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Published: September 10th 2008
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Hot Springs
Monkeys spend alot of their day in the natural hot springs. Ok I may not have given the temple in Nagano justice - but I was tired - 13 hours worth of sleep tired!! Which meant I could wake up early and all pumped for the monkeys! Yep we were heading off to see the snow monkeys (except there was no snow this time of year...) - the ones that lie around all day soaking in a hot springs (onsen).
So a 50 min bus ride from Nagano is Jigokudani Yaen-Koen. Only place in the world were monkeys soak in hot water apparently and Jill was very keen to see them (not me, I have to say - not a huge monkey fan...). The area has been visited by tourists since 1964, and has around 200 monkeys there. The park is in the Yokoyu Valley and is beautiful, but a 'harsh' environment - hence the name it means Hells Valley.
Once you arrive in the area it is a short hike to get to the park. The path is beautiful, surrounded by Alps, and while green and huge pines everywhere, I have a feeling covered in snow it is even more spectacular. Along the walk you see springs (and we
Monkey Park
Monkeys are free to roam where ever they like, even the roof of the gift shop. stumbled upon where they held some ski events during the Olympics) and beautiful forest.
The park isn't actually that big and there were monkeys everywhere of all ages, and they know how to put on a show. They jump up near you (not too close though) and pose, pulling cute faces, or have play fights, jumping on each other. There are plenty of photo ops! We slowly made our way to the onsen, stopping to wait for Jill and Matt to take photos and me to dodge the monkeys in case they jumped me!
Despite being sure I was going to get attacked, the monkeys were cute and fun to watch. The funniest being one that moved out of the way for someone to get past, then whacked him on the ankle as he walked by! (proving my point they can 'attack').
Down by the onsen we watched the older monkeys just sit there soaking in the water. The younger ones though would go for a swim around the onsen - very entertaining!
Finally we made our way back. The park was great and Matt got some great shots. He is very impressed with his camera!
The other thing that I loved at the park, was watching the humans - in particularly the girls. There were a few that must of trekked in their heels. And yes the trek wasn't very hard- but it was muddy and their shoes were so clean!!
Later back in Nagano, it was dinner time and we had the best meal! We went into this place with no English menus and no English speaking staff. We just let them pick what to bring out. After a bit of giggling, they proceeded to bring out these fantastic dishes - all as good as the one before, and of things we wouldn't have picked - all sensational and the staffed loved it - or we at least made them laugh (not too hard here though...)
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