On a cold winters' day, there is nothing better than an onsen

Ever since I watched the movie “La Baraka” years back, I wanted to see the Snow Monkeys in Japan - wild Japanese macaque that enjoy bathing in natural hot springs. Sometimes you have an expectation built up for something you want to see badly. And I was afraid this would be the case with the Snow Monkeys - but they did not let me down.

The train ride to the town of Yudanaka Shibu Onsen is already a treat: you ride along the snow covered landscape of Japan, passing small towns with their traditional wooden houses. We stayed at Ryokan Seifu-so, a very nice traditional Japanese guesthouse that had private and shared onsens (hot baths). After a cold winters’ day out, an onsen is just what you need to warm up.  

We decided to do two half days at the Snow Monkey park. We hopped on the bus at the train station that brought us to the entrance of the park. After about a 30 min. walk through the woods we arrived at the hot springs. On our way, we were already welcomed by a bunch of macaques casually walking next to or ahead of us. They are not afraid of humans and are quite curious. In fact, if you are not careful, they will nick out anything shiny or tasty from your backpack.

The park itself is not very big, but you got plenty of monkeys in it! They are cuddled up to stay warm, the youngsters slid down the hot pipes which feed the pools or play in the snow, and the older ones enjoy dozing off in the hot spring, one red face next to another. And they are quite crazy characters!

It’s a unique experience to see wild monkeys up close and personal, to be able to observe them and see the similar traits we share. And I subsequently asked myself what they might think of us…

Watching a group of animals always reminds me of the BBC One animal dub clip “Walk on the wile side” which cracks me up. I am sure one could make a fab clip out of those wild monkeys.