Shinshu Trip Part 3: Jigokudani Snow Monkeys

Now the real high point of my trip to Shinshu... (even better than the visit to Matsumoto castle)....  One of the reasons I picked Yudanaka Onsen for my mountain ryoukan retreat was because it happens to be right near the Jigokudani Wildlife Park...

Actually a short car ride away to a 1.6km walk through a muddy trail in the snowy forest on a rainy day... but who's complaining?Jigokudani (地獄谷) means 'Hell Valley'  in Japanese,  which comes from the natural hot springs which make this area good for onsen.   The reason its a wildlife park is because it happens to be the home of a large colony of wild macaque monkeys.  Long (long long) time Etchy blog readers will recall that I am no stranger to wild Japanese monkey parks from my visits to Mount Takasaki in Beppu, Kyushu.

What makes Jigokudani different than the other Monkey parks in Japan is that here the monkeys have their own hot springs pool to hang out in. A great way to keep warm in the cold cold mountain winters.  Yes, I'm not joking! :-P

The walk from the main road was not too bad except for the mud from the rain and the icy patches.  Takes about 20 minutes but is mostly level. Once in a while you get a peak out at the valley and the snow covered hills

From my previous trip to Mount Takasaki, I remembered the important rules of visting wild monkey territory...   there was another sign that also mentioned not staring at them in the eyes. I love the fact that they found it necessary to clarify:  inn for human being,  monkey park for monkey. That's the inn (for human being) on the left,  the valley narrows to just a small river and two steep sides. Almost there. Finally at the spot. Where are the monkeys?

Well before you even get to the hot springs pool,  there are random monkeys roaming around looking for seeds to eat...

They just wander around freely,  ignoring people... (except if they have food I guess)

Monkey on a railing

Monkey on snow...

But let's get to the hot springs pool --

You cross a small bridge and there's a pool built into the side of the river bank....  the water from the hot spring is fed straight into the pool keeping it nice and warm 365 days a year.

That large red metal box on the left is actually an enclosure for a camera which monitors the pool 24/7 ( click here to see it).  Actually I looked in there and whatever large camera that used to be there has been replaced by a small digital camera which takes up 3 inches in the front.So lets see some onsen monkeys!

I actually put together a video -

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgvFDNTa6uc

For those in China, here's the Youku link:

http://v.youku.com/vshow/idXMzg2NDA2MjIw.html

And some more pics off my digital camera and camera phone:

Not to anthropomorphize... but he doesn't look like a very happy monkey

As you can see the weather was getting worse by the minute.  I guess for monkeys who live outdoors and hang out in hot springs daily, a little cold rain doesn't really bother them that much...

Here's the piggie back pair shown in my video.    after I stopped filming the little one decided he preferred the hot pool and ran back and jumped in with his brother...

One last shot to prove I was here.

Then the long cold, walk back to town.....  actually on the way back it got slightly better...  the rain turned to snow...  

If I wasn't cold and soaking wet I would have wanted to go back and take more pics of the monkeys in the snow... but then I realized it would be harder to see them, as the snow was getting pretty thick at times.

As it was already afternoon by now, stopped to get some food. I chose the tempura udon... Its not Hakata Ramen... but good enough to warm you up...

Had to get a pic of my tempura udon against the backdrop of a snowy afternoon in the mountains of Nagano prefecture...

Here's a birdseye view of Yudanaka Onsen and/or the neigboring town of Shiga Onsen on the way back down.   As you can see the snow was starting to stick a bit...  couldn't wait to get back to the ryoukan and change out of my icy wet shoes and jump into the hotel's onsen... (monkey free onsen).

So there you have it... Monkeys in a hot spring!  Kind of a random and pointless thing to see in the world...  but still pretty cool.    I want to go back in the dead of winter if I ever get a chance... next time I'll bring my hiking boots and wool socks. ;-)