Arashiyama

Arashiyama is a popular spot up in the western hills of Kyoto. We headed there on a Friday afternoon after M’s school, to meet up with family for a night at a onsen ryokan (hot springs inn). There was snow on the ground, which added to the beauty of the river/mountain area.

Hananoie

The place we stayed at was once a vacation home for someone who was obviously wealthy, and sits in front of the river/park in Arashiyama. The ryokan was small and intimate, with maybe like 20 rooms.

It had an amazing garden, which we had a great view of when sitting down for breakfast. In fact, all the seats faced outwards to the garden, which I guess is nicer to look at than your travel companions, maybe? I think the building used to be a tea house, since it was separate from the main house/building.

The staff and service were excellent, my mother-in-law later explained that the place is a non-profit to preserve the historical house/garden. Pretty cool. The kaiseki dinner was great too, although I can’t ever think of a time that I was disappointed in a kaiseki dinner. They are all unique and seasonal. This one started with fugu (puffer fish), crab rice, and a hot pot with buri (yellow tail tuna).

The onsen (hot springs) weren’t too shabby either, especially nice with the cold weather.

Bamboo Forest

Arashiyama is known for a bamboo forest you can walk through, some temples and a historic feeling shop/restaurant area. It was snow/rainy that day, so we made a quick visit of the sights.

Then to warm up, we looked around for a sweets cafe, and M and her cousin insisted we go to the Rilakkuma Cafe. This place is overloaded with cuteness, but the snacks weren’t too bad. Without the kids, there are quite a few more traditional shops around, but there is no shame for adults to hand out places like this. In fact, there were more couples than kids in there:).

Monkey Park

One more family-friendly activity is to hike up to the Monkey Park which takes you up a hill and to a nice view spot.

There is also a shack there where you can buy snacks for the monkeys and feed them. It’s an interesting feeling where the monkeys roam outside the shack and the humans are essentially sitting in the cage. The monkey drama is fun to behold, reminds me of reality TV… not that I watch that stuff.

Summary

Arashiyama is a fun place to visit, and we are seeing a lot more foreign tourists now that Japan is open. We were thinking of going back during the spring cherry blossom time, but it seems all the ryokans are booked even on weekdays! It’s great to see more foreigners around though, it must be healthy for the whole travel industry.