Today I got up at like 7 AM to catch a shinkansen (super speedy train) to Nagano city. I had the option to book it in advance but for peace of mind did it on the spot and there was no issue. The next train available was in about 15 minutes and the ride only took a little over an hour. Once there first thing I did was find the bus station and went on a 50 minutes ride to Jigokudani (hell's valley - named this way for the many natural hot spring sources it has), and hiked the trail to Yaen Kouen where the park with the monkeys is.
To some disappointment there was no snow yet, and there were so many tourists, but it was still beautiful seeing the forests in autumn. Something that also stood out to me in many places were the maple trees with their cute precious little leaves with so many colors 🧡
At the end of the trail there was the old inn Korakukan which you also see in the pictures, and close to them there's this constantly active geyser that smelled of egg farts 💨️
A little further was the area with the monkeys and their onsen, with of course a cute little souvenir shop. The monkeys were so adorable and fluffy, but I had to be responsible and not pet them... people are also urged not to feed them or even take out food in front of them (those little guys are fast!) or stare into their eyes cause in monkey language that's picking a fight! They were obviously very comfortable with humans which made it more difficult. Not many of them were bathing but you could see them running around all over the place, preening each other, napping.
Afterwards I went to the inn for a quick rest to try their onsen. The water wasn't very hot but comfortable. If you're brave they also have an outside part, but it's all out in the open 🤣 I decided to go because there weren't many people. The combination of cold air and warm water was perfect. It gave me a moment to calm down and reflect on how much fun the trip has been so far, and how far all my problems seemed to be.
On the way back to the bus I had a fully stuffed wrap with veggies and cheese and eggs, it was extremely tasty especially on an empty stomach after the long exploration. After getting back to the station in the city I walked a few km to my hotel, it was strange but there was no staff at all, I just got a text with door codes and had to check in on screen inside. The room was very cozy though, and warm... suddenly wanted to take a nap and was out for an hour or two.
Then realized the time and realized I still wanted to explore the city and see if there is a place to get tattoo stickers. The search was successful and then an onsen place I wanted to visit was closing in an hour so I ran across the city to get there and I was so exhausted but once there it was super comfortable!
Then went for a small walk still, and went to the hotel and and sleep cause it was already past midnight again. Another eventful day ✨
Here's a little compilation of videos I made at the monkeys:
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