Monkey Park Iwatayama in Arashiyama, Kyoto 嵐山モンキーパーク元録山

By Phuong on 2016-07-16 23:47:43

We went to Arashiyama , a suburb which is 20 minutes by train from Kyoto. There, we visited the Iwatayama Monkey Park 嵐山モンキーパーク元録山. From Saga-Arashiyama station, you have to walk 10 minutes towards the Togetsukyo bridge, cross it and the park entrance is a few meters on the other side of the bridge. To see the monkeys, you need also to climb a small hill to the top where the refuge of monkeys is located.

There are about 170 wild macaques that live in this park. Inside the park, the monkeys are free, they move freely without chain and without attachment. They are accustomed to seeing tourists revolve around them, so they are pretty quiet and friendly. There are still some safety guidelines to follow: Do not take pictures of monkeys less than 2 meters apart, not to put squatting before them, do not feed them food from outside the park, do not touch them .... By respecting these rules, it is quite easy to approach these wild macaques to take pictures and give them to eat from the cabin installed for this purpose. The food to be given to macaques is available at the counter in the cabin for 100 yen and there is a small corner conditioning inside to cool off. it's quite nice to be so close to these animals without seeing them in a cage and be able to give them apple slices or peanuts. I think the monkeys have a preference for apples vs peanuts ;)

Well , if you have the opportunity to go to Arashiyama, make a trip to the park Iwatayama see the macaques. The entrance is not very expensive, it costs 550 yen.