Snow monkey park

I caught a bullet train down to Nagano for the day since I have a rail pass I may as well make the most of it. I had booked the train tickets last night which seemed to be enough time to make sure I got a seat. I jumped on a coach from the train station which took around 40 minutes and they had fully loaded every seat. And by that I mean they even had extra seats which folded down in the middle aisle. As soon as I arrived it started snowing, it was almost like a hail with very soft and light round pieces of snow. I did my normal of talking to randoms as I went, one guy was heading off to a brewery which was in the area and a girl from Melbourne had just arrived and was doing the snow monkey park as well so I hung out and talked with her for the walk.
At the start of the walk there was a shop selling crampons and I wasn't sure I needed them and got them only for the novelty but by the end I'm so glad I got them. I saw a lot of other people slipping over on the walk.
While walking through the forest trees would randomly drop snow every now and then, I kept trying to capture it but you had to be really quick.
My legs were still a little sore from the skiing but the walk was pretty basic and just took it at a slow pace.
The monkeys themselves were quite cute just hanging in the hot pools, at some points they just reminded me of a bunch of old men sitting around.
We headed back about halfway and noticed the onsen by the river, I was tempted but it was really exposed and also thought it was weird that all the guys were naked but the girl getting in was in a swimsuit. I don't think it was supposed to be mixed or swimwear but I guess that happens. It was cool seeing them soaking with the monkeys but I also worried about infection as it stunk a bit from their poo.
The walk back was uneventful but found some small ducks and nice paths to take photos of.Read more