Shibu-Onsen

Today is Monkey Day!!

We had breakfast in our exclusive dining room, but this time it was only nine dishes, including
chicken, coleslaw, broccoli and tomato
two small bricks (4x2x2sqcm) of cold scrambled egg
one piece of cold salmon (4x4x2sqcm)
rice, meso soup
and other unknowns.

Our hotel owner drove us 2km up the mountain to the entrance of the monkey park, then we walked up the snowy track to the visitors' centre.

We met our first monkeys along the pathway before actually reaching their bathing pool. They have no fear of people, but walk between and around the tourists and their cameras.

Some sit in the snow scratching for seeds, and others sit in the pool, often grooming each other.





We were there for about an hour,

then had to walk back down the track and back to the road to get a bus back to the hotel. Then we went looking for lunch, but all we could find was one grocery shop which sold dehydrated noodle dinners in foam cups.

After lunch we were just about to leave the hotel, when some monkeys came down from the building opposite and crossed the road. We watched them for a while, but then they went back across the road using the power lines as a rope bridge.

Then we caught a bus 2km back down to the train station at Yudanaka. I thought we might find something to do there, but there was nothing at all to fill in time until tea. There was no bus either, so we walked back. Groups of people were wandering around town in their yakatas - gowns in distinctive hotel colours - doing their afternoon onsen-crawl.

I felt I should have another onsen try, so I went first back upstairs to our pool, then went out on the streets to one of the public baths. I was the only one in the bath I chose, but it was very hot, and I didn't stay long.

We went to dinner if what appears to be the only restaurant in town,

then came back to check on the latest fire reports from Victoria and compete this rambling.