Our exploration of Kyoto started with a trip to the post office for an international ATM, much to Ryan’s relief. It turns out that while MasterCards are generally accepted credit cards in Japan, they are NOT generally excepted in most international ATMs, only a select few. Ryan and I were both happy to be able to stop relying on Kelly and Jason for all our ‘cash only’ expenditures.

We then perused and ate our way through Nishiki market, sampling lots of pickled vegetables, dried fruit, some wine, and a few other interesting items. The Nishiki market is a fascinating experience that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Kyoto.
          
    

In the afternoon, we hopped a train to Arashiyama and rented bikes to get around the town. First stop was the Iwatayama Monkey Park, inhabited by over 170 Japanese macaque monkeys. We were very excited to climb up the small mountain to the monkey viewing area, because we have definitely not been getting enough exercise on this trip (please note the sarcasm). We all took turns feeding the monkeys. One thing I don’t understand is why the monkeys stay on the mountain and do not travel down to the town below.
            
     

I took the quick way down part of the mountain.

We crossed back over the Togetsukyo Bridge, Arashiyama’s landmark, and headed into the famous bamboo grove. What a sight!
      

Bamboo groves were followed by a fast walk to where we had parked the bikes and a furious ride to get them back to the rental company by the required return time. All that hard work required a beer for the guys, while Kelly and I wandered around some shops and the grounds of the Tenryuji Temple, a World Heritage site.