Oh Boy
I am feeling really lucky.
This morning I got up and rode the Shinkansen to Nagano, then took a local train to Shibu Onsen.
My goal was to visit Monkey Park.
Had a bit of trouble connecting with the place I am staying… but then they drove me to the park.
I spent a couple of hours shooting monkeys in the snow, and about 2 decided to walk back to the Hotel. I went by a short cut… through a forest… down a road that is closed in the winter.
It was magical… snow..tall trees gentle silence.
Yesterday, when stopped at a train station, there was an earthquake. The train was rocking… power lines were moving.. but nobody seemed concerned.
Today, all alone in the forest, high in the mountains, I heard this roar…sounded like the earth groaning… and then i could feel the shaking under my feet.
I saw the power lines along the road dance, and poles to show then edges sway. But the trees didn’t move.
I didn’t know what to think…though I kept my eyes and ears open for falling rocks.
And then it happened again.
And the same sound again.
By this point I started thinking that it must be something else…
When I made it back to the Hotel, the Innkeeper told me about how there was a bad earthquake, and that Tsunami were expected.
I watched the news.
I feel guilty about being in such a safe place… I was going to go back to Tokyo Tomorrow, but I will stay here for another day just to let things get back to normal.
BTW I have some great monkey shots.
