Snow and Onsen

Or you could say, very cold and very hot. Nagano is famous for its mountains and onsen (hot springs) and the 1998 Winter Olympics. In winter most of us make our way to one of the many ski resorts that Nagano offers, we're spoilt for choice. The most popular resorts are in Hakuba and Shigakogen.








A group of us went snow boarding last weekend to Shigakogen, famous for onsens and for snow monkeys. The condititins on the slopes wasn't great, quite icy. I fell a few times, and the last fall my broke my bindings :( I think I'll go back to skis for a while till my knees feel better.
The 7 of us stayed in a ryokan (bed and breakfast) and had an onsen that night to ease our aching muscles. The next day we hiked (small hike) up a snowy mountain to see the snow monkeys in the natural hot springs.