The Halls in Japan

Well you cannot get much more different to the shopping streets and markets of Kyoto. Today we made it to Jigokudani and to our ryokan right up in the mountains. The ryokan is a 30 minute walk on a track mostly covered in snow and has been in the same family since it opened in 1864. The man presently running it says his family has been in the area for 500 years. He himself rarely leaves - perhaps into the city just 2-3 times a year. Otherwise, they shop locally and pick mushrooms and mountain vegetables. There are monkeys everywhere ! They are jumping from window ledge to window ledge and in the hotspring outside. The ryokan itself is pretty rustic, but seems warm and comfortable.
The journey here was quite a feat - requiring Russell's logistical planning and my anxiety and time control (keeping everyone focussed and on task). We left Kyoto early and took the "Thunderbird" train to Kanazawa. From there it was a quick change (made it with less than a minute to spare) on to a shinkansen to Nagano, then a local train to Yudanaka. At Yudanaka station we got a bus to the Monkey Park and ryokan. Everything pretty much worked like clockwork until we fell at the last hurdle. We missed getting off the bus at the right stop and by the time we realised an announcement told us all to stay strapped in our seats as we were heading up the windy mountain pass to the top. 20 minutes later we ended up on the ski fields (Shiga kogen). Luckily we were able to get a bus back down without too much of a wait as I really did not want to be walking to the ryokan in the dark.
Dinner at the ryokan was great fun. Our host Katsuyoshi-san and his wife were so friendly (and a little bit crazy). They served us a huge feast of fried salty trout, locusts, wild duck and mushrooms and cabbage and noodles in a soup that we cooked at our table on a burner. We chatted with our fellow guests who were also from Sydney - a brother and sister with 3 children between them (one Henry's age and two a little older). Our hosts then invited us into the lounge to play "Go" and drink cocoa. Apparently a new "Go" strategy was invented in Jigokudani (at the ryokan) and they are very proud of it. The kids all ran off to explore and play and Katsuyoshi-san brought in glasses of plum wine made by his mother. There was more excitement when his wife rushed in to tell us there was a "racoon dog" (tanooki) outside. She took out a bowl of food scraps and told us that sometimes if the coast was clear, racoon dog might go and get his family to come and eat. The coast was not clear however, because an old monkey barged in monopolised the scrap bowl.Read more