Arashiyama brought us closer to the Western mountains of Kyoto (which is a city surrounded by mountain) and a 20 minute uphill walk brought us to the infamous Monkey Park. Here the monkeys roam free and if you want to feed them, YOU get in the cage, and feed them through the fencing. All the monkeys were the native Japanese macaque species, and it was very very cool to hang out with them, but also slightly intimidating (lots of rules like not gettting too close, avoiding eye contact, etc).

We returned to town and took the scenic path through a gorgeous bamboo forest, before visiting Okochi Sanso, an elaborate private garden built by a famous silent Japanese film star (who also appeared in a few early Akira Kurosawa films). The narrow path guides you from garden to garden, and it felt like a greatest hits of Japanese gardens, complete with remarkable moss, a lookout for the mountain, and positioned right at the entrance of the bamboo forest.

Lunch was fun – a quaint traditional Japanese place that on the surface seemed to be totally vegetarian, but we realised a little late featured plenty of fish stock. When the staff realised our dietary needs, they quickly made some substitutions, but it’s so clear that the notion of someone not eating fish is so foreign to most people here. The tofu, veggies and tempura were delicious though, and it was memorable to sit on the floor and to boil our own tofu on a hotplate.