G-Drama JEJU: EPISODE 18: ARASHIYAMA: LAND OF MONKEYS AND... WHO CARES WHAT ELSE? MONKEYS!

I don't know what to say. We loved this place.

Also the title might not sound as if it is filled with the terror of imminent monkey murder. But it is. (As you may be able to tell, Ben was forced to go to the monkey park here. How often do you get the chance to see snow monkeys in Japan?)

So, we took the tiniest little one-car train to the northwest limits of Kyoto to visit the magical Arashiyama. Riding in this train car was almost comical.

Bridge over the river dividing Arashiyama. Monkey mountain ho!

No rickshaw ride for us, as Ben was convinced we'd need all our energy
to run away from murder monkeys.
(This did not happen as taking the rickshaw would have afforded us more energy)

Whoever would have thought that brooms could seem so cute?

All scenes from crossing the bridge. The mountains in the distance were beautiful.

This way to the temple overrun by monkeys... I mean, monkey park.

Very important: don't feed the monkeys bananas OR fish that look like bananas.

Also, put out fires, because God only knows what'll happen to us if the monkeys get their hands on it.

So we paid our entrance fees, read the 30 signs about not having food around the monkeys/not looking the monkeys in the eye/not getting anywhere remotely close to the monkeys, became sufficiently terrified, trudged up the mountain path in a state of said terror, and then saw these little guys! There were about 20 or so just running around at the top of the mountain. You could go inside a hut and feed them through bars, or simply walk around them warily. We chose option 2.

The monkeys overlooking their dominion and whispering, "Soon, it will all be ours... I mean, banana?"

Hard to stay away from the monkeys when they walk up within a foot of you...

Tough twig. This monkey needed all four hands to eat it.

All hands on deck!

As you can see, they've perfected their looks of naive innocence so that no one will ever suspect...

Meanwhile, this monkey's been making knitted handicrafts and selling them on Etsy.

Farewell, monkeys! Let's get some nature shots in celebration that we're still alive.

Ben's new favorite ivy.

Back to the river.

Idyllic walk beside the crazy turquoise-colored river... and yes, the picture below is the moss on the straw umbrella above!

Bamboo forest time!

Tanuki statues, to make things even more atmospheric/terrifying.

Aww, aren't you the cutest little... berry things?

Moss temple! Name self-explanatory. Charm also self-explanatory.

Hey fruit! You're a dolphin!

Hey flower! You're a cabbage!

These are truly blue berries. Unlike those other blue berries...

Now freezing, we left the bamboo forests and the numerous lovely Buddhist temples to go back into town, where Ben found his first vending machine selling hot ginger ale! Needless to say, the moment could not have been more magical... The buildings that haven't changed since the Meiji era may have also had something to do with that...

The makers of the lit-up fabric display that you'll see at the end. Unfortunately, they were closed for New Year's when we came by.

Ah, warming my hands with a hot vending machine drink...
Oh Japanese vending machines, how we miss you.

Moth cocoons...

even you become charming and adorable here.

And England thought it had a monopoly on thatch...

This was as far up as we went, especially since we heard a noise and looked to the left, then saw a monkey swinging from tree to tree, far from its monkey park home...

I'm not sure whether to make a joke about a bigger garage or a smaller car?

From here, we went and had our first all-tofu dinner from a family that's been perfecting its tofu for decades (complete with soup, tofu on a stick, sweet gummy tofu, sweet soy milk, etc). The tastes and textures were surprisingly versatile and beat the heck out of any tofu we've had in the States. After the soy fest, we headed back to the train station.