Top of the World
The serene beauty of the bamboo forest in the Arashiyama district is a wonderful site to behold.It’s filled with temples and shrines, but the star attraction is the famed Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Arashiyama is in the far west of Kyoto, tucked along the base of the Arashiyama Mountains (meaning “Storm Mountains”). In Japan's Sagano Bamboo Forest, on the outskirts of Kyoto, towering green stalks of the famously versatile plant sway in the wind, creaking eerily they collide and twist, leaves rustling. The sun filters through the densely packed grove, projecting thin slashes of light onto the dozens of camera-clutching tourists shuffling down the wide trail that cuts through the middle of the forest as they awkwardly angle their shots, attempting to crop human forms out of their frames. Long gone are the days when you'd get this place to yourself when visiting Japan. If you've ever clicked on a rundown of "places to see before you die" or a compilation of the most beautiful forests in the world, chances are you've seen a photo of Sagano.
