July 31, 2018 - Today we are taking the train (Japan Railway) from Kyoto to Kinosaki (a 2.5 hr trip). Kinosaki is a small town, with a population of only 3500, that is known for its 7 public natural hot spring baths (onsens). We have booked a night at a Ryokan, which is a Japanese style inn, that gives an authentic Japanese experience. The Ryokan provides meals as well as yukata (Japanese robes) and geta (Japanese wooden flip flops) to dress in while visiting the onsens.
Meeg's packing for our trip to Kinosaki. This was the room that Meg slept in, it was on the second floor and had a couch as well as a Japanese bed on the floor.
View from Meg's room
We're all packed up and ready to go
We took a cab to the train station
fancy seat covers in the cab
We made it to the train station and Meg and Kev are off and running
We're settled in for our 2.5 hr trip with lunch that we picked up at the train station
the views on the way were pretty
garden sheds
small hills
interesting little towns
A view of Fukuchiyama Castle from the train window
more towns
It was a short, pretty walk from the train station to our Ryokan. Kinosaki is a sleepy little town
We did some planning in the multi-functional room in our Ryokan. The room came with a low table and seat cushions and seat backs that made it comfy to sit on the floor.
We got dressed in our yukata so that we could head out for an afternoon of exploring
Goshonoyu was my first bath house to visit
The yukata was comfortable to walk around the town in.
pretty water feature outside of the onsen
lots of shops around town
You see people wearing their yukata and getas when wandering around the town
We went out for a beer before dinner
it was a bar/handbag shop (kinda weird)
When we got back, dinner was ready in our room
We had many many courses
So fun!
they brought us plates of meat, that we cooked ourselves in a wok over a flame (shabu shabu)
Meg checking on the cook
looks done
Woo, that was a lot of dinner!
But after dinner we put our yukata back on and did more exploring. The river looks so pretty at night.
Meg looks good in a yukata
Maruyama River lined with willows
pretty lights
Meg was headed to the Mandarayu onsen
So fun to see everyone in their colorful yukata strolling around the town
It was fun to hear everyone clomping in their geta. This short video captures this constant sound we heard in Kinosaki
This is the front of our Ryokan (Mikuniya Ryokan). It was $430 for the 3 of us for one night, with dinner and breakfast included
No shoes in the Ryokan! Leave them here in the lobby and wear slippers to your room
Oops, I fell in a hole! I guess I shouldn't take pictures while I'm walking.
At least I got a few pics of the fireworks!
We're back!
And we're tired! Our room was changed from dining room to bedroom while we were gone!
Aug 1, 2018 - We're headed back to Tokyo this afternoon. While Meg went to a few more onsens (she didn't get to visit all 7 onsens while we were here, but she did get to visit 5 of them) Kev and I walked around town before breakfast. After we checked out of the Ryokan, we took the ropeway up Mount Daishi.
I love the Kinosaki manhole covers
each of them are different
selfie in front of an onsen
we peaked in a window of a shop with fair-like games
such pretty streets
breakfast back at the ryokan
we stopped by the onsen at our ryokan, with a pretty garden view
our tickets from Kyoto to Tokyo on the bullet train
Good bye to our multi functional room at the ryokan
the beautiful view of Kinosaki, as we went up the ropeway
We made it to the top
The Sea of Japan
We walked around for a bit
looking for more views
Osenji Temple
We found a nice spot to sit and enjoy the view
Then it was time to take the ropeway back down
When we got back to Kinosaki we found a hot spring that you could boil eggs in. You bought eggs in the shop and they gave you a bag to boil them in
Once they had boiled for the right amount of time, you pulled them from the hot spring and put them in the bucket of water to cool
Kevin was the only one that liked to eat soft boiled eggs
We really enjoyed Kinosaki, it was the perfect ending for Meg's Summer study of bath houses
Aug 2, 2018 - We got back to Tokyo late last night and stayed at a hotel so we are ready for our flight back to the US is today.
We split with Meg at the train station since she's flying out of the Narita airport and we're flying out of the Haneda Airport. We had such a great time in Japan and Korea, it was nice of Meg to let us tag along for the last few weeks of her trip!
Meg is flying back to Berkeley. :-(
She sure had a great time on her epic 2.5 month adventure around the world!
We're headed to Haneda Airport for our flight back to Indy
We had a bit of a wait before our flight, and enjoyed the deck at the airport
Somebody is sleepy and it's a LONG flight home (maybe he'll sleep on the plane)
