Onsens and Monkeys, and Monkey Onsens

Part I: Onsens

I had two days off, so I thought what better way to spend those two days with the girlfriend. Especially since it was her birthday. Yeppers, so after the sports festivities, I drove up to beautiful Nagano Prefecture to pay homage to the 23 years it has been since she entered the world. She (and I) entered the world a long way away from the world we are living in today. Kind a crazy to think about.

Anyway, since she only had a half day of work one day, we went to beautiful Kusatsu in Gunma Prefecture. Kusatsu has arguably the best hot springs (onsens) in all of Japan! The city is very resorty, much like an Aspen or Vale. However, instead of the smell of pine and firs that you might smell in CO, you smell the intoxicating aroma of sulfur. Yep...kind of like mildly rancid eggs. It is this smell (actually the chemical and/or minerals that give this smell) that makes Kusatsu so great. The minerals in the hot, bubbling springs are wonderful for your skin, curing any sort of ache you have, and clearing your respiratory system. Some might find the smell annoying, but you soon learn to love and appreciate it.

Anyway, so in Kusatsu, you stay in some really Japanesey inns (ryokans) and get the Japanese treatment, consisting of about 20 course meals that look a lot more delicious than they taste. Ryokans also supply you with a fancy-shmancy yukata (robes) that you can wear throughout the city as you walk from onsen to onsen. They are pretty cool. That is why Ashlee and I took the opportunity to take a few glamour shots of us sporting our Japanesiness.



Part II: Monkeys

I don't really have much to say about monkeys. I mean, c'mon, what is there to say? Monkeys rock.
I think this picture is hilarious. It looks a lot like one of those Darwin ancestral evolution diagrams. Plus the little monkey is so cute...don't let him fool you though. He ate one of those huge cameras equipped with an enormous zoom lens that looks like a phallic symbol. I think that is why he is holding his stomach.

Part III: Monkey Onsens

Yes, monkeys like onsens too. I wonder if that's why Japanese people like onsens so much. You know what they say: "the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree." The monkeys here were running in and out of the hot springs, chasing after each other, and feasting on little insects crawling around on one another.

These monkeys were in the onsen so long that their faces turned red. Either that, or the smell of that huge turd was overpowering.


The onsen is there behind me (you can click on the image to enlarge it). I am told that monkeys from all over the world frequent this onsen because of it's wonderful atmosphere and good-looking tourists.