Arashiyama

Ventured further out of Kyoto today. Nice sunny day. Took a subway and train to what turned out to be a popular tourist spot. Another beautiful place. Green lush hills surrounding temples. Walked amongst the crowd along the bamboo path. Had to also share part of the path with rickshaws. Not as peaceful as we would've liked. Turned around after kids had enough. Had yummy snack food at a stall at near the beginning of the bamboo path. Phil spotted Dirk from uni days. Random meeting with someone we haven't seen for nearly 20 years. Small world.

Walked and walked some more to the monkey park across the Togetsukyo bridge. Paid to get into the park. It was a challenging walk up the steep hill. Catherine got quite tired. Fortunately at the top was a playground. Watched monkeys for a while and admired the view of Kyoto. Neat. Kids spent some time at the playground afterwards. Big narrow slide and flying fox were the highlights. Back down the steep hill. Jelly legs on the way back to the train.

Had a fun dinner at an Okonomiyaki restaurant. Sat at the counter where we could watch them cook our food. Had some teppanyaki, yakitori and yummy omelette. Convenient place just down the street from our house. Stopped at Lawson to get more groceries and dessert.