Japan: Day 9 (Bamboo Forest, Monkey Park and then off to Tokyo!)

Day 9 consisted of a Bamboo Forest, a Monkey Park and then a train ride to Tokyo. This was a very exciting day!

We started the day off by taking a train ride to a Bamboo Forest. We saw a lot more of rural Japan on the train ride than any other time. The scenery was pretty, very green. We would like to see more the country side if we ever go back to Japan since we did not see much of it on this trip.

Starting our walk in the bamboo forest.

The bamboo forest was OK but we both agree the bamboo forest we saw in Hawaii was neater. This forest had a paved path and you felt so far away from the bamboo. In Hawaii, it felt much less commercialized...you could hear the wind hitting the bamboo...and there was a lot more bamboo.

Outside the bamboo forest, on a river. So these picture didn't turn out! It was a nicer than these pictures...

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We then went to a monkey park...one of the highlights of the trip! The monkey park was a priceless experience! There are ~150 monkeys in the park. The park keeps track of each monkey and has a name for each monkey. It's about a 20 minute hike up to the top of the park and at the top, there's a monkey cage where you feed the monkeys!

FYI - Both the Benshen's and Benson's took lots of great videos on this day. The videos are quite long (and funny) and would take a lot of time to upload so I decided to save it for the grand finale video clips. You'll have to stay tuned.

A sign warning us to not stare at a monkey in its eyes. Staring at a monkey in its eyes shows a form of aggression and they may attack you!

As we started the short ascent to the top, we ran into a little bit of trouble. There were monkeys in the path! It was pretty funny and some were pretty scared. We walked around them but snapped quite a few pictures since this was our first experience with the monkeys.

On our way up to the monkey cage, we saw plenty of monkeys in the park. Remember, don't stare at a monkey in its eyes! They were observing, playing, swinging in trees and whatever else monkeys do:

At the top of the park, there is a cage. The cage is interesting because YOU go inside the cage and the monkeys are on the outside...it's their park, right? Inside the cage, we bought food to feed the monkeys (apples or peanuts).

Waiting for food.

This monkey wants food! They screeched if you gave food to a different monkey or were waiting for a while.

Cute younger monkey. The older monkeys chowed down the food but this young monkey nibbled on its food. The older monkeys would stick their arms/hands in the cage and eat the food right away and then reach for more food. This little guy reached for food and then went off to the side to enjoy his food.

Feeding the monkeys...

The next set of pictures are directly outside of the monkey cage. Quite a few monkeys hang out here. All of the monkeys seemed friendly and were not intimidating.

Hanging out outside the cage.

11 day old monkey with his/her mom!

The park ranger took this picture for us. He called a monkey over by its name (the monkey was rewarded with food) and the monkey was nice enough to take a picture with us!

We then made our way down from the monkey cage. There was a fairly large slide on our way down - it only seemed fitting that the monkey park would have a slide.

So the slide was made for 1) Real Asians 2) Kids because it's narrow. "Real" Asians are very skinny and kids are just smaller.

After the slide, we continued our way down. We saw a different pair of monkeys in the path. Not a big deal, right? We got used to them on the top since they were friendly (literally within 1' of us and they would walk past us regularly).

Me, passing the monkeys on the path and then taking a picture. Julie, Rob and Dave still need to cross the monkeys on the path. Remember, don't stare at a monkey in its eyes.

Julie decided to get low (like around eye level with the monkey...) and take a picture of them. The monkey screeched very loud and moved towards Julie!! The funny part is, Julie screamed and ran behind Rob. Luckily, the park ranger on the top (at the monkey cage) heard the monkey and made a grunting noise to scare the monkey. The frightened monkey left Julie, Rob and Dave alone. Thank goodness for the park ranger because monkeys are known to poke eyes out.

A picture from my perspective (having crossed the monkeys). The funny part is after the "attack", Julie said she wasn't staring at the monkey in its eyes. I had proof that she did!

The monkey MAD at Julie. This picture makes me laugh and I'm glad Julie snapped it before the "attack". I was safe on the other side and couldn't help but laugh even when it was happening...sorry.

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Lunch near the monkey park.

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After the monkey park, it off to Tokyo on the bullet train. We played A LOT of "500" on the trip while trying to pass time (mainly on the train and at night). We kept a cumulative score for the entire Japan trip. There was a total of 108 hands and the final score was 6230 (girls) to 7870 (boys). Normally, the girls are much better players but the boys were lucky in Japan...

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For dinner, we ate at a restaurant that overlooked Tokyo (29th floor). We then walked the streets of Tokyo and since it was a Saturday night, there were lots of younger people out-and-about.