The Snow Monkeys

Today was a big day on Clare's bucket list. She got to see snow! We went to the Snow Monkey Park at Jigokudani Yaen-koen. It was a real highlight of our trip. The bus from Nagano to the park took about 45 mins. As we drove, the landscape got snowier and snowier and we got closer to the mountains. We also saw some of the locations used in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Once we reached the park, we had a 2 km walk to the hot springs where the monkeys live. The walk was a great surprise to us because it was through a beautiful snow covered forest. As we walked the kids had a snowball fight and, every so often, a big ball of snow would dislodge from the branches above us and land on our heads or straight down the back of our necks.

The great thing about the park is that you are able to get right up close to the monkeys in their natural habitat. Although there were quite a few people there, it never felt too crowded. We felt like we were able to have our own snow monkey experience. The monkeys were way more animated than we expected. We stayed for ages watching them because it was like watching a soap opera. We saw the alpha male monkey putting the younger males back in their place, We saw the baby monkeys trying to master their climbing skills. We saw the monkeys playing, eating, fighting and doing all the things that we do in our daily lives. (We may even have seen them doing some X-rated things but we weren't entirely sure)

It was an experience completely different from everything we have experienced in Japan so far. That will definitely make it stick in our minds. The other great thing was that is was really good value. We paid around about $170 for the five of us. That included the bus ride and entry to the park. Compared to some overpriced attractions we have been to around the world this was really worth it. We would recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Japan.

There has, unfortunately, been a downside to our trip to Nagano. Unlike our other stops in Japan, in Nagano we are staying in a hotel. This has shown us how difficult it is to travel in Japan as a coeliac. It is virtually unheard of here and to our dismay, most of the food in Japan has some form of gluten in it. It is lucky for us that we have people living here because we would not be coping if it weren't for the boxes of GF food we shipped to Frank and Midori before we left Australia. When we have a kitchen in our accommodation, we are able to manage but finding suitable restaurants is really difficult. 

Managing Ciaran's diabetes has also been a bit difficult. His levels are much lower here than they were in Australia. We are pretty organized when we go out with testing materials and extra food but it has been a real challenge to keep his blood sugar levels out of the danger zone. He gets a bit freaked out by the low numbers but he definitely enjoys all the jelly beans he gets to eat!