Kyoto has many temples and gardens, it not possible to keep up all of them, I am struggling to find some that are for memories. Because I find temples in general beautiful, even the smallest one has something beautiful or cute, maybe a lantern or a bonsai in a cute corner or a gorgeous roses bush.
Today I saw two other temples and both had a garden. The gardens were beautiful, but I really saw better. Japan is these weeks red, most of my photos are red. It’s amazing how they do it, I suppose it’s on purpose.
The Japanese gardens are not what I imagined before I came to Japan: a place where you come and enjoy unforgettable moments in the nature, while having a delicious coffee or matcha or maybe a cake. No. You pay the entrance, it’s very crowded, you cannot sit inside, everyone is just taking pictures of every red tree, you are not allowed to drink or eat and you leave. The gardens are for nice views and pictures … And that’s it. After you saw 2-3-4, you can say that you saw all of them. Of course, they are gorgeous, but they are also so many and each of them costs 500 yen (4,16 euro). If you calculate 2 per day for 45 day, then it’s about 375 euro just gardens. Usually to see the temples you pay another 500 yen (sometimes even more).
What impressed me today was the bamboo forest at Arashiyama. Those trees were really tall!! I continued the walk up the hill and found amazing views over the river:
I could even get very close to that river:
The walk in the forest and beside the river was for free.
Because I was in the area, I visited the monkey park:
They were free all over the place, it was so interesting to be so close to them. It’s not a good idea to touch them, feed them or point a camera at them, even starring in the eyes can be dangerous and make them angry. Or scared. If a monkey shows the teeth up while making noises, this means she is scared. If the noises come without showing the teeth up, she is angry.
Yesterday I was to the Fushimi Inari temple. This was also for free and it’s a must for Kyoto. What a place!!
There are many torii!! After a quick research, I found that there are 10.000 small and big on the entire mountain, but I am not sure if the miniature ones are in this number. I thought there are hundreds of thousands there. I spent 2 hours on that mountain and I could see torii everywhere, so 10.000 seems for me a smaller nubmer that I expected.
Yesterday I also saw other temples and gardens:
I walked the Philosopher’s Path:
Today, after walking soooo long for the last days, my muscles were begging for some relaxing time. So I went to an onsen close to the Arashiyama Monkey Park, after all the visiting was over. It was such a good decision!!