Kyoto - Beyond the Temples

For our second (and last) day in Kyoto, we decided to check out one more temple, then see a few more off the beaten path attractions. We drove over to the Arashiyama area, on the west side of Kyoto, which is famed for its bamboo groves. After a quick accidental stop at Nonomiya shrine, we walked through the bamboo groves to Tenryu-Ji, the "heavenly dragon" temple with gardens dating from the 14th century.

Giant bamboo trees

The gardens at Tenryu-Ji

A roof ornament near Tenryu-Ji

Statues on a road in Arashiyama

This guy is raising the roof!

Just across the river and up the hill from Tenryu-Ji is the Arishiyama Monkey Park. Wild monkeys live in the mountains in this area, but the monkey park has a protected group that you can feed from inside a "human cage." It was a bit of a hike to the top, but then there were dozens of adorable monkeys (and a few mean ones!) that we got to feed peanuts and apples.

Oh, I see.

Japanese monkey!

He really wants a peanut.

Just loungin' around!

There was a little pond that the monkeys drink from.

mmmm, peanuts... Note that David is in the cage, and the monkey is free!

This guy went for a swim!

After seeing the monkeys eat all of our peanuts and apples, we had worked up quite an appetite. We went for a traditional Japanese lunch at a restaurant along the river. It was a series of small, delicate dishes, along with tempura and tofu and broth cooked right at the table. We also had some shubu shabu, which is beef you cook in hot broth at your table and dip in either sesame or citrus sauce. It was all a bit pricey, but tasty!

David cooking his tofu (in the silver bowl) and broth (in the teapot).

Pretty tofu!

Shabu shabu

Next up was an unusual visit for a foreign tourist - the Toei Kyoto Studio Park! It's kind of like a mini super-Japanese version of Universal Studios (although there is a *real* Universal Studios in Osaka). It was totally bizarre - we had to learn how to escape from the Ninja Mystery House (really fun!), walk through a creepy haunted house, there were giant robots, anime girls, a huge pan of fried eggs, a fake elevator of doom, a tyrannosaur that rose from a pond in the courtyard of an old port city set, edo-era backlot filming sets, a ninja versus samurai filming demonstration, and more!

Three ninjas kick back

This is the hand signal you use to call a ninja to your aid.

This was only the second biggest robot in the place!

After our wacky ninja studio experience, we did some shopping near our hostel, then had some Indian food for dinner. It was actually really good, and relatively cheap compared to the prices we've come to expect in Japan. Finally we got our pictures taken in a photo booth that automatically makes your eyes look bigger. Apparently they're really popular with teenage girls. Oh, Japan!

Yuuuum!

Editing our photos

Off to Osaka tomorrow morning!