Nerdy Travels: The Bamboo Forest

The bamboo forest or Arashiyama bamboo grove is a beautiful tourist attraction which I think everyone who visits Kyoto should see with their own eyes. It is a natural bamboo forest and is probably one of the main attractions for tourists and visitors when exploring Japan.

We visited the forest on one of our first days in Kyoto and we picked a beautiful sunny day to visit which was perfect weather to appreciate it all. Whilst I’ve seen small amounts of bamboo in manmade areas such as zoos I have never seen naturally growing bamboo in it’s wild habitat. The grove has long winding paths and the bamboo is behind fences along both sides. There were a lot of tourists but it wasn’t so busy that it was hard to move around and enjoy the sights at your leisure. Many visitors were taking photos and I think in every direction I looked I saw at least one person with a large camera trying to take the most aesthetic of photos. Many Japanese tourists also wore yukatas which I love to see and couples were taking pictures in their beautiful tradition garments.

Although it was really sunny and warm it was very shady under all of the tall bamboo. This was really great for me as I struggle in the hot sun and being able to be in the shade and appreciate such outdoor beauty was a perfect formula for me. The grove is such a photogenic area to visit and its one of those areas where you feel so tranquil. After spending so much time in cities and moving around so much it was lovely to just slow down and enjoy the beauty of nature.

After wandering down the main path through the grove we continued walking around and came across more open areas and other nature walk paths which we decided to take as to explore the area further. At one point we came across a small shrine tucked away within the grove which felt like something out of an anime.

We headed over towards an area with a river and I managed to get some beautiful shots of the river and surrounding hills. River boats were travelling up and down the river and we wandered down towards the side of the river and spent some time there.

As Japan is known for having a vending machine basically everywhere there was, of course a Japanese themed machine sat next to the river. I love that Japan don’t cut any corners with this stuff and machine even had limited edition Kyoto themed Coca Cola bottles which you could buy as a souvenir.

We then headed all the way back to the beginning of the bamboo forest and headed into the town around the area just to explore before heading back into the main city of Kyoto. Visiting this area is a must in Japan as it’s a great and relaxing way to spend an afternoon if you’re in need of a break from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Until next time thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a great day!

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