My Monkey Trip. Nagano, Lots of Snow and a bit of Fire.

After getting up very early to take trains then a bus to Nagano, luckily we were not disappointed by the snow.It was snowing, which I think is the best way to view the Japanese style, it was so pretty.
The pictures speak for themselves. The guidebooks all seem to say that there is nothing really in Nagano apart from places to stay if you want to go skiing. They forget to mention how beautiful it is in winter.


That evening we went into the countryside to see a fire festival which was possibly the most dangerous thing I have ever seen.
There were loads of people there and SO many Australian tourists who were being so annoying and idiots. I don't have a problem with Australians though, just those ones.
Near the end, the men all fight with firey sticks, some trying to light the big wooden thing on fire, others trying to stop them. People were actually getting hit in the face with fire, but it's all fun (despite having a slightly angry mob feeling.)
Unfortunately we didn't get to see them light the big thing on fire as we had to get our last taxi and train home.

The next day we took a train then a bus then walked for ages through a very very snowy forest into the middle of nowhere until we reached the monkey park I have wanted to visit for ages. It was like a small pocket of tourism in a wilderness of snow.

This was the valley. On the right is onsen for humans. I would have loved to go there as it was so remote but we had free entry to a different one with our train tickets...

The monkeys didn't disappoint.

They were all remarkably human like, especially with their facial expressions. I wish I knew what this one was thinking.


After our return journey, we decided to finish the day in the same monkey style, by going to onsen. I sat outside in the hot water watching the snow and of course ate a little bit when I felt a bit thirsty. It was perfect to have the cold snow on my top half because the water was so hot. All in all, a good trip!