Next stop for us was to head to Yamanouchi, near Nagano, to visit the Jigokudani snow monkeys. Bit of a trek getting to Yamanouchi, we took four trains in total (and then a final stretch of pulling our bags over snow covered streets), but fortunately and not surprisingly the Japanese trains were smooth and comfortable.
We all loved seeing the snow monkeys, and ended up going back for a 2nd time in the morning. Though you can’t interact with them, you are quite close, and it’s fun to watch them swim in the hot springs, and when they wrestle, clean each other and in some cases even fight.
We stayed at another ryokan that had an onsen (hot spring baths). This one was much better than the first – the owner was so warm and welcoming, food was more manageable for everyone, and there was a fun rooftop bar in plastic igloos to cap off the night. Just one night at this ryokan, then we headed down to Kanazawa the next day…
Snow monkeys:
Our ryokan:
Fosters on the Fly 