After a relatively relaxed day, it was time for another chiong day, this time to Jigokudani Yaen Koen (Snow Monkey Park).
Getting there wasn't exactly effortless. From the entrance, it's about a 40-minute walk through the forest before reaching the monkey viewing area. The trail itself is easy enough, but it felt much longer because Mister was taking his own sweet time after I broke the news that there was a chance we might not see any monkeys at all that day!
His disappointment was understandable. We had heard that for the past week, there hadn't been any monkeys at the park, so expectations were already quite low before we even started the hike. As it turned out, we were actually very fortunate.
When we finally arrived, there were no large groups of monkeys soaking in the famous hot springs that appear in all the postcards and travel photos. But after a bit of searching, we managed to spot three snow monkeys roaming around the area. They occasionally stopped to observe visitors, but none of them showed any interest in taking an onsen bath.
While chatting with the staff and learning more about the monkeys, we discovered that autumn isn't the best season for seeing them at the park. This is their mating and food-gathering season, as they prepare for the long winter ahead. During this period, they tend to stay higher up in the mountains and have little reason to come down to the hot spring area.
The three monkeys we saw weren't part of a larger troop either. They were more like solo rangers. We learned that female monkeys usually remain within family groups, while males are more likely to roam independently. Although a troop may contain a few adult males, solitary monkeys are generally males living outside the main family group.
When the main troop does come down, it's an entirely different scene. A single group can consist of close to a hundred monkeys, filling the area with activity as they groom one another, search for food, play, and occasionally soak in the hot springs.
Although we didn't get the iconic snow-monkey-in-an-onsen photo, the visit was still memorable. Knowing that there had been no monkey sightings for the previous week, we felt lucky just to see three of them. The forest walk was beautiful, the surroundings were peaceful, and spotting these wild animals in their natural habitat made the trek worthwhile.
Sometimes travel doesn't give you the postcard-perfect moment you were hoping for. Instead, it gives you a better story. In our case, it was a 40-minute hike and three independent monkeys who clearly had more important things to do than entertain tourists in a hot spring.
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