Today was all about seeing the Snow Monkeys, which wasn’t a given due to the mild Autumn weather, but thankfully we did get to see three beautiful Japanese macaques.

The monkey residents reside in the Jinokudan Monkey Park. The monkeys are unique for their behaviour of soaking in the hot springs (onsen) during the winter months to keep warm.

In order to access the park, we had to hike through the beautiful woodland of Jigokudani, located in the Nagano prefecture.

Fortunately we were blessed with a warm sunny day and we soon reached the Monkey Park around mid-morning just after food had been put out to entice the wild monkeys.

Whilst the monkeys live in the wild, they are used to human presence, allowing visitors to get up close while the monkeys eat and relax in the warm sunshine.

We were fortunate to see three males who have forged a splinter group from a troop of 200 other snow monkeys.

Seeing them up close was a real privilege and you appreciate just how striking the monkeys thick fur is and how agile they are.

With food left on the rocks near the hot springs the monkeys were only too happy to hang around and let us capture their movements at close quarters.

Whilst we were only a few feet away, the monkeys seemed totally at ease with us and pretty much ignored our presence, with a couple happily walking past our feet to move from the rocks to the hot spring pool.

Needless to say we couldn’t help ourselves when it came to capturing their images and watching them interact with each other.

After observing the snow monkeys for almost an hour, we set off on our hike back down to Shibu Onsen and the opportunity to take in the glorious mountain air and scenery.

In search of more nature and trekking, we caught a cab out to Biwa Pond.

The mountain landscape offered up some stunning views and also the warning of a bears in the woods. This did not get a warm reception from Michelle & Barbs who both felt this was a risky move.

Fortunately despite the signs and the bear-bells, none were spotted, and the 3k walk around the pond and nearby Hirao ski area proved uneventful.

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The Sun Valley Ski Area that sits around the Biwa Pond at over 4,000m is a popular spot for hikers in the summer and Autumn months before the arrival of snow in early December.

After an enjoyable few hours exploring the mountain area and nearby ponds, we caught a local bus back to our hotel in readiness for a visit to an Onsen.

Tonight we have checked into a traditional Japanese room/ryokan, where we will be sleeping on futons.

We were presented with all the layers of bedding along with instructions on how to prepare our bed for the evening.

Before we headed to the public Onsen (hot spring baths) we were required to dress in traditional Japanese Kimonos.

Shibu Onsen, is a traditional hot spring town and this, alongside seeing the Snow Monkeys was the reason for our visit. Staying in a historic ryokan (traditional inn) offered us the chance to enjoy the same hot springs as the monkeys could enjoy, albeit in separate establishments!

In the town there were as many as 9 onsen and the girls decided to visit one, whilst Christophe and Andy went to another. The baths cater for up to 7-8 people at one time and you are required to go in naked and experience the heat of the hot springs. We both found the waters to be extremely hot, but very therapeutic and we can now understand the reason why some people visit almost daily. We definitely felt a benefit from the waters and it was a real experience to go in traditional dress and geta.

After an enormously enjoyable day in the mountains, we visited a nearby traditional Japanese restaurant with shoji/sliding partition doors and walls for ultimate privacy. The food provided a great selection of fried chicken, tempura seafood and pork katsu with a range of side dishes. All helped down by some local wine and a few Asahi Super Dry beers.

Tomorrow we are off early to Kyoto, via Nagano & Nagoya on a mixture of local trains, finishing on a Shinkansen (bullet train) for a 3 nights stay.

Looking forward to experiencing the historic Kyoto and all the various sights!