It doesn't say so in the travel books, but it's obvious that the highlight of touring any centuries-old Shinto Shrine or Buddhist Temple is the possibility of capturing a critter. Here's Gemma with a gecko that she caught at a shrine that is well known in Japan for it's spectacular flower gardens...
such as this river of hydrangeas tumbling down the mountain side.
Hiking through this bamboo forest was a real treat. It looked like the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon! Of course, Gemma preferred the giant bullfrogs living in a pond in this forest. The first time I heard one, I truly thought it was a cow mooing. Rick pointed out that may be where the name bullfrog comes from. Cool! I hadn't thought of that :)
Monkeys live in the mountains around Kyoto, and we hiked up to a park where we got to hand feed the monkeys little treats like apple chunks and chestnuts. They were adorable! Gemma commented, "We should do this more often!" Yeah, I agree.
We now have 1001 photos of this particularly cute monkey baby, courtesy of Gemma.
Grandpa Clarence now has a "shrine" of sorts in the hills of western Kyoto. Gemma collected flowers, bamboo, and grasses during a hike through the grounds of a Shinto Shrine, assembled them artistically at the base of a tree, and wrote "Grandpa" in little stones. Monkeys occasionally visit the area, so Dad would like that :)
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