Diane said she'd come to Japan! She kept saying, "I'm here for YOU, Caroline!" So, it was easy to please her.So, what do you make someone do after they get off a 12-hour plane ride? Well, you show them around the first day, take them to lunch (we loved this sign near the shabu-shabu place), and then put them on a bus for 6 hours to go to Nagano, where the snow monkeys are!
Sorry for the blown-out picture. The last little bit up to the area where you get out and hike in 30 minutes (it took me 45) has snow on the ground. Well, our bus didn't make it up the hill. They slid down, made another run at it, and finally had to give up and chain up. The white trash in us came out when Diane said, "Oh, Arnold would LOVE this!!!" So, we had to walk a little extra to get up to the entrance into the park.
The path was icy in spots, but I never fell. You're on a path cut into the steep hillside, going through the forest. It was very beautiful. I grabbed a fallen limb on the way back down, and used it like a ski pole. It helped me not fall.
Even before getting to the place the snow monkeys bathe in the water, we saw monkeys.
We were told that in the 1960s, they noticed the monkeys were using some of the river water, as it was warmer than the outside temperature (which is snow!) So, some people made an onsen for the monkeys to bathe in, with the source being the natural hot springs in the area. Of course, this proved popular for the monkeys. There is a human onsen downstream (which makes me wonder about monkey poo) which, BTW, the humans were scooping to keep the area clean.
I loved this shot Tim took of the mother and child grooming each other!
Diane and I pose for the camera. Wish I would have had her 'groom' me!
This big guy looked like the leader of this particular group of monkeys. We were told not to look at them. This was fun to watch, as William would immediately hold up a hand between him and the monkey anytime a monkey looked at him!
The tour guide said there weren't many monkeys here that day. Seemed like there were plenty of tourists, anyway!
No falls on our rears, a small falls, and a National Geographic moment or two. Life is good!
Sorry for the blown-out picture. The last little bit up to the area where you get out and hike in 30 minutes (it took me 45) has snow on the ground. Well, our bus didn't make it up the hill. They slid down, made another run at it, and finally had to give up and chain up. The white trash in us came out when Diane said, "Oh, Arnold would LOVE this!!!" So, we had to walk a little extra to get up to the entrance into the park.
The path was icy in spots, but I never fell. You're on a path cut into the steep hillside, going through the forest. It was very beautiful. I grabbed a fallen limb on the way back down, and used it like a ski pole. It helped me not fall.
Even before getting to the place the snow monkeys bathe in the water, we saw monkeys.
We were told that in the 1960s, they noticed the monkeys were using some of the river water, as it was warmer than the outside temperature (which is snow!) So, some people made an onsen for the monkeys to bathe in, with the source being the natural hot springs in the area. Of course, this proved popular for the monkeys. There is a human onsen downstream (which makes me wonder about monkey poo) which, BTW, the humans were scooping to keep the area clean.
I loved this shot Tim took of the mother and child grooming each other!
Diane and I pose for the camera. Wish I would have had her 'groom' me!
This big guy looked like the leader of this particular group of monkeys. We were told not to look at them. This was fun to watch, as William would immediately hold up a hand between him and the monkey anytime a monkey looked at him!
The tour guide said there weren't many monkeys here that day. Seemed like there were plenty of tourists, anyway!
No falls on our rears, a small falls, and a National Geographic moment or two. Life is good!
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