After the Sagano Romantic Train, we catch the train back to Saga Arashiyama station and we make our way towards Togetsukyo Bridge and Iwatayama Monkey Park. It is still raining but it’s not too heavy, so we keep going as we are looking forward to seeing the macaque monkeys.
After walking for about 10 minutes we get to the main street of Arashiyama. It is so quaint and there are so many gorgeous shops that we stop and look in along the way.
We even find a store that’s dedicated to cats. As a cat lover, Kate is in shopping heaven. She buys a bag and some bandaids with cats on them.
After we come out of the cat store, the Togetsukyo Bridge is quite close and we continue towards it. The Katsura River is so pretty, but unfortunately, it is such a grey and dull day with the rain, that it doesn’t look as beautiful as it normally would.
Once we’re on the other side of the river, we follow the sign to Iwatayama Monkey Park. There’s a shrine just outside the entrance. I don’t think I could ever tire of looking at tori gates.
We pay the entrance fee and we start the climb up to the top of the Mt Arashiyama. It is not an easy walk and whenever there is a seat along the path, we stop and have a drink and catch our breath.
We finally get to the top after about 30 minutes and we are amazed at how many monkeys are just hanging about.
At this park, you’re able to hand feed the monkeys. You have to go inside the building to do this though and you feed them through the wired windows. You buy a bag of apple pieces or nuts for 100Y, which is a great price for a little bit of fun. It was amazing to watch the relationships between the monkeys and working out the hierarchy between them.
We hang around the monkeys for about half an hour before we decide to get going. But before we head back down the mountain, we catch a glimpse of these sweet monkeys cuddling up.
Today has been an awesome day. It has been so full of different sights and experiences. Here’s one last photo of the Katsura River that I took on our way back to the station. So pretty.
And then we make our way back to the Saga Arashiyama station and then to Kyoto so we can go back to our accommodation.
