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Originally Posted by biwako
great info guys,
I mentioned the Monkey Park at Iwatayama, has anyone here seen this,
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We were at Monkey Park 5 days ago.
Should you go? Well, how much do you like Monkeys?
We went with our 2 year-old, and she absolutely loved it. Just seeing her reaction to all the monkeys was worth it. She still asks to go see the "Monkey Top" (monkeys on top of the hill).
Basically it's a small monkey center at the top of a hill. So picture an area of bare ground with about 20-30 monkeys at any given time walking around. They are not pets, you can't touch them, but they are very tame and you can get within 2 feet of them. Also, they have a room you can go into and buy peanuts and apples (only JPY 100 per bag) and feed them by hand.
The view from the top is also beautiful, you can see pretty much all of Kyoto spread out beneath you, so pick a clear day to go.
The walk up is a fairly strenuous hike, taking about 15-20 minutes for adults in average condition. The map is NOT to scale, so don't just your progress by the map or you will freak out.
In my opinion, I think it is very worth the trip. But then again, I like monkeys.
The entrance to the park is about 10 minute walk from the Bamboo Groves, just on the other side of the bridge. So if you are going to see the Bamboo anyway, I would say go.
Note that there are two main ways of getting there from Kyoto, the JR rail, and the non-JR rail. The JR rail leaves from Kyoto station and is standard modern rail. The non-JR rail is a total hoot. I recommend it just for the experience. It's a single car (!), goes really slowly, has stations like every 3 blocks, and makes weird noises. JPY 200 per ride, highly recommended. However, the end is on the west side of Kyoto, so if your hotel is far away it can be a bit of a pain.