The Monkey Park

Today we went up into the mountains to go to the monkey park to see the snow monkeys. Our original plan was to see the monkeys and then go to the hot springs in the area, however our plans changed slightly once we actually started our journey. Getting to the monkeys was not as simple as we thought it might be. Instead of the easy car ride we thought we were receiving from our host we had to take a 40 minute train, followed by a 20 minute bus, followed by a 40 minute hike to our destination. We arrived at the monkey park hoping to spot a few monkeys around the forest and on the mountains, and we had no idea what was in store for us. Hundreds of monkeys chasing each other around the mountains, running right past our legs (and into Mimi's leg) and the most shocking and amazing part of all, monkeys bathing in their very own hot spring, just like people. It was very odd and amusing and had I not been completely overwhelmed with the fact that I was entirely outnumbered by a lot of hyper monkeys and their children, I would have wanted to stay there all day. We stayed for quite a while when our stomachs got the best of us and we decided to ditch the springs and venture off to find some food. Our options were traditional soba, which I have been wanting to try since arriving in Japan, or Italian food, so we opted for the soba. We arrived at what look like a tiny house and which turned out in actuality to be, a tiny house. We sat down in what looked like an old kitchen and were promptly served clams and a variety of pickled root veggies. As per usual I was thrilled and Mimi and Ashley being the picky eaters they are gave theirs away. The soba arrived and it was everything I had hoped it would be. Our walk/bus/train ride back was longer and more drawn out than the previous one and everyone fell asleep on the train. We arrived back at the house sad that our stay at Nagata's apple farm is ending but excited that we have so much of Japan and our trip left to explore. Tomorrow we are stopping in Tokyo again and then off to Kyoto!

Finally uploading pictures tonight but I:m going to put them directly on facebook because this is complicated and I wont have much time. Check my facebook page for pictures!