📍 Kyoto, Japan
The Monkey Park is part of the many attractions in the Arashiyama area~
The Monkey Park opens at 9AM and an admission fee of ¥550 will be charged for those who are older than 15 years old. Children from 4-15 years old will be ¥250. While paying for the admission fee, the attendant will also gave some rules to abide by.
Some of the rules were: To not stare at the monkey in the eye, no flash photography and to stay on the inner side of the path while hiking up for safety reasons.
I will not recommend you bring children from 4-15 years old as the hike up to the park was quite difficult for me.. I had a lot of kill me now moments while on the way up. Although they did put these mini quizzes from time to time which helped ease my pain a little.
At the halfway point, there was some seating and a big fan while spraying water and it really helps cool you down. It also shows you the map of the route, it mentions that you are halfway to the top but don’t give up!!!
You’re actually pretty near the top of the mountain to the monkey park! The map is very deceiving. After you reach the check point, the hike is so much easier compared to the first half, about 5-10 minutes more before reaching the destination!
So please push yourself a little bit further as you’ll make it to the top in no time after hitting the checkpoint 😀 !
Upon reaching the monkey park, there will be a wide open area where the monkeys will roam and a hut. There was an employee who sat outside the hut who will open the door for you and hand you a piece of frozen wet cloth from a small portable ice box when you first enter the hut. The employee will always open and close the door after you, I guess it’s for safety reasons/for monkeys not to roam inside.
You only get one frozen wet cloth from the first time you enter the hut. unfortunately. This method of cooling down made a huge difference and really helped after the hike, so it was a smart idea.
There are big chairs in the hut and surprise! There is an air conditioned room in the hut, feel free to sit in there and cool yourself down before mingling with the monkeys.
In the hut, they offer fresh apples to feed the monkeys with for about ¥100 & you can only feed the monkeys from inside the hut. There are instructions on how to feed the monkeys in a certain way.
They also sell cold refreshments for humans and souvenirs to take home, besides monkey treats 🙂 .
Besides the monkeys, you also get to see a skyline view of Kyoto! 😀
The hike up was freaking killer, especially the first half ): !
But I’m glad I pushed through and it was nice to see the monkeys in a natural environment as they are not being caged in or restricted. They can roam throughout the entire hill/mountain so sometimes you can spot the monkeys while hiking up/down.
I also just want to highlight to be careful when hiking up or down the route because I rolled my ankle when I missed a step. Luckily I was pretty near the base by then, so it wasn’t too bad. Please take extra caution!
Till next time, ♥
For more Arashiyama Monkey Park – Wiki
Omg the monkeys are so cute!