Sarah and I set off at 9am, driven to the monkey park by the lovely ryokan owner.
--- Us at the enterance to the monkey park ---
To get to the monkey onsen you have to walk through the forest, this was a wonderful experience in itself.
--- Pine Forest in the Snow---
When then proceeded to take literally hundreds of photos. I liked the baby monkey the best. Here are some photos.
After finally dragging ourselves away from the cuteness, we walked back into town, through some narrow streets, got a bit lost, bought some hot chocolate in a can from a vending machine and eventually found the station. Where we headed off to Obuse.
When we got to Obuse it began to pour with rain. Neither of us had umbrellas, but sensible Sarah has a rain coat. I put my hood up and we wandered off in search of lunch. We couldn`t resist the smell of a tiny little restaurant, where we ordered a lunch set, despite having very little idea what it would contain, aside from `hot noodle`. It turned out to be one of the most delicious meals I have had so far. Udon noodles in soup with assorted tempura type things on sticks. We demolished it before I could think to take a photo.
We then headed back out into the rain and to the temple which has a painting by the famous Japanese artist Hokusai on the ceiling. It was so beautiful, and HUGE, definately worth the long walk in the rain. We wern`t allowed to take photos inside, and it was raining too much to get a picture of the outside!
On the way to try the local speciality (chestnuts) a lady felt so sorry for us she stopped her car and gave us her umbrella. I was a bit overwhelmed at her generosity. We ate chestnut cakes in this funny little cafe.
--- Chestnut Cake ---
Upon returning to Yudanaka we went to an AMAZING onsen. It was outside, all made of rocks and it was snowing while we were in the hot water. The perfect ending to a really wonderful day.
--- The Onsen ---
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