Last December, I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a photo of a friend with the snow monkeys; an old image reappeared - I know these monkeys, I've seen it before - a photo captured by a professional nature photographer - Marsel Van Oosten, which competed in Wildlife Photographer of The Year (2014):
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| Read on the interesting story behind this image! |
When I came across this pic for the first time, it's just like looking at another professional wildlife photograph, which I never see myself having the chance to travel to wherever it is to meet these adorable macaques.
My thought has changed though when I came across a photo of a friend with these monkeys. "Omg, it's real! This place exists!" that's when it aroused my full interest and started checking out on the details.
Located in Nagano, it's the first location we had in our itinerary. We back-planned the rest of the itineraries by setting Jigokudani Monkey Park as the priority. A lot of research have been done (we deemed) in a rather short period of time as we only booked our flight ticket 1.5 months before departure (when we came across cheap flights to Nagoya by AirAsia X - which route has been terminated couple of weeks later). The planning process got tougher as I started adding more stops into our itinerary! To cut the story short, we traveled to Nagano from Matsumoto (approx. 50 mins via Limited Express). Then, from Nagano > Shinsunakano (via Electric Railway Ltd Exp, approx. 37 mins) > Yudanaka Station (via Nagano Electric Railway, approx. 15 mins). Our hotel's shuttle picked us up from the station. Jigokudani Monkey Park is about 10 minutes ride (2.5km) from our hotel. Our hotel (Kokuya Ryokan) is located in the heart of Shibu Onsen Spa street (this place deserves another post!) - the closest town to the monkey park other than the hotel located in forest itself (as per image below).
Brief introduction about the daily life of a snow monkey
We left for the Snow Monkeys early in the morning. Our hotel provides free shuttle to the monkey park - entrance. The snow monkeys' onsen (hot spring) is located in the forest, which takes approx. 25-35 minutes of walking. We went in winter, as the monkey park is located between hills, we're walking through the alley and the walk was pretty enjoyable however the track can be slippery due to the snow. Snow was falling early in the morning and it only made this place look even more magical!
Path to the park
A couple of wild monkeys can be seen before the park entrance but once you pass the entrance, that's where they are! Magical! These Japanese macaques are too adorable! And the fact that it's a tourist attraction, I guess they're used to human as they show no sign of fear towards the crowd. However, that being said, they're living in the wild. Respect the rules set by the park and also the monkeys, it's their home after all!
Rocks or monkeys
Approaching the main onsen
When we're finally approaching the main onsen, there's already a small group of Thai tourists and a group of photographers surrounding it. People were standing at the edge of the hot spring (it's really not spacious) with their gadgets; tourists selfie-ing mainly, professional photographers staying at the same spot to capture the best photos whatsoever. It's a tad selfish though as they don't seem to be leaving the place at all! :S It's pretty hard to get close to the edge of the hot spring as it's quite narrow but that's where you're able to get REALLY close with the monkeys!
Exactly how close you can get to the snow monkeys
Pretty much sums up what I meant - those on the right especially right next to the edge, they look like they're gonna be there alllllllll day.
Just a bit of patience though and everyone gets their turn (still a couple of photographers look like they're gonna camp there all day errrrrday).
At a glance!
Being patient enough, finally my turn!
My favourite double and I thought they best portrait "motherly love"
Just chillin'
Nothing gets better than this it seems.
Tips (if you're traveling in Winter):
- The park opens from 9am in the winter. Go in the morning to avoid big crowd. (When we were leaving, more people were going in.)
- Wear warm shoes. I was wearing boots; my boots are pretty comfortable and it's perfect as it's waterproof too. However if you don't have a pair of comfortable boots, remember not to wear canvas shoes as they get wet from walking in snow.
- Walk carefully as mentioned, the track does get slippery!
If you have time to spare, I'll recommend dropping by Shibu Onsen Spa street for a stroll. We had a night's stay there and it was truly awesome. Shibu Onsen Spa Street up in next post!
Also, feel free to drop me a note if you have questions about getting to the Snow Monkey Park, I'll be more than grateful to help! :)
- The park opens from 9am in the winter. Go in the morning to avoid big crowd. (When we were leaving, more people were going in.)
- Wear warm shoes. I was wearing boots; my boots are pretty comfortable and it's perfect as it's waterproof too. However if you don't have a pair of comfortable boots, remember not to wear canvas shoes as they get wet from walking in snow.
- Walk carefully as mentioned, the track does get slippery!
On the way out.
If you have time to spare, I'll recommend dropping by Shibu Onsen Spa street for a stroll. We had a night's stay there and it was truly awesome. Shibu Onsen Spa Street up in next post!
Also, feel free to drop me a note if you have questions about getting to the Snow Monkey Park, I'll be more than grateful to help! :)
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