macaque.  To the west of the city, a particular mountain is designated as a preserve for the monkeys and a troop of about 130 of them live there.

After you buy your tickets from a vending machine at a small shrine at the base of the mountain, you begin the hike up to the top.  It was a pretty good hike—there was still snow on the ground but Jake and I both stripped off our jackets about halfway up.  This little fellow accompanied us on the path for a while.

 
The cool thing is that you are totally in the monkey’s world.  There are no bars, cages, glass or anything else separating you from the monkeys as you climb up the hill.  

While they are still wild, they are fairly well-accustomed to humans and completely at ease or even friendly with us.  They are smart little creatures too—they are the only animals, besides humans and raccoons, who have been observed to wash their food before they eat it and in other locations where they have the same type of monkey, they have been observed seasoning their food with sea water and even relaxing in natural hot spring baths!

Monkey baby!

The view as we approached the top was pretty nice too.  Down in the bottom right corner you can see a portion of Kyoto.

One you reach the top (of the trail, not really the top of the mountain but close), there is a small building where you can buy bags of food (apples, peanuts, etc.) to feed the monkeys.  You are given strict instructions not to feed the monkeys or even show them food while on the trail or anywhere outside this building.  But the monkeys definitely know where to go for a handout; I counted fifty of them in the immediate area of this little building.

It’s not easy to take a good picture of someone who is tied to your chest.

Logan was pretty excited about feeding the monkeys.  Honestly, it really was a lot of fun and a pretty cool experience.

There is a viewing area around the building, but it’s arguable who the viewing area is supposed to be for.  The monkeys had a nice little set-up there, complete with a pond they could sit in on the hot summer days and look out over the city.

On the way back down the hill, we stopped for a while to watch a couple of baby monkeys playing together and pestering their mom.  Eventually one of them sat still enough for me to snap its portrait.

Logan to monkeys: Hey guys, want to play? 

And that pretty well wraps up our Kyoto trip.  It was a fabulous vacation and definitely one of the top cities I’ve seen worldwide.  We got to do and see SO much, even though we were going at a fairly relaxed pace with a toddler and infant in tow. 

One thing that interested me was comparing Kyoto to Okinawa.  The straight lines of Kyoto’s roads seemed to be indicative of the personality of the city.  Everything was neat, orderly, and perhaps a little rigid.  Whereas Okinawa’s roads are . . . well, decidedly not straight.  Things here a little more easy-going, a little messier, and a whole lot warmer! And now that I’ve finished up Kyoto, I’ll be bringing you updates from our own little island again soon!