Adorable

This morning we headed North West out of Tokyo to Nagano Prefecture, to visit Jigokudani Monkey Park. We had a 30 minute walk from the coach along a footpath in the forest to see a population of Japanese macaques, known as snow monkeys. They are fed by the park attendants so are unconcerned by the presence of visitors.
 
At this time of year there is no snow, but plenty of rain. We all had a bad hair day by the time we had finished. It was a magical experience watching the behaviour of these monkeys. I have included some more shots in extras because I was hard pushed to decide on which one to blip.
 
We headed to our accommodation for the night. We stayed in a traditional Ryokan accommodation. If you can visualise chairs without legs a table with 6ins (15cms) legs and a bed on the floor, which is stored in a cupboard during the day. We were instructed on the use of the slippers provided and etiquette for staying there. Kimonos were provided for us to wear to dinner, which was a Japanese meal. A very new experience…….generally found to be mostly cold raw food!!! We could have experienced the Onsen, hot spring naked bathing!!! Google it if you are curious!!