Japanese Snow Monkeys

After the wonderful evening we had with our hosts, we decided to see one of the main attractions we planned on seeing in Japan: The snow monkeys. Long before this trip was planned, Rony dreamed of visiting these special monkeys. And today was the day!

The monkeys are located in Jigokudani Park which is near Nagano. The train from Shimo-suwa takes 2 hours to get to Nagano (free with the JR Pass), then we have to take a bus (1300 Yen each direction) for 40 minutes until the bus stops at Kanbayashi Onsen-gushi station, then we have 45-50 minutes of a very slippery walk to the park itself (500 Yen - park entrance, not slippery climb fee).

So we departed very early, because Rony wanted to go skiing after seeing the monkeys. The biggest ski resort in Japan is just nearby, Shiga Kogen. We arrived in Nagano at 10:10, and we went to the local tourist information to ask when the next bus to the monkeys park was leaving. It departed 4 minutes later! So we had to run to the station, fortunately located at the exit of the train station.

We departed on time and got off at the bus stop as planned. But it appeared that we were only 3 people getting off the bus: Talia, Rony and an Australian woman from Melbourne. Now, if you plan on going there, plan ahead on taking some money with you for the park entrance and the ride back (and more if you plan on doing other things): There are no ATMs around. Not that we learned this by experience, mind you. Kanbayashi is a small town with almost nothing around but a gas station and an hotel.

The path to the monkey park

After a 45-minute of slippery walk on ice, where Talia almost died twice and where we saw a few tourists (they all come with bus tours or private cars, mystery solved), we finally arrived at the monkey park entrance. At the entrance of the park you can stop at the small gallery hall where a few pictures of monkeys are displayed and where you can have a few explanations on how the monkeys live, and then you arrive at the main attraction: Monkeys relaxing on the hot springs.

The monkeys come to those hot springs to warm up, relax, and enjoy "quality time" with their families/tribe.

And Talia took a bunch of photos of those monkeys :)

So we let you enjoy those gorgeous pictures:

When we were there, we learned that these are the only known monkeys in the world to use hot springs.

After that, it was too late for Rony's ski planning, so we went back to Nagano and had lunch, then to warm up in a book store (one of our favorite activities) and went "home."

Josie and John had planned on preparing (vegetarian) sushi for dinner and it was great! We spent the evening talking forever and tried to stretch the hours so we won't have to leave so soon the next morning.

We spent the next day walking a bit in Shimo-suwa, and seeing the shrine by day, and we left for Matsushima, which has one of the best panoramic views in Japan. But once we reached Sendai, there was a huge mess with the trains there, apparently due to the heavy snow, so we decided to pass Matsushima this time and continued to Aomori, at the north of Honshu island, where we rested for the night.

Next up: Sapporo and the Snow Festival!

Here more photos from the Snow Monkeys park:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=613966&id=906005363&l=c7923fba95