Yudanaka

After leaving the temple I caught the train to Yudanaka,  a little hotspring town at the end of the train line outside Nagano. It is in the mountains, called the Japan Alps, and the surrounding peaks are almost 3000 m high. The cherry trees are still in full bloom here.

 I booked a charming little "ryokan" or Japanese inn. I have a cute little Japanese room with tatami mats, and the inn has its own hotspring or "onsen".

In winter the area is a major skiing destination, and it the summer it is popular for hiking. Currently however the snow had started to melt so there is no more skiing, but there is still too much snow for hiking, and so it is low season and the place is very slow. Most restaurants are closed.

Another main attraction for tourists from all over the world is the Monkey Park. The Japanese macqau lives further north than any other primate and so is the only one to live in snow. These are the monkeys famous for going into hotspring water to keep warm. The park has over a hundred monkeys. They sleep in the trees and come down to the water during the day. There is food sprinkled around for them to entice them into the area, and they have absolutely no fear of people. It is also breeding season so there were several babies. I got there very early in the morning but soon the place was filled with tourists.

I had two full days in Yudanaka, so one day I took a bus up the mountain to where the ski hills are. Still tons of snow.

There was no walking on the trails, so I walked back down the road, where there were great views of the mountains. There are monkeys up here as well by the side of the road.