From the station, I walked directly to Arashiyama monkey park. I had looked for Monkeys in Minoo in Osaka, up Mount Misen in Miyajima, and now this was my last chance to see some of Japan's famous snow monkeys!
I paid 550y admission and trekked up the mountain. It wasn't a tough climb, but as ever the footpaths left something to be desired, and I regretted taking my comfy slip on shoes instead of hiking boots. As I neared the top, I finally saw my first monkey, and there were half a dozen of them sitting in a tree! Their thick fluffy fur matched the bark almost exactly, and as they turned to watch me I saw their ugly pink faces. I was under strict instructions from the visitor centre not too stare, but I was enchanted!
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| Creepy red eyed monkey (I think it just had its eyes closed) |
I didn't linger too long however, as the weather had finally broken and it had began to rain. I was worried for my backpack, and skidded back down the mountain in my inappropriate shoes.
Just as in Hakone, the rain did lend a fantastic atmosphere to the place. I got some romantic photos of river boats waiting under dripping Sakura trees, a wedding couple sat on a bench overlooking the misty river, and even a woman painted up as a Meika - trainee geisha sheltering under a decorative umbrella. I actually thought she looked quite unattractive, but I suppose all that face paint is a difficult look to pull off.
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| The bride mourning her soggy wedding dress |
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| The boat trips were not selling well that day |
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| Apprentice Geisha |
I wandered into a Unesco World Heritage site temple gardens, searching for Arashiyama's famous bamboo grove. The gardens were beautiful, Zen gardens like those at the silver temple and honen-in yesterday, with carefully raked stones and mossy mounds topped with crooked Japanese fir trees. There was also a feast of Sakura blossom here, and the dim lighting and drizzling rain really made the colours contrast.
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| Zen garden in the rain |
Finally I entered the bamboo grove. I had read about a majesty and grandeur here which couldn't be conveyed in photos, and though I did enjoy it and the bamboo was spectacular, and absolutely enormous, it was too crowded to really feel spiritual, besides I was concerned about all my essentials in my (now thoroughly soggy) backpack. I was underwhelmed. I hope that at least some of my photos do it some justice. A lot of them came out blurry because it was so dark I had to use a slow shutter speed, but so damp and crowded I didn't have the liberty to take my time. I would still recommend a visit though - it was in anticipation of these crowds that I had tried to get up early!
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| Arashiyama Bamboo Garden |
I decided that under such conditions I was unlikely to get much pleasure from the 'romance car' scenic railway, river cruise or water gardens which I had planned, and so left Arashiyama shortly after midday.
I returned to the hostel and finally had a really long hot shower, before returning to the under-cover shopping centre for a leisurely wander. I purchased the most adorable donut/doughnut that looked like a little cat, before visiting one of Japan's famous cat cafés. This was a Bengal cat cafe (the first in the world apparently, and I don't doubt that!) and the cafe involved no food (hence my doughnut), but guests were invited into a small jungle themed room in small groups, whereupon we paid 600y each to play with these tiny leopard patterned cats for half an hour.
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| Cat donut, followed by cat cafe! I definitely felt I needed some cheering up after my rainy morning! |
Sat on the floor, three young Japanese couples cooed over tiny cats, most of whom had fallen asleep in their attendee's lap. I was given a small cat who let me stroke it for maybe 40 seconds before scurrying off, much to the amusement of the nearest couple. There seemed to be a big (relatively speaking) daddy cat who watched over proceedings from a perch up in the man-made tree (a series of real branches stapled together and decorated with fake ivy) and I took a few photos of him before a couple took pity on me and invited me to join them stroking the tiny feline curled up in the girls lap. It was so soft and quite adorable, its eyes rolled back in its head as she rubbed its chin, and I could see how this could be therapeutic. When the couples' time ran out, they passed me the sleeping creature, who found an uncomfortable looking position in my lap. They took a photo of me on mh phone, they were very kind, but they had been gone about two minutes when the cat woke up and ran away from me.
I realised cat cafés were a lost cause for me. That kitten was like it'd been drugged. If I'd managed to repel him, I had no chance of finding another, so I left a little before my time was up. It was still a good and interesting experience though, I was glad I tried it!
I seemed out my favourite vegetarian cafe for the third day in a row, but to my dismay it had closed down! The tables had been pushed up against the windows and the board which had previously said 'open' or 'closed' outside had now gone altogether. I went to Starbucks and spent the previous day's voucher on a scone and a hot chocolate, toying with the idea of visiting one last temple at dusk as I knew it was illuminated well and looked out over the city. Ultimately though I was too intimidated by the maze of streets (unable to find my way to the appropriate bus stop), and decided to continue shopping and get an early night.
Lush, one of my favourite shops back home, had a cool store on the main outdoor shopping street (a fancy street, that plays elevator music to you as you walk along) so I visited there. I was caught off guard by a very friendly shop assistant with near-perfect English, and when she asked what I was looking for, I said a massage bar, as it was the first thing to come into my head. She showed me the display, and out of awkwardness, I asked what was her favourite product. She seemed quite taken aback by my question and showed me a massage bar called 'shades of earl grey'. I was a little fazed by the connotations but she was so sweet, asking me about how hot it was in Scotland (she was the second Japanese person I had met this trip who thought Scotland was a hot country!) so I bought it. She was hugely complimented that I had chosen based on her advice and thanked me many, many times. It was cuter than the cat cafe and the doughnut put together!
Next I stopped off at the Kyoto Pokemon Center (this one IN Kyoto as opposed to Osaka!) where I sent one of my friends back home about a dozen photos of all the different variations of pikachu (and then, by request, charmander) and bought some special edition Kyoto Pikach stickers for my car. I was on a spending spree it seemed, but at least managed not to buy anything from the Kyoto Disney Store!
It was approaching 8pm when I returned to the hotel again. I spent just under an hour packing and repacking my backpack to make all my new purchases and the booklets and tickets I had picked up along the way fit. After three days of having the luxury of two backpacks, I was now struggling to downsize. Luckily I had lost a hoodie along the way (I think I left it in Osaka) so I managed to pack down to just my Pokemon Store
shopping bag and my backpack, hoping that would be little enough to sneak onto the plane.
I dressed in my complimentary prison-uniform nightshirt for the last time, and fell asleep in my capsule by half past nine.
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