Arashiyama, Kyoto

arashiyama_sakura_truck
There were a lot more sakura in Arashiyama than we’d seen in Tokyo and Kyoto.

arashiyama_sakura_building
More sakura!

arashiyama_togetsukyo_bridge_moon_crossing
Togetsukyo Bridge, also known by its more romantic name, “Moon Crossing Bridge.” Mount Arashiyama in the background.

arashiyama_hozu_river
The Hozu River. Mount Arashiyama in the background.

arashiyama_hozu_river_boat_cruise
Hozu River Cruise boats.

arashiyama_togetsukyo_bridge_moon_crossing_bridge
Togetsukyo Bridge, also known by its more romantic name, “Moon Crossing Bridge.”

arashiyama_sakura_soft_serve
I had sakura-flavored soft serve. This may be the same river as above, but was a different bridge.

arashiyama_street
A street in Arashiyama.

arashiyama_fake_food
We were looking for a lunch spot. This is one of the places we checked out. A lot of places have these fake food displays to show you what they serve.

arashiyama_dried_strawberries
I noticed this street vendor selling dried strawberries. He was giving out samples and I had one. It was so good, I bought a bag of them! So sweet, but not sugared. I want some more right now!

arashiyama_lunch
We had lunch at a spot that specialized in soba noodles. I had the soup with shrimp tempura.

arashiyama_lunch_bill
This was our lunch bill. The only thing we understood was the last line, which meant 2 beers.

arashiyama_store
This store was selling purses and some other things. I like the building.

arashiyama_street_vendor
A street vendor in Arashiyama. Actually, there were a lot of street vendors selling everything from takoyaki to soft serve to pickles to dumplings. We even saw small whole fish speared on a stake and grilled for sale.

On our second day in Kyoto, we hopped on the JR again and took a short ride to Arashiyama, a district in the western outskirts of Kyoto. This place is a quaint little town and is so pretty. We knew we’d be spending a lot of time in ultra-urban Tokyo, so it was nice to see rivers and bridges and trees and mountains, a more rustic setting. Our main reason for visiting Arashiyama was to see some monkeys (more on that later!) but these are some photos of the town itself, which was also very nice.