Minoo Falls, Osaka

Lush nature, fried goods, and mischeivous monkeys- what more could you ask for on a weekend?

That's what I found in Minoo, Osaka.

Minoo is about half an hour from Osaka, and is known for its beautiful maple trees. And they made sure everyone knows it! Maple leaves were everywhere, even the pot holes and fences!

As soon as you start walking towards the waterfall area, I was hit by the alluring smell of fried food. Stalls selling tempura maple leaves lined the small streets. I abstained for a while, curious to try them, but not wanting to muck up my diet... But when I saw the Caramelised, sugar coated tempura maple leaves, thoughts of my diet left me. They smelled like cinnamon sugar donuts and thats not something I can easily resist.

I bought a small bag and popped one in my mouth straight away. Oh my goodness! It was so much better than I thought! It really did taste like a crispy cinnamon donut! I could have honestly eaten 5 bags... But I didn't. Can I have my medal now, please? Most of the shops just sell plain tempura leaves, but I cannot stress enough that you should WAIT until you get to a shop selling these caramel sugar ones! They also sold cheese flavoured ones, which I wanted, but resisted.

After eating my maple leaves, I continued walking for a little bit, until I got to an area on the way to the falls that had temples, a canal, and lovely bridges. I stopped for a while, admiring the views and taking pictures.

 

I was suddenly shocked to see a quick flash of movement in the bushes around the temple. It was monkeys! Wild monkeys! I had seen a lot of monkey characters on shop signs and monkey statues and toys, but it somehow didn't click and I didnt expect to see then freely roaming around. But there this monkey was, climbing the temple wall and coming to sit, sternly, at the top of the wall, guarding the temple. Others ran across the floor and climbed amongst the trees.

 

 

After watching them for a while, I headed towards the waterfall. It was an easy half hour hike, on paved paths. There were some stairs, but generally it was a very easy hike. The stairs were not more than a couple of flights and were not too steep. I saw many elderly and even handicapped people doing the hike with ease.

The waterfall itself was lovely. You could go close enough to feel the spray from the waterfall on your face! It was a lot cooler than Nunobiki Falls. And there were food stalls selling hot chips and okonomiyaki on a stick on the path!

I was hoping the cherry blossoms would have bloomed, but unfortunately they were not yet there. I've heard the cherry blossoms are particularly lovely there.