Monkeys and More!
Lately we have been hanging around Kyoto looking at temples within the city, which still leaves many options! The city is littered with temples and shrines, many of them in the middle of residential neighborhoods that have grown up around them. It is hard to keep my blog updated with any real detail because many of the places we visit are very similar so I feel as though to explain one is to explain them all. I can’t even remember the names of most of them. That’s not totally my fault though because the language is very different and doesn’t really lend itself to memorization. One stand out in the last week was the Golden Pavilion, which is exactly what it sounds like. The structure is two stories tall with a very ornate roof on top and all of the walls are covered in gold leaf. It is very beautiful, especially with the reflection from the water in front of it. Apparently the original structure was burned down when a monk was so possessive of it that he burned it down. The new version is only built at 2/3 the scale of the original so it was cool to imagine it being even bigger.
Besides seeing temples and shrines there have also been gardens adjacent to many of the buildings at nearly every site. The gardens are either green or rock gardens. The rock gardens are very cool. There are usually around 15 rocks placed throughout the flat rectangular garden. Supposedly from any vantage point a person should never be able to see every rock. The large rocks also sit upon a base of gravel that is meticulously groomed and raked into very cool patterns. It seems impossible to do when you see it finished.
Japan seems to have everything and that was proven last week when four others and I rode bikes to go see monkeys. I had no idea I would get to see monkeys in Japan but it made my day. The bike ride was all the way across town and took nearly an hour. The monkeys were worth it though. They were scattered loosely as we approached along a path up the mountain. Finally we got to the hut where you could feed them and they were all hanging around outside of it. Almost all of them were paired off and one was combing through the other one’s back and head for whatever it is they look for, maybe split ends. Inside the hut we could buy bags of peanuts or apple to feed to the monkeys. It was both fun and a great photo op. When I was done photographing I bought a bag and looked for a monkey to feed. I was inside of a hut with windows covered in chain link fencing and monkeys were hanging on the outside of it, many with their arms outstretched and looks on their faces that said they weren’t asking for food but were expecting it. I was worried as I reached towards them with a peanut in the palm of my hand that they would scratch me as they frantically went for the food. Instead they very carefully plucked the nut from my hands with very deliberate fingers. Everything about them was strangely human.
The rest of the time here in Kyoto has been very cool and I am looking forward to the weekend to sleep in a little bit. I have posted pictures so take a look.
