Hellbent for Adventure?
Hang out with the Monkeys in Jigokudani!
Dramatic place names are attractive to
travellers, especially to those looking for status
and the prestige of saying “I visited ____ on my
last trip”. And there is no shortage. Just a quick
Google reveals such places as Heavens Door
(UK), Hell (Cayman Islands), Hell (Michigan),
Hell (Norway), Hell (Texas), Hell for Certain
(Kentucky) Hells Gate (New York), Hellhole
Canyon (California) and of course there is
Intercourse (Pennsylvania), Crotch Lake
(Ontario) and Blow Me Down (Newfoundland).
But I actually did spend some time visiting
Hell’s Valley in Japan, locally known as
Jigokudani. This is the place where you can see
the snow monkeys bathing in hot springs. It’s
slightly off the beaten track but the
photographic rewards are well worth the effort.
From Tokyo you can take a train to Nagano and
then a second train to Yudanaka. Then a local
bus will take you to the Kanbayashi Onsen stop
where a “Monkey Park” sign points to a path.
You walk though a forested area for about 30
minutes before arriving in Jigokudani.
We stayed at the Korakukan Ryokan, a
traditional guest house located very close to the
entrance to Monkey Park. The rooms have the
traditional tatami mats on the floor and your bed
consists of a thick duvet and blankets laid out
on the floor, like your own personal cocoon.
After a day of touring you can soak in either the
indoor or outdoor hot spring (onsen) and then,
wearing your slippers and Yukata (kimono),
both supplied by the guest house, you come
down to a delicious multi-course dinner of miso
soup, pickled vegetables, fish, tofu and rice. As
some of the Japanese guests spoke English,
we had a great chat with them and shared small
bottles of sake during the dinner. The total cost
for our stay, including dinner and breakfast the
next morning was about $90.00 per person.