I took two guided tours this weekend, one to see the Japanese Snow Monkeys and Matsumoto Castle, and one to tour around the Mt Fuji area.
Well...it was too overcast to see Mount Fuji but I did enjoy several nearby lakes and villages. Near Lake Yamanashi is the Yamanashi Gem Museum which was one of my favorites; the gems displayed were spectacular and rival any I have seen in the Smithsonian.
As for the snow monkeys, they were a very unusual sight - I'll leave the pictures below to tell that story. In an area buried in snow for much of the year, the macaque monkeys live in and around a natural hot springs near Nagano. We hiked 30 minutes through a snowy mountain forrest to find the hot springs and a nearby waterfall. The monkeys were fearless and harmless as they swam in the hotsprings, jumped out into the snow to eat small plants and insects (buried in the snow), and walked between our small group to find their food.
Trip pictures are shown below. Click on a LARGER IMAGE.
Well...it was too overcast to see Mount Fuji but I did enjoy several nearby lakes and villages. Near Lake Yamanashi is the Yamanashi Gem Museum which was one of my favorites; the gems displayed were spectacular and rival any I have seen in the Smithsonian.
As for the snow monkeys, they were a very unusual sight - I'll leave the pictures below to tell that story. In an area buried in snow for much of the year, the macaque monkeys live in and around a natural hot springs near Nagano. We hiked 30 minutes through a snowy mountain forrest to find the hot springs and a nearby waterfall. The monkeys were fearless and harmless as they swam in the hotsprings, jumped out into the snow to eat small plants and insects (buried in the snow), and walked between our small group to find their food.
Trip pictures are shown below. Click on a LARGER IMAGE.
Snow Monkeys and Me
Snow Monkeys ot Springs Pool
Snow Monkeys
Waterfall Near Snow Monkey Hotsprings
Matsumoto Castle
Matsumoto Castle
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