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  3. TRAVEL 2013
  4. NOVEMBER, 2013: JAPAN (YUDANAKA TRIP)

YUDANAKA I

A magical journey to where people are ignored and allowed to share the environment with playing, nursing, eating, grooming, fighting, and resting Japanese macaques (snow monkeys). Music on selected videos by Kevin MacLeod of http://incompetech.com/.
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Lost Between the Moon and Mount Fuji
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Lost Between the Moon and Mount Fuji

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  • Lift off from Guam!<br /> <br /> As you look through these, you may wish to leave comments. If so, please find the Add Comment button to your lower left (you may need to scroll your screen down a bit to find it). You will likely want to click the "This Photo" choice on the "Comment on" pop-up menu (the other one will put your comment on every photo of the album).<br /> <br /> Also, if you desire to rate a photo, you can do that after clicking the Add Comment button (one to five stars) -- even if you choose to not go ahead and really leave a comment. You can also click on the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" icon which appears when you hover your cursor over the main photo.
  • You can see Two Lover's Point hanging onto the cliff to the right of town.<br /> <br /> If, per chance, you would like to Share on Facebook or Twitter, you can do so with the icons above -- or feel free to Like on Facebook.
  • Andersen Air Force Base and Pati Point (Guam).
  • Mount Fuji as we approach Narita over the Eastern Shore of Japan.
  • Lost Between the Moon and Mount Fuji
  • Bev met me at the airport and we headed for the train. Here comes the Narita Express to whisk us to Tokyo Station.
  • Japan's rail system is designed for optimum efficiency, and their express and Shinkansen (ultra high speed rail) are extremely comfortable and roomy, even in the "coach" section. But they are not excellent vehicles to see the countryside well. This is NOT a complaint (in fact, I wish that we in the U.S. would learn from both the Japanese and the Europeans as far as rail transportation is concerned). I'm just afraid that some of you who know me well may fear that I was deathly ill or something when you see that I went all the way from Narita into Tokyo, and then on to Nagano without taking any pictures! Of course, as you dash along at speeds of up to 199 miles per hour on the Shinkansen, you really don't have time to get your camera up and press the shutter before what you originally saw is way behind you.......<br /> <br /> So, here we are in Nagano ready to board a local line to take us on up to Yamanouchi Town.
  • Bev relaxes in the reception area of Shimiya, our ryokan for the next few days.<br /> <br /> A ryokan is a uniquely Japanese (as far as I know) type of institution. To compare it with what we have in the U.S., I would say it is sort of like a cross between a small motel and a large bed and breakfast, except that the ryokan has a public bath, in this case (and in most, I believe) with water piped in from a natural hot spring (called an onsen). This is only the second ryokan I have stayed in, and both also catered to Westerners in that private bath and shower facilities were also available.
  • The owner of Shimiya also is pretty much a super-concierge. He drove us to the trailhead for the walk to Jigokudani Monkey Park. As he let us off, he gave a card with his phone number and repeated several times "Call any time and I come get you." He did, too: Quite graciously and always with a friendly smile.<br /> <br /> As far as the trail goes, it's about a mile, almost all level except for right here at the beginning (see the steps behind us) and at one place about 2/3 of the way up.
  • In case you can't read the warning sign, it says "Because there is the situation when a step is bad, please be careful." Bev is demonstrating the "situation."
  • This is the last ryokan before you get to the Monkey Park. As we approached this, I told Bev that I may stay here if I ever come back. The next day or so we met a lady who had stayed there in the past. She said that for breakfast the first day they had large, baked crickets. Call me a pansy, but I'm not quite ready for THAT much culinary adventure just yet.
  • These were among the FIRST macaques we saw, just across the trail from the ryokan in the last photo. I had thought we would be extremely lucky to see one or a few macaques, so with this we knew that expectations may be exceeded. Little did we know by how much!
  • Here is the other "non-level" place I told you about. You have the choice between stair steps or two different "ramps" here. It levels off again at the little bridge thing you see up and to your left.
  • NOW we are in the Monkey Park. The hot spring pool is the most famous part. As I mentioned before, I felt that we would be very lucky to see one or a few macaques. I was also expecting to be totally lucky if we could possibly get to within 10 or 20 feet of them. When we got there, I was totally amazed.
  • GROOMING MACAQUE
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  • Lots of moms and babies.
  • Here you can see a nursing mom relaxing while an adolescent grooms another adult in the background. <br /> <br /> You may have to let the video buffer for a while after you click the triangle.
  • Yep: We definitely got closer than 10 or 20 feet! Or I should say THEY got closer to US than 10 or 20 feet.
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