Arashiama District in Kyoto

The day before we left Kyoto, we walked through the Arashiama District. It was extremely beautiful. The trees, the water, the mountains. All of it had us ooo-ing and awe-ing every thirty seconds.

We made our way over to Iwatayama Monkey Park. We had to take a little hike to make it to the park, but we all agreed that it was well worth it.

This sign cracks me up. I miss all the English translations fails!

Once we got a little higher up the mountain, the monkeys started coming out left and right. It was a little freaky at first.

And oh the view!!

My little world travelers.

After the monkeys, we played on the slide for a while and made our way to the Arashiama Bamboo Grove. It was getting dark, so the pictures are kind of poor quality, but you get the idea. Apparently this bamboo forest is one of the top tourist sites in Kyoto, and for good reason. It was amazing! I love the United States and the comfort of being home, but looking back on these pictures makes me miss the adventure.

Kinkaku-ji

Sunday morning we all got ready for church and hopped on the bus to the local ward. We were greeted by english speaking missionaries who welcomed us into the building. Everyone was so kind. It was their ward conference and it was so fun to hear them sustain the prophet and apostles in Japanese. There was a musical number of a familiar hymn, and the spirit there was just as strong as if we were hearing it in english. It was an experience I will never forget.

After church, we hopped back on the bus and headed for Kinkaku-ji, otherwise know as the Golden Palace.

When we got off the bus, we got some amazing ice cream and walked by this teeny tiny little store. The skiniest store we have ever seen!

And then, we walked up to this....

It was amazingly beautiful!! Everywhere you looked, it seemed like you were looking at a postcard. It was breathtaking. Even though there were lots of people there, there was a peaceful feel to it.

 I love all the pictures I have of these two traveling buddies. They have no idea how lucky they are to have seen so many wonderful things at such a young age. I only wish they could remember it as vividly as I do.

 We all had to laugh at Denise's choice of "walking" shoes. :)

 Isn't this picture awesome?! I love seeing the gorgeous temple in the background and Denise with the Japanese girl in her beautiful Kimono.

Gorgeous!