Hello! Back from a great winter vacation to Nagano a few weeks ago. With no broken bones bones either, not even any scratches, only a bruise on my arse from trying to recreate a scene from WHAM`s videoclip, `last christmas.`

Day 1

A 7 hour journey later and we were dropped of Ryoo bus terminal in kita shiga (north of Nagano prefecture) at a very early time of 6:30AM. But with no ATM around and hotel check in not being til 3, it meant that we had no choice but to go skiing. My first skiing experience didnt look too promising from the very start. We didnt get started til 11 as Dominic had to wait outside my changing room as I refused to come out wearing something that would have only been barely acceptable 20 years ago. But it wouldnt be the pant suspenders or the oversized lime green skiing jacket that would be blocked from memory but the first 5 seconds of skiing. After somehow making it to the chairlift (getting the skiis on was difficult enough!) but not having a vague idea of what to do, once I was thrown off the chair lift I plumpted down the slope, crashing and knocking over a group of girls in a skiing class. Of course, doing it in style by screaming all the way. At least I gave a lot of people heads up that way but the poor things, including a very unlucky 9 year old, they did not see what was coming! It was a great laugh, you had to find your sense of humor in it otherwise you would just find yourself getting annoyed and frustrated very quickly from falling over every few seconds. Although Domnic doesnt have a real excuse, at least it snows in England. By lunch we had already gotten the hang of it, meaning we could slow down and stop and I even got the spray of snow going from my skiis with the very sharp turning stops.

Day 2

11AM and already lost from trying to decipher a very badly drawn map given to us by the hotel receptionist. We had been walking for 30 minutes in thick snow trying to find an ATM until a local felt sorry for us and gave us a lift to seven 11. With wads of cash in hand, we took a 30 minute taxi ride to Jigokudani, but I prefer its other name, hell valley onsen, to visit yaen-koen (wild monkey park) and soak in an outdoor onsen. It was a 1.6km hike to the wild monkey park but it was a little further for us as the taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong (now abandoned) trail. He came back running and shouting at us after a local told him of his mistake. Back on the right trail, we arrived at the wild monkey park where monkeys bathe freely in the hot spring so they were by far the cleanest and most mellowed out monkeys I have seen. They were so fluffy that you just wanted to grab one and cuddle it! Not at all like the smelly monkeys in Kyoto that dont hesitate to bite you if you even made eye contact. Along the river, not far from the monkey park was an onsen open to the public. Japanese baths are always segreated, apart from the really rural areas but the owner on seeing us went into a frenzied state of panic and pushed us through a door leading to the female outdoor bath. He must of wanted to keep us out of sight from the locals, perhaps thinking Dominics paleness wouuld have been the new tourist attraction. We had the bath completely to ourselves and it was amazing to bathe in the hot spring water with the view of the snowy mountains and monkeys swinging over our heads. Good thing none of them decided to take a dip in.

The Rest

Off to the prefecture capital, surely enough named Nagano, to do some sightseeing. Visited Zenkoji temple, no different from the other temples I have visited but for an underground pitch black tunnel, symbolising rebirth and death. When walking through the tunnel, if you feel around the right side of the walls and if you find a heavy metalic door you have found yourself the key to salvation. Which I did, and only for the price of the admission ticket! Next, a two hour train ride to the castle town of Matsumoto, one of the four castles declared as a national treasure (only one more to visit). Distinctly different, nicknamed crow castle, it had a hidden level and is one of the three castles in japan to have a moon viewing room (fancy talk for a balcany). Feeling a bit peckish we sampled Naganos speciality of soba noodles served cold but gave the fried bees a miss.