Snow Monkey Day

We left Hakuba yesterday morning with heavy snow falling all around us; a little sad to miss out on the powder skiing, but also excited that we were on our way to see the snow monkeys! Yesterday was a relaxing travel day -- bus to Nagano and a short train ride to Yudanaka to the north, Then we had time for a walk in the snow, and an onsen in our hotel bath (including dressing in little robes to go down there, which is the done thing around here). Yudanaka is the last station on the line, and I think we might be technically staying in Yamannouchi, which is just up the hill. In contrast to most of Japan it seems to be almost deserted, with the occasional flourishing business, but mostly run-down buildings. Our hotel is run by the most eccentric host since Basil Fawlty, but a lovely guy who seems to enjoy ferrying us around anywhere we need to go to. The hotel itself is pretty quirky, as though it was built in a golden era (perhaps for the Nagano Olympics?) and allowed to decay ever since. But we did manage to find a fantastic sushi restaurant last night, with non-English speaking hosts who gave Ella a good chance to test out her Japanese phrase book.

This morning we awoke to more snow, ready to see the snow monkeys. Now, the snow is both good and bad. The good thing is that the snow monkeys, formally Japanese Macaques, have learnt from human behaviour to occupy the outside onsen in the national park, and the spend their winter days there, especially during snow. So more snow, more monkeys to see. The bad thing is that our walking gear really wasn't up to heavy snow. So we abandoned our original aim to walk the 4km from the hotel to the monkeys, and get Heday-San (our host) to drop us at the park entrance, leaving just a 1.6 km walk.

The walk to the monkeys was stunning. Fresh snow in the thick yew forest, with a nice snowy path leading the way. We managed to navigate the path without slipping on the ice in our inadequate footwear, then made our way up the valley, past steaming vents, to the monkey park. The monkeys themselves are pretty cute. They sit in the bath, grooming each other, have the occasional fight, the mums cuddle their babies and the babies jump around restlessly, unable to sit still. All very human-like behaviour. But it was cold - so cold that we were tempted to jump in and join them in the onsen.

On the way back, we diverted from the trail to find the path back to our hotel. It turned out to be not too hard a walk at all, and it was nice to escape from the crowds on the main path. Again, we founds ourselves walking through the forest with snow all around us, occasionally dusted by snow flurries. When we returned to civilisation, we looked for somewhere to eat ... unfortunately they were all closed, even the ones who said they should be open. All closed, that is, except for a tiny little shop with a wizened old lady whose sign said she sold coffee. No false advertising here, she did sell a type of percolated coffee ... but that was all -- no hot chocolates, no soft drinks, not even a biscuit or cake. Just coffee. Satisfied me, but no one else ...

The day ended with another onsen to warm up again, and a walk into town for dinner. Now we're preparing to head to Kyoto tomorrow, hopefully on the bullet train again ....