Party Animals

Two of our latest experiences that have stuck out as share-worthy have had something to do with animals.

The first involved monkeys.  Lots of monkeys.  On our third day in Kyoto, after another morning of temple viewing, we spent the afternoon in the Northwest area of the city, known as Arashiyama. One thing Arashiyama is known for is its monkey park. This area is less known for it's marvelous hills (blooming beautiful with cherry blossoms), meandering park paths, and towering view of Kyoto from one of it's easily hike-able peaks.

One of our Japan guidebooks mentions Arashiyama as a day trip from Kyoto because of it's temple, famous bamboo pathway, and, of course, the monkey park.  It casually notes that there is a view from the top of the monkey park, but it negatively references the hike.  We found the hike refreshing (pretty steep, but only about 20 minutes) and the views spectacular.  Had their been no critters, the hike and view would have been worth the time and energy.  About 7 minutes from the top however, we had our first monkey sighting.  Once at the top we found hordes of Japanese macaques.  Great hike, extraordinary views, and monkeys!?! Sign us up!

We had initially planned meeting up with some macaques outside of Nagano. We changed our trip because of a U.S. State Department warning concerning areas near the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant, as previously mentioned.  We had been excited to convene with these famous monkeys, and knew we would miss them as we traveled the rest of Japan.  On our train ride from Koyasan to Osaka, en-route to Kyoto, we met a new, and very helpful friend.  We'll call him Buddhist Joe, since he just introduced himself as Joe (sorry, no picture) and he is studying to become a Buddhist monk.  He had been living in Kyoto for over a year and was eager to share some of his favorite sights in and around town.  Buddhist Joe's recommendations, unsurprisingly, centered around temples.  We went to most of the places on his list and he did indeed include some great suggestions.  One of his starred day trips was Arashiyama, though we think the temple was his number one reason for proffering it.  His number two reason was the monkey park.  We saw this as our opportunity to keep our meeting with the macaques of Japan, although a different faction.

Don't tell Joe, but we skipped the temple.  We arrived in Arashiyama around 12:30 to massive crowds after a two-temple morning.  The town has an outstanding location on the bank of a waterway.  Gorgeous hills, couples in boats, temples, shrines, and a large hill-side park all made this a very pretty destination for the second half of our day.  It is possible (and extremely likely) to get templed-out in Kyoto.  Although we knew this place to be home to a particularly popular specimen, we were there for a nice walk, bamboo, and monkeys.  At the end of the day, we got all three!

We walked around the park looking for an area known to have monkeys who sometimes wander down from the hills.  Seeing no monkeys down below, we crossed the water, found the monkey park, and began our ascent.  We wooshed past some funny signs warning us not to "feed monkeys outside" or "stare at monkeys."  Again, the hike was not bad for scenery and the steep slope good for the ol' tickers.  We rejoiced upon seeing our first monkey.  It was a monkey in a tree.  Soon, we saw a monkey on the ground.  He led us up a stretch of path, stopping to pick bugs from under rocks and menace at us, baring his teeth and hissing a bit when we got too close.  We neared the top and started seeing monkeys right and left.  "Look, this big one is chasing that little one!"  "Oh, now that little one is chasing this other big one!"  They were everywhere, and we were thrilled!

The view at the top, however, was also thrilling.  All of Kyoto stretched out before us and we could pick out Kyoto Tower and the big Buddha statue we could also see from our hostel window.  We watched monkeys groom one another and scamper about.  And watched the interactions between a mother and her very newly born monkey offspring (SO cute!). We spent the better part of an hour watching the monkeys and taking in the breathtaking view before finally hiking back downhill and bidding the monkeys (and two days later Kyoto) adieu.

After Kyoto, we spent two days in the smaller town of Nara, the one-time capital of Japan (for a whopping75 years).  Believed to be messengers of the Gods in pre-Buddhist times, 1,200 deer are allowed to roam free throughout the town and its many parks.  And, man, the deer are EVERYWHERE.

There are little stations to buy treats for the deer all over Nara's main (and large) park.  Outside the Todaiji Temple (the world's largest wooden structure and home to the Great Buddha, a 40-meter tall bronze statue), we finally broke down and bought 'deer biscuits,' for the swarming deer-masses.  This proved to be a mistake.  The deer here were obviously used to getting fed here.  They weren't shy about making sure one of your 6 'biscuits' went to them.  They bit your clothes. They rammed your back and lower parts with their heads.  Terrified, we threw the treats at them one by one, hoping the pushing and nipping would stop.  Wrong.  It's like kids.  You give in once and they know they've got you.  The deer didn't stop harassing whichever of us had the treats until all was consumed.  

Frazzled, and with slobber marks on our shirts, we stumbled out of the fray.  We were unharmed but harried and bewildered. It was a little like stepping out of a mosh-pit at a Clay Aiken concert.  What the heck just happened?  We fed pigeons in Venice a few years ago.  They swarmed and even perched on you to get fed.  But they weren't mean.  As noted above, we fed semi-tame monkeys a few days before these deer.  They were mean to each other, fighting and chasing one another for prime snacks. But they too were almost polite when taking food offered by people.  Deer, who we usually think of as easily-spooked, gentle creatures, turned out to be the biggest bullies.  Who would have guessed?

As we stood back and laughed about the butting, biting deer (two of the four moves signs in the park warn the deer might use, pictured at left), we noticed a lady from a tour group buying a fresh pack of 'deer biscuits.'  This lady was maybe in her mid 60s.  The deer cared not.  They bit, shoved, and butted as they did these young whipper snappers.  Good.  At least they are equal opportunity.  Our guess was that another area of the park, one less crowded because of the temple, may have produced friendlier deer.  Then again, what would be the fun in a nervous deer calmly nibbling food from your hand?  Nara has some beautiful sights, indeed. It still retains much of it's 'old-world' charm, and it's many temples and strong sense of culture made it a worthwhile destination on our Japan itinerary.  As great as the rest of the city was, the cute, spoiled, revered, sometimes down-right mean deer will hold a special place in our hearts. 

Damn, those deer can party!