Kurokawa Hot Springs
15 Feb 2006 |Our first stop on the tour was at Kurokawa Hot Springs in Kumomoto Prefecture. Kurokawa Hot Springs is located in the mountains near Mount Aso and the town basically consists of hot springs and Japanese style hotels called ryokans. It’s quite a beautiful setting and the mountain village attracts visitors from not only Japan, but from around the world. I had no idea that we were going to such a famous place, but I was pleasantly surprised.
As Azusa and I got off the bus to explore the village we were given little wooden medallions with stamps on the back. The tour guide could see that I looked confused and the following conversation took place:
Jeff: “What’s this?”
Guide: “It’s your ticket to enter the hot springs.”
Jeff: “Hot springs?”
Guide: “Yeah. You can go into 3 hot springs with this medallion.”
Jeff: “Three hot springs?”
Guide: “Sure. Don’t you want to soak in the world famous Kurokawa Hot Spings?”
Jeff: “Umm…”
Guide: “Oh, I see! You’ve never been in a hot spring before?”
Jeff: “Umm… No.”
Guide: “Ha ha ha ha haaaa!!!”
Jeff: “…”
Guide: “Don’t worry! You’ll love it!!!”
You know what? She was right. I did love it! Getting naked with a bunch of strange guys was always near the top of my things to not do in Japan list, but it really was a good experience and the hot springs were so beautiful. I think Azusa was pretty proud of me too because she knew that I was really nervous.
This is a picture of me right before we entered the hot spring. I think I’m praying for courage or something.
Next stop: Aso Hotel
February 17th, 2006 at 6:29 am
One word, “Shrinkage!”