mountains of central Japan: snow monkeys in Nagano & stunning views of Fuji at Kawaguchiko
[Music] Baby. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] N. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Baby, I [Music] Baby, we have just arrived. where we’re staying for the next few nights in Aayoken in Nagago. And we had to get dropped off outside the snow monkey park entrance and then we walked for a mile through a forest to get here. And we’ve arrived and it is so beautiful. It’s unlike ever anything I’ve ever seen before, or at least not in real life because this is the sort of thing I’ve seen in in Pokémon people’s houses. We’ve got tatami mat flooring. We have futon beds and we’ve just had the most incredible meal where the rayoken owner told us about it and he said he’d been out foraging for some of the greens for the meal. So, super impressed so far. The place we’re staying is called Jigokani, which translates to Hell’s Valley because of the Giza that is outside. Um, the Giza has been designated as a like a natural protected thing of Japan. So, I will show you that tomorrow. But for now, we are going to go and bathe in the onen while there’s nobody else in the Rayoken. [Music] First monkey. Monkeys have been spotted. [Music] [Music] Guys, living a [Music] dream. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] sky knows me and posing. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Hi guys, I am not feeling my very best today. Did not sleep very well. I feel like I’m hung over today for some reason. I think just a mix of being very busy, maybe not eating enough, maybe not drinking enough, but I have soldied on because as as you have seen, it has been snow monkey park day and we loved it there. The monkeys were so cute. I think you could easily walk around the park in 15 minutes. But we spent about two hours there just just sitting down and watching the monkeys play and groom each other which was really really lovely. And we’ve just come down for some lunch. Had a spot of lunch. I’m definitely feeling a little bit more myself. And we’ve just come to see some cherry blossom. It’s much fresher here in Nago. I’m going to say it’s much cooler, but it’s certainly fresher air up here. And I think cherries are a crop here. So, we’ve seen loads of cherry blossoms. And they’re still they’re still here. Whereas in Kyoto, they were pretty much gone. So, still get to see cherry blossoms even strictly not in cherry blossom season. [Music] back to where are we and we have a friend waiting for us. Hey [Music] buddy, we have a little party to see us off. Okay, we’re allowed to stroke this one because he’s a friend of the hotel. She’s a friend of the hotel. Wow. Not sure if you can see, but there is still snow on the mountains up there. Just about see in the clouds. Even better view. Snowy mountains on the top. [Music] So, we are all checked out of our Rioen in the monkey forest and getting to Nagono was a really long way out. Took us a long time to get there, but wow, what an interesting experience that was. The that building has been there for 100 years and that family have been running the inn for 150 years and to sleep on the floor mats and to be on the tatami floor. Having the monkeys around, of course, and and bathing in the onen with the with the monkeys was just amazing. We absolutely loved it. So, after a really chill couple of days, we are on the bullet train to Tokyo, which I’m super excited about. But to keep this video on theme to mountains, I’m actually going to pick this video back up when we go to Fuji. So, I’ll see you in a few days. We’ve just arrived in the Kawa Guo Five Lakes area and checked into our hotel. And every single room in this hotel has got a Fuji view. But unfortunately, the visibility is really bad today. So, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one. And we will see it tomorrow because the visibility is looking amazing tomorrow. I think we’re going to be very lucky. [Music] Well, as you can see, it is an absolutely stunning day here in Kawa Chico, and we have got the most incredible view of food. We were about to get the iconic Lawson photo, but the queue was about an hour long and everybody was taking five minutes to take their photos. So, we sat that off and we’ve come to a really nice little coffee spot and we are literally sat looking at Fuji now. So, no complaints here. [Music] I’m here. [Music] I can’t believe it’s taken me a week and a half to try the 7-Eleven pizza buns. And I would say texture 10 out of 10. So doughy. Uh tomato filling 10 out of 10. But falls down on cheese. Needs more cheese. Other than that, banging. Cute. [Music] Yeah. Heat. [Music] M really [Music] good. Wow. [Music] Hey, till we meet again. Good morning. We are back in Tokyo after our trip to the Kawa Gucci Kawa Guo area to see Fuji. And wow, I absolutely love that area. It was so beautiful, so traditional. And Fuji is everything that I expected and more. You would walk around a corner and just be hit with this enormous imposing view of Fuji. It’s yeah, it’s it’s indescribable really. I totally get the whole holiness and magic of the mountain. The only thing I would say which seems a bit silly because all of Japan is touristy, but Fuji seemed especially touristy, there are cues to take photos, like halfhour cues to take photos, and the buses and trains were so busy. And that did take away from it a little tiny bit, but I don’t know what I expected really. Did I expect it just to be me having this spiritual experience with Fuji? Unlikely. Um perhaps if you go other times of year, then maybe you might get that. But because we were there on such a stunning day, of course, there were so many people there. And I am so grateful that we got such good visibility of Fuji all day. It was absolutely amazing. So that is us done in the mountains of central Japan and we are back in Tokyo for just a few more days until we go home. So do check out my Kyoto vlog if you haven’t already and make sure you subscribe to see my Tokyo vlog. So I will see you next time. Thanks for watching. [Music] Baby, [Music]
We went on our DREAM trip to Japan and spent a few days in the mountains of central Japan – in the mountains of Nagano and seeing Mount Fuji from Kawaguchiko!
Come see snow monkeys, walk through Sakura, be awed by Fuji, and much more with me in this new vlog.
Where we stayed, both traditional ryokan:
https://www.travelarrangejapan.com/Accommodations/jigokudani-onsen-korakukan/ – has to be booked through an agent. Pricey but an incredible experience!
https://www.st-inn.com/en – views of Fuji from every room
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Chapters
00:00 intro
00:49 journey to Nagano
01:17 arriving at the Ryokan
03:11 Snow Monkey forest
06:16 blossom trees
07:27 farewell monkeys
09:53 journey to Fuji
10:43 first view of Fuji
11:52 Kawaguchiko lake
12:51 Chureito Pagoda
14:20 reflections on Fuji
15:42 see you in Tokyo!
#nagano #snowmonkeys #japanesesnowmonkeys #appleblossom #sakura #fuji #mountfuji #kawaguchiko #japan #japantourism
Mountains in Japan, Japan tourism, what to do in Japan, planning a trip to Japan, where to see Mount Fuji, where to see snow monkeys, where to see monkeys bathing in Japan
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