It was a wet morning in Nagano today, as we slipped and slided our way to the train station. From there we headed to Jigokudani Monkey Park via Kanbayashi onsen guchi. The trip went surprisingly well, transfering seamlessly from train to bus. Although we don`t speak japanese, and the people there diddn`t speak english, we managed to find our way quite easily. My excitement grew as the bus winded its way up the mountainside and let us off somewhere along the way. The air was cool and fresh, and I was very excited to meet these monkeys.
After a 40 min hike up the mountain, we had finally arrived at our destination. The monkeys sprawled on the roofs of the buildings were a dead giveaway. After paying our 500 yen enterence fee, we were free to walk around a gyser and watch the monkeys play in a hot spring. The best part of all is that there were no cages, so the monkeys were all around us. On the paths and even in the trees right over our heads. We sat stood aside and watched as the monkeys played and clawed at each other. We even had a little scare when a group of monkeys a few feet beside us got in a little scuffle and nearly ran right into us. One of the monkeys ran away while spraying its pee in a mad dash, missing me by only a few inches.
As we walked back to the town, we stopped off at a little noodle house / monkey candy shop. The elderly ladies there kept repeating “monkey candy” at every item we looked at. We both ordered Soba noodles with tempura. It was the best damn delicous soba ive ever had, and some tasty potent wasabi. Before we got to the bus stop, we stopped off at a japanese onsen (natural hot spring). There we sat (in seperate pools) enjoying the sweet sensations of natural springs. The air had a little bit of a sulphury scent, but it was enjoyable knowing that it came from the cracks in earth`s crust, instead of the crack`s of the old mens butts as they sat around me. We managed to find a direct bus for the ride home, which was very enjoyable aswell. Giving us a nice view of the valley as we descended from the mountains.

From there I went on a solo mission to the Zenkoji temple as quickly as I could (before sundown) On my way to the temple I had passed a few hobby stores, and I just couldn`t walk by them without checking them out. About an hour later I had reached the temple enterance, after sundown. Although it was dark out it was still very visible, and the bats circling the area made it look even more mystical. Unfourtunely all the shops along the walkway were closed, but im sure I will return to there at some point in my life.

And as promised, here are some pictures from the last few days here in Japan.

japan part 2