Girls' Trip to Kyoto: Togetsukyo Bridge & Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

On our last day in Kyoto, we were graced with the presence of a Good Samaritan Club tour guide, a college student that takes you around for free! From what we learned from our guide, Senna, a lot of the members join the club so that they can practice their English with the people that they show around. I think it's a brilliant idea and love that both the student and the tourists benefit!

The ladies with our guide, Senna. Thanks, Christa, for the photo! 

Our first stop was the Togetsukyo Bridge, a famous bridge in Arashiyama. It's surrounded by beautiful landscape, restaurants, and shops galore! It was a beautiful day and there were a ton of people walking around. Again, if only we would have had the fall leaves to complete the landscape it would have been perfection!

We took the bus here and, shockingly, it was really easy. However, I don't think that we would have been able to figure it out with having Senna with us. Then, we walked across the bridge and around the corner to our next stop, Iwatayama Monkey Park!

Playing with the fishes… or looking for food. Idk, I'm going to "playing." 

Another Christa special. 

I know, I know… I took a lot of photos of the monkeys! Seriously, when am I ever going to just be walking around with a bunch of Japanese macaque monkeys?! We walked (read: hiked) up Mt. Arashiyama to get to the park and once there we were able to walk around freely and "hang out." Get it? Monkeys. Hanging. Zing! There were also some pretty great views from the top, which were an added bonus.

Christa special, again. 

Christa special, again, haha!

After we made it to the bottom of the mountain, we headed to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove or Bamboo Road. The whole scene was remarkable and I this is where I learned the most about my camera. I got lots of tips from Christa and we compared notes, which was really fun! We walked all the way through and even found a sweet man selling post cards of his paintings from the area. I collect post cards from all the places that we go so you can imagine my excitement!

A small glimpse of autumn's arrival.

Feeling totally zen. 

Our last stop on our trip was Tenryuji Temple, the highest ranked zen temple in the Arashiyama district. The man that built it did it with the intentions of having a resting place for the former Emperor, who he had killed. From what I understand, it was his way of asking for forgiveness to the people and to the Gods. The name means "Heavenly Dragon Temple," and is significant because the shogun that built it said that the former Emperor came to him in a dream as a dragon rising from a river.

We enjoyed our last dinner in Kyoto at an Italian restaurant within walking distance of our house. Then, the next morning the landlord had arranged taxis for us and we were off to the train station to head back to the airport. The flight home was uneventful and, before I knew it, I was back with My Love and we were on our way to Peace Memorial Park in our own little paradise, Okinawa.