What an amazing place Kyoto is. Didn’t have a great night last night due to a man flu I’ve picked up in Tokyo and got the dreaded congestion and mild panic attacks in the middle of the night. Managed to not wake Lynda up pacing backwards and forwards through the apartment and then concentrated on strategy ie my breathing and got back to sleep. If you ever suffer from anxiety or panic attacks try reading “Living with “It”. It’s helped me and many others. That’s enough of the health warnings…oh and don’t take heroin, it’s really bad for you!
Anyway, we took off for the incredible Arashiyama today, 20 mins in the subway to new Kyoto and an hour-long bus right to the mountains. The roads were really tight as you got into the bush through gorgeous old houses and shops. If you’ve ever driven down Anderson St Yarraville, imagine that for 30 mins so they had guards strategically placed to hold cars up to let the buses through. It was a long ride but really worth it.
The air was fresh, there was water everywhere and the local flora was magnificent. There was a world heritage listed Shrine there but we headed straight up a mountain to see the legendary monkey place at the summit. The walk up was definitely one of the most stunning walks we have ever been on. Truly beautiful and the monkeys up the top were hilarious. They have got a great life. I was worried we were going to be confronted with monkeys that were ratty, unkept, hardcore criminal types…sort of Morwell or for WA friends, Medina Monkeys! Turns out they were quite the opposite, clean, free to roam everywhere in a natural setting and full guts’ due to fat tourists like me feeding them inexhaustible supplies of peanuts and apple. They even had a hot spring to keep themselves nice and a view to die for! The babies stole the show of course but they all were so relaxed and happy which was a relief.
After getting back down the mountain and grabbing another superb noodle and broth dish, we walked another spectacular street of shops and entered the legendary bamboo forest which is proudly displayed on the front cover of the Lonely Planet guide. I would have loved to have gone through it with fewer people around but you can’t have it all. It was stunning and well worth checking out. Did a bit more shopping for family and friends because the stuff here is sensational. Some of the quality and detail that the Japanese put into their crafts, in particular, is astonishing.
Took the bus home again and from the height of the bus you could see into the tiny house’s yards in the narrow streets and see the Japanese gardens. If I ever buy a house again, I’m getting one of those for sure. I’ll be paying someone but that’s not the point! Anyway just over the road on the way home we discovered a sneaky little alley with restaurants so might head there tonight. Need to kill this cold before tomorrow because our Air BnB host Niall runs an adventure business in Kyoto and he is taking us for a 5-hour bike ride around the joint. I’m not looking forward to tomorrow night but should be a great day. Hope all’s well back home Cheers Willow & Lynda. PS Streaming 3RRR now through the Ipad. Sounds just like home! One of my all-time favourite shows Beat Orgy which has been around for over 25 years since starting on 3PBS, normally hosted by Steve Cross but tonight hosted by the ageless Chris Hatzis who was the first Breakfaster I ever heard when I arrived in Melbourne in 1986. What a treat! I’m truly a lucky man.
How cool are these two young blokes and their coffee shop called “%”. All types of coffee roasted on premises and the coffee was, sorry to sound like a snob, but Melbourne – like!
