I awoke at 6:30 on Sunday with bright sun and some neighbor noise. I rolled over till 7:15, when I decided to get up, though I’d allowed myself till 8:00.

With a start, I realized I did not have the luxury to postpone Arashiyama and do a local temple walk instead. I’d booked a tea ceremony on Tuesday, which meant I had today and tomorrow as full days earmarked for Arashiyama and Fushimi Inari, which are in opposite directions.

I got dressed and ready quickly, leaving at 7:35. I stopped at a Familymart on Shijo-dori for “breakfast”: onigiri, soy açaí mini pop tart crackers, a green tea scone, and a banana smoothie. I also used the bathroom, not knowing when the next would be available. (Cindy in Tokyo had shared with me that bathrooms can be reliably found in convenience stores.)

Arashiyama is a sightseeing district on the west end of Kyoto, and there are a number of ways to get there on public transit. It would have been slightly faster to take two subway lines, but the simpler option for me was to take the #11 bus from Shijo-dori: a 50-minute journey but no transfers and with views of the city along the way (though honestly, I spent the ride managing the food in my lap).

While waiting at the bus stop, I looked up once again how to use my ICOCA card to make sure I had it right. Yep, you get on the bus through the side door toward the back of the bus without paying fare. When you disembark, you exit through the front and either pay the driver in cash or tap your ICOCA card on a machine, which automatically deducts the proper fare. I love it!

My first stop in Arashiyama was the famed bamboo grove. The bus lets out on a main road, Prefecture Route 29, right at the “entrance” to the grove. There is no entry fee; it’s simply part of the neighborhood. There is one subtle sign with an arrow and three stone markers; otherwise, you just have to know it’s there.

As I got oriented and was ready to begin on the path, I noticed that coming slowly north on 29 was a procession of some kind, with men dressed all in white, chanting. The ones in front carried paper lanterns on sticks. Behind them, four men in a row held high clanging cymbals that they sounded in unison. I later looked it up and found that this matsuri is known as Saga Festival.

It was 9:00 and there were already many people about. I walked the path that leads past the Tenryu-ji Temple, a recommended sight but not one I was going to see, and into the bamboo forest. Once inside the forest, the dense bamboo stalks rise up on either side of the walking path to heights of 20 meters, or about 65 feet. They are truly majestic, and walking beneath them would have been quite serene if not for all the others enjoying them with me. If I wanted that bad enough, I could have arrived at 6:00, but that just isn’t feasible for me.

The walk through the forest itself is only about 5 minutes long. Near the end of the path through the bamboo is the entrance to the grounds of Ōkōchi Sansō, the former home of and gardens designed by Denjirō Ōkōchi, a Japanese film star of period dramas from the 1920s to 1950s. The entrance fee is ¥1,000 JPY, or about $9 USD. Though that’s not very much, and it includes matcha tea and a sweet at the end of the tour, it’s enough to deter many tourists from visiting, probably in comparison to the free bamboo forest. That’s too bad for them and great for me! I found the grounds not only gorgeous but also peaceful as there were far fewer visitors there. I spent about an hour and 45 minutes walking the path through the grounds, guided by small signs with arrows.

The circuit begins at what looks like it would have been Mr. Ōkōchi’s main house; it was only viewable from outside. The gravel path continues through garden greenery to the Jibutsu-dō shrine, where the history of the villa began. It was the first structure on the grounds that Mr. Ōkōchi built in 1931. He would visit the shrine while working at the movie studios, and he expanded his home and gardens from there. They were opened to the public when he passed in 1962. This area of the garden in particular seemed that it would be particularly stunning in autumn.

Next up were some small rooms that looked like teahouses, but they appeared to have closets so perhaps were guest rooms. (There were no signs or guides.) From there, the path climbed upward and opened on to a view of the valley over the Hozu River, with the Daihi Temple across the way. The upper path continued to views overlooking Kyoto.

I nearly missed my favorite feature of the grounds as it was slightly hidden. When I descended from the upper views to the bottom of the path, a fellow tourist I’d shared much of the sightseeing with asked if I’d seen the meditation room, which I had not!

I went back up a ways and found the steps leading off to the right and around a corner. A sign informed me in both Japanese and translated English that “under 15 years old can not enter” and separately “the child cannot participate”, which I found quite amusing. As instructed in the entryway, I took off my shoes and entered a large space laid with tatami mats, which my feet continued to find delicious.

Both of the large rooms opened onto a combed sand walkway that looked like the traditional Japanese version of a suburban back yard. The first room was bright and empty, leading through a set of open double doors to a second room with some cushions and four short tables upon which sat calligraphy instruments. Each table had practice sheets to transcribe, one of them being “Mother Nature’s Son” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. At the back of this room were closed double doors through which I peered and found an elaborate altar. I sat on one of the cushions facing the back yard for a moment, taking in the peace and silence.

I went back out and down and reached the bottom of the stairs again. To the right was a square outdoor room paying tribute to Mr. Ōkōchi and his film career, with illustrations, photos, and a video. Back out and to the left of the stairs was the large teahouse, where the tour concluded with a cup of matcha tea and wagashi, a chewy Japanese confection that is less sweet than the Western variety. I sat and people-watched, mostly the servers in traditional kimonos who kept the turnover of tables going.

At 11:30, I exited the villa. I’d had such a full morning already! I walked past the end of the bamboo grove and kept going through Arashiyama Park. I walked south along the eastern border of the park, which ended at the Katsura River. There was a small café and as I stood considering whether to grab a bite, I watched the boats carrying tourists on a river float.

I decided to cross the Togetsu-kyō Bridge in search of a proper meal, at which time I would decide whether I wanted to go to the monkey park over there. I took photos of the small dam at the north end of the bridge. Once across, I sat and admired the physique of a rickshaw “driver”.

I searched Google for a lunch spot and walked through a small neighborhood to Cafe Ranzan, where I was once again asked smoking or non-. I sat at a cute, clean, and comfortable table in the window, with a view of those coming and going from Arashiyama Station. I ordered an egg sandwich and didn’t even care that it was not remotely Japanese (it did come with a small side salad with sesame dressing).

Having already visited a monkey park on this trip, in Bali, I wasn’t convinced I wanted to do it again here, but I decided to for two reasons: my friend Tammy had recommended it, and the monkeys are Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys. While the park here does not have snow or hot springs for the monkeys to bathe in (that’s at the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Yamanouchi), I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to see Japanese macaques in Japan.

After lunch, I walked along a small canal to Iwatayama Monkey Park and paid the ¥650 entrance fee. The monkeys live at the top of a small mountain, about a 30-minute hike upward. The walk was pretty, being on a forest path with waterfalls along the way. It was also a very hot day, and I most certainly took advantage of the A/C room for resting.

Very shortly after the A/C room, it became clear that the top of the mountain was near as monkeys began crossing the path and were visible in trees. The path opened up onto a plaza, with an expansive view of Kyoto in front. In the back was a building housing a caged room. It’s not for the monkeys; they stay wild and free.

Caged humans can feed the free monkeys after purchasing peanuts or bites of banana or apples. The monkeys, being wild, are aggressive about food; absolutely no food is allowed in the plaza outside of the caged room. Neither are the visitors supposed to touch the monkeys or look them in the eye; this can make them agitated and put them in attack mode. (While this may sound scary, the place is completely safe when tourists follow these simple rules.)

I enjoyed both the view and the monkeys meandering the plaza for a bit, especially ‘awww’ing at a baby monkey 🐒

I went inside and bought some banana to feed monkeys with. You stand in front of the wire window and either place the food on the sill within reach or hold the food out for a monkey to reach through and take from you. Of course, it’s far more fun to do the latter.

Or if you’re an asshole, you can tease a monkey by withdrawing the food you’re holding out once it reaches inside, and then laugh about it, while your wife and child look on. I considered and ultimately opted out of saying something to said asshole.

I was about to leave when the park’s 14:30 monkey feeding began. We tourists gathered ’round the center of the plaza while the staff tossed out feed and the monkeys came running. I was surprised that it wasn’t a stampede of monkeys coming to feed, just a few more than are normally in the plaza. Perhaps many had gotten their fill from we tourists?

The walk down the mountain was a bit easier than the way up, of course. All told, I spent about 25 minutes going up, 45 minutes at the top, and about 15 minutes going down. At the bottom of the mountain near the window to pay for entry was a graveled forest clearing with two displays of ema, wooden wishing plaques, and a view of the river through a torii gate.

In between the ema and the torii gate were a number of large, thick slices of tree, with a powerful and intoxicating aroma. I used my Google Translate app to ask one of the staff if they had been scented artificially or I was taking in their natural scent. I must not have used translatable phrases because he was confused at first (or perhaps he understandably found the question strange), but he realized what I was asking anyway and replied that it was natural. I don’t know why those chunks of tree were there, or what kind of tree they were from, but I was glad I came upon them. So fresh and so clean.

It was 15:00 as I walked back out to the main road and had a seat to plan the transportation journey to my next destination, checking the options via Google Maps. I overheard some (German?) tourists sitting right next to me heading for the same place and also looking up how to get there, and I compared notes with them.

Again deciding on a bus rather than a train/bus combo route, I headed north on 29 to go back over the bridge to the bus stop, and what should I come upon but the same procession I’d encountered at 9:00 at the entrance to the bamboo forest! They were now marching south rather than north (i.e. toward me), with some of the participants carrying a palanquin, or mikoshi, and they had drawn a large crowd of spectators.

I made my way against the tide of onlookers, over the bridge and to this morning’s bus stop. I’d been in a rush to catch the bus, but the scheduled time came and went with no bus in sight. Little did I know the area buses had been rerouted due to the matsuri. I had neglected to notice a sign on the stop, but thankfully, a young couple approached me to say in limited English that the bus would not be coming and I could take the train instead. Thank you, thank you, kind Kyoto strangers/friends!

It was about a 10-minute walk to the train station, and I stopped along the way at a convenience store for a cold beverage.

The San-In line is a JR train, but alas, I had not carried my Japan Rail Pass with me as I did not anticipate needing it within Kyoto city borders and I would just risk losing it for no reason. No biggie.. the fare was only ¥190 and I could use my ICOCA card.

I rode 3 train stops to Emmachi Station and walked the two blocks to where I would transfer to either the 204 or 205 bus. Uh-oh… Google Maps said the bus picks up right in the center of a large octagonal intersection, but in reality, the stops were located at 4 of the 8 corners and I couldn’t tell where I needed to be.

I kind of ran around all the corners looking at bus signs and finally asked someone, who pointed me to the stop I needed to be at (I was almost there!), and I just barely boarded the back of a bus that had arrived there in time for the driver to close the doors. The bus was super crowded, and the doors didn’t close, and the driver was yelling something over the loudspeaker, and I suspected he wanted me to either get off or push further in over the yellow lines on the floor so he could close the doors and take off, but I wasn’t sure so I made some hand gestures that didn’t communicate anything to anyone, and then I decided to push inward because I did not want to wait for the next bus and do this all over again. Whew.

I rode the bus for about 15 minutes through the north of Kyoto and paid the ¥230 fare as I exited the front of the bus at my destination at 16:00.

I walked another two blocks and arrived at Kinkaku-ji, also known as the Golden Pavilion. It is a three-story Zen Buddhist temple whose top two floors are coated in pure gold leaf, and it stands, shimmering, at the back of a large pond.

I paid the ¥400 admission and entered the grounds, the first stop being the southern border of the pond, along which hundreds of tourists stood viewing and photographing the golden temple, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun.

My time at Ōkōchi Sansō had been gloriously sunny; the walk across the river, lunch, and the monkey park were mostly overcast and muggy; and here, I was ecstatic that the sky had cleared up again, allowing me a shiny rather than dull view.

Besides wanting to see the Golden Pavilion because it is very beautiful, I was particularly motivated because, without knowing what or where it was, I had an image of it as my desktop wallpaper years ago. When I learned it was in Kyoto and I could see it for myself, I was very excited to do so. Standing in front of it was one of the most heightened (among many) “I can’t believe I’m in Japan” moments for me.

I took my place among the throng, or places, rather. I tried a few different spots to get clean (no people) photos of the pavilion and asked a couple different folks to take my photo in front of the pavilion. It took some patience, but I ended up with some good shots.

I began the walk around the grounds, which first goes behind the pavilion for an up-close look. Nearby is a close view of the koi in the pond. From there, the path takes tourists away from the pavilion and, while pretty, the grounds thus become a lot less interesting.

As I exited around 17:00, the park had just closed (good thing I’d pushed my way onto that bus!). I walked back to the bus stop and got on the 205 in the same direction as before; it turned east and then south toward “home”. It was again standing room only, which was unfortunate as I’d had a very long day of walking and my back was telling me that I really needed to sit down, and it was a 40-minute bus ride.

I was using Google Maps to navigate, and the route showed the stop I wanted in kanji but not in Romanized letters. Thankfully, a screen on the bus shows the name of the next stop in kanji as well, so between following along with my location on the map and comparing the stop I wanted to what the screen was saying, I was able to figure out when to disembark.

I walked about 7 minutes from the bus stop through Shinkyogoku to my neighborhood. Just around the corner from the listing was Beer Pub Ichi-Ya. I dropped in briefly to ask two things: do they take credit cards and do they have wifi…? Yes to both! I went up to the listing and grabbed my laptop.

Back at the pub, I bellied up to the bar. After perusing the menu, I ordered their IPA called Destroy Angel (how could I not?) and some edamame with butter and Japanese 7 Spice powder. I opened my laptop but mostly observed my surroundings.. the goings-on behind the bar, the woman next to me who’d ordered a flight of beers and with whom I exchanged friendly smiles.

I went back up to my room for more cash and came back down, still with laptop, and this time landed at Cafe 363 on the first floor of the building my hostel room was in. I had a salmon and vegetable galette (like an open-faced crêpe) and again didn’t do anything on my laptop as there wasn’t much time between ordering and being served.

In my room to stay, I went through photos on my phone and deleted duplicates and images not worth saving.

At 22:30, I put my very long touring day to rest.