Hunt for the bamboo pathway...

Growing up, I always imagined Japan to be filled with bamboo forests, monkeys, Samurai and ninjas. For the most part, was entirely wrong. The samurai have long been extinct from the late 1800's and the ninja are hidden in the shadows. That was half of my imagination. There was only one spot that I visited where there were some monkeys and that was Arashiyama. 

I did not go and see the monkeys, a bit too expensive for my travels, but while in Arashiyama, I had the privelage to see the bamboo walkway we have all seen on Instagram and Google. This is where the fun begins. 

I arrive in this small village around noon and stand in the bridge traversing the Ukyo-ku River to get my bearings. Upriver, there is a pathway that leads to a bend. Deciding to follow that path, I walk about 500 meters to the end of the trail. To my disappointment, there is no bamboo forest and no trail leadin further on: fail. 

After searching for about an hour or so, I met a couple from Hong Kong who was also looking for the famed bamboo pathway. We walked through zen temples and shopping streets until we finally stumbled upon a sign that said bamboo path is 90 meters to the left. We looked at each other and laughed. 

It was an enlightened pathway that was flooded with tourists and cameras. Mine was right there with it all. Standing at the beginning it the path with my eyes closed and focusing on breathing, I was able to memorize the scene that was laid out before me. 

That's when it all made sense. We need to protect and serve the land as it does to us. We have to stop killing our homes with poor agriculture. That moment is when I knew the path I must take my cooking. Standing at the beginning of the perfectly sporadic bamboo proved to me that he natural order is the strongest and most sustainable for the entire environment.