Part 1 – BBQ at Momotaro Park / Kiso River

My co-workers had arranged a BBQ at the campground park along the river, which happened to be right next to Momotaro Shrine. Rather than take the train over there or drive like everyone else, I decided to go by road bike. It was such a beautiful day that I could not resist.

Here’s the welcome sign to Momotaro Shrine / Park

Time for some BBQ / Salad

It was nice and cool in the Kiso river, so I decided to go for a little swim..

I also brought my drone to get some awesome shots of the landscape..

Part 2 – Momotaro Shrine 桃太郎神社

Now time for the main attraction.. this is what I was looking forward to the most. This is a little gem of a tourist spot, with lots of interesting Momotaro statues.. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking..

They had a nice bike rack for people who visit by bicycle.

Upon entering, we were greeted by this monkey statue, wearing the symbol of the peach.. In case you didn’t know, Momotaro was born out of a giant peach..

The next thing you see is this giant naked Momotaro statue, which we weren’t the only ones who seemed to enjoy viewing.. and… touching…

As you climb up the stairs there’s a bunch of other great statues, and the main shrine itself, which has a peach gate..

There’s also this guy… who… you can ride???

Overall, we had a blast walking around and checking out the different statues / sights. Definitely worth checking out if you have some time and are in the area. Time to head back home!

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