The next morning my mom made the decision to sleep in and leave around 8:30 because everyone was tired of walking so much yesterday. We all met downstairs for another full day in Kyoto. Upon arriving we were supposed to meet Joanna near the information station but we kind of got a little lost. Luckily she bumped into us on our way to the information station. We made our way to the next train station where Joanna had to buy her ticket to Arashiyama. Luckily we had our ICOCA cards with money so we didn't have to study the machines. As she went to buy her ticket the group ate at a small bakery. I ate a bear shaped bread looking thing.
When we got to Arashiyama we walked through a park with a bamboo forest and sakura. We snapped lots of pictures in the park.
We made our way to the Togetsu bridge. Along the way we saw a water way where people would go out on boats and float in the river. We crossed over the bridge and decided to eat lunch before we would catch the bus to the next temple.
We waited for the bus for over an hour after lunch! We kept looking for a number 62 or 72 to take us to Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple. We called it quits and asked Joanna what we should do. She suggested a walk to the monkey park just down the road. We got to the ticket booth but we had to hike up a mountain for about 20-30 minutes. When we finally got up we fed the monkeys in a cage with apples and peanuts. After feeding them you can walk around with them in this open scenic area.
After playing with the monkeys for about an hour we made our way back down to the bus stop to wait for the bus. Joanna checked the sign of the bus that was passing and it wasn't a 62 or 72 but it had a sign indicating that it would drop us off near the temple. We all hopped on and got off in what seemed like a residential area. We walked up and down a street for about ten minutes and even asked for directions. It seemed like no one knew where this temple was. We kept wandering up into the residential area where we finally found it! And yes it was worth it coming here. There were what seemed like a thousand carved Buddhas in different facial expressions all in one area. They were carved out of stone and actually commemorated someone dead that didn't have a grave. It was amazing to see them all lined up and all in the same area... I took the most time taking pictures here playing with settings and focusing points. After all that photography it was late afternoon. We caught the next bus that came and made our way to Kyoto station. I passed out on the way there.
We met up with Joanna's mom and Kohta at a Chinese restaurant where we talked about our day in Arashiyama and ate some Chinese food. Kohta was happy to see me one last time before we left. After dinner we made our way to the train station where we said our thank you's and good byes to the Yoshimuras.
Mom trying out the Sakura ice cream flavor. I don't recommend it.
The famous Arashiyama bamboo forest.
Sakura was in full bloom!
Boats along the river. You can see the Togetsu bridge in the background.
Joanna asking for directions.
We ate at a small hole in the wall restaurant. Still super good tempura udon!
Ronald and Caryn making their way up to the monkey park.
Feeding the monkeys.
Monkey's view of Kyoto city.
Up close and personal.
Hundreds of these statues were near the temple.
These statues represent people all around the world with unmarked graves or bodies that weren't found.
Found a statue representing myself.
Like I said hundreds maybe over a thousand of these statues!
Many cool photo opportunities with these statues.
One of my favorite poses by the statues.
The last night in Kyoto with Kyoto tower in the background.
This day in Kyoto was really long with lots of waiting for buses for us. We saw lots, I really enjoyed this day and gave my camera a really good work out with the bamboo forest and the temple as my places most favorite shoot.
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