This day is one of the biggest highlights of this trip. We went to the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park on Day 6. This park is opened all year round but only in the months of December to March, the area will be covered with snow.
The walk up to the Snow Monkey park was quite tedious. It rained the night before, so the pathways were very muddy and slippery. Wearing sports shoes did not help as the cold weather sipped right into our toes and feet although you have your socks on...
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| whole path was so muddy and slippery |
Along the way up to the park, we started to see snow accumulated on some areas, the boys couldn't help and picked them up and started playing with them. It was quite delightful to see some lone monkeys appearing every now and then along the pathways as we mounted to the top
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| started their snow fights |
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| preparing their ammunition |
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| E was so excited with the snow monkeys |
Finally we made it to the peak after almost 35 minutes walk and saw many monkeys wondering freely in the area.. quite a sight. My boys were amazed with the habitat and Ethan loved to watch how they interact with each other and keeping watch behind each other's backs.
It was freezing cold, so some of us chose to stand near the fireplace to keep ourselves warm when enjoyed the sight. The winning sight was to see those snow monkeys soaking themselves in the onsen spring bath even when there were so many visitors snapping pictures of them. These monkeys were tamed but we were told not to get too close to them..
We had ice-cream again sold by the food truck near the park after the Snow Monkey park tour.. we ordered the Apple flavor and it was sooo good.. E had developed a liking for Japanese rice crackers and ordered this as his snack.
After Snow Monkey park, we took a bus back for lunch at Goen (near Yudanaka station). Lovely lunch sets at reasonable prices. I enjoyed the lunch venue alot and love the comfort of the hot coffee which we ordered as well. Somehow, hot beverages tasted so well in extreme cold weather...
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| it's usually kids by themselves at one table |
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| Holding hot coffee helped to keep me warm! |
We took some time to plan where to head next and decided to explore Shibu Onsen town. We were looking for this arcade shop in Shibu Onsen town (there are 9 onsen bath shops to explore) for the boys but ended up lost in the walkways again after being directed by the wrong ways by the locals whom we met.
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| making rounds in this neighbourhood |
We relied heavily on hot beverages from vending machines throughout the trip
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| one of the onsen shops |
Finally after almost 40 minutes of walking, we found the shop.. and it was managed by a middle-aged lady.. the boys had fun playing the shooting games and each won themselves a small gift. Turned out that Ethan was the highest scorer among all and won the best marksmanship prize (his prized pistol is different from the rest)
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| learning how to operate the rifle |
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| listening to instructions in Japanese! |
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| taking their shots at the targets |
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| Best sniper of the day! |
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| Each of them carried a prize back :) |
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| Taking shelter from the rain while waiting for bus back |
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| peaceful and lovely town |
At night, we returned back to Goen for our dinner
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| Chicken Yakitori |
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| Grilled chicken |
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| Best chef for the night! |
After dinner and shower, the boys gathered in our room to play with their guns and pistols
It was our last night in Nagano while Brian's family continued with another day in Nagano to visit the Ski Resort. We decided to give it a pass partly because we were not able to take the weather and we felt that the boys were too young to ski..
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