We spent 2 days up in the snow county of Gunma Prefecture. I planned it there so that we could get away from the city, and everyone can enjoy snow and experience the onsen. I shortlisted Kusatsu Onsen Town for its close proximity to Jigokudani Monkey Park and Karuizawa factory outlet. To get there, we rented two small cars. The Toyota fit four adults and our overnight bags quite comfortably.
The trip did not start off well due to mis-communication with the rental company. The cars do not have snow tires and we ended up having to collect our alternative cars from other Toyota rental outlets. This caused us valuable time. We set off from Tokyo and arrived at our first destination - Jigokudani Monkey Park in Yamanouchi, after 3 hour.
Despite the delay and extremely cold weather, the group was in good spirit.
Started our slow and careful walk towards the park.
The park is snowed in but thankfully, the path is still passable.
It didn't rain but poured, by falling snow trapped up in the trees.
The surrounding of mostly white looked surreal.
Despite the cold, the stream has not frozen over.
Then I realised the water is probably from the onsen, which probably never freezes over.
The ladies finally arrived at the monkey park, still in high spirit.
From the website, the onsen where the monkeys soak in appears to be large. It is actually quite small, but is surrounded by beautiful landscape.
The website advises visitors not to stay too close to the primates, and to avoid eye contact.
I have been preparing for this moment, so without much ado, I started shooting with my tele-lens.
Family closeness where females dominate, as the males often leave the troop as they are loner.
According to the website, their copulation period is in autumn, and spring becomes the peak birth period.
Many newborn babies arrived as late as June each year.
Summer is hot and these monkeys go into hiding in the woods. So do not come here expecting to see them in the onsen in summer.
The closeness within the same family troop sees them eat, sleep and relax together.
With a lifespan of between 25-30 years, a female monkey can give birth up to 10 babies in her entire life.
They have seem so many humans that they are oblivious of our existence.
The long lens comes in handy.
Staring straight into their eyes, but not provoking them.
Protective mother.
These two furries are my favourite.
See how cuddling they get?
As the sun set, the temperature started to drop. Snow was falling and we were fighting very hard to keep ourselves warm. Everyone was getting frigid from the cold and could not wait to head back to the cars. Although we still have a long way to walk back, we were thrilled and happy with our close encounter with the snow monkeys of Jigokudani. The experience with such a beautiful, cute and friendly creature is rare, and I am glad I have some wonderful shots of them in my collection now.
And another travel trip awaiting....
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