We spent the past day and a half in Kinosaki, an "onsen" resort town northwest of Kyoto, not too far from Japan's west coast. The resort community is built around 7 onsen's, which are bath houses fed by hot springs. We stayed in a Japanese Ryokan. this lodging has traditional features such as sleeping on floor mats (actually quite comfortable), low table and sitting on the floor, traditional meals, and dressing in kimono-like robes with obis (sashes). It's been quite an adventure! This photo depicts one of the seven onsens, taken tonight and processed using photomatix, from three photos.
We leave tomorrow to return to Kyoto and then the next day for the last stage of our trip, in Tokyo. For an amazing shot from today's visit to the crane sanctuary, check out Michael's - @vankrey post. Junko's ( @jyokota) shot captures some of the beauty on our 'nature walk' on the way to the sanctuary.
I hope it goes without saying that I'll be catching up next week. It's clear I don't have reliable enough internet, or nearly enough time, to do justice to your photos, but I will when I return home.
Thank you so much for all your wonderful support that led to two of my photos included in TT for this week! Your comments means a lot to me!
@redy4et Thanks Elizabeth! We did spend some of our time going to the baths -- they were really beautiful and each was so distinctive. While public, all the baths are separated by gender and no clothing is allowed in them. Everyone has to shower before entering the baths, then shower on leaving. You see people of all ages, from very little kids to the quite elderly. Everyone walks around the town in their kimonos carrying little baskets with their towels. It was quite an experience! Of course, when we went hiking, we were in street clothes as the wooden flip flops wouldn't cut it!
How wonderful that you did the whole thing, baths included! Staying in a Ryokan was on my list to do but we didn't end up doing it... maybe next time. Your trip sounds wonderful and I love seeing the photos. Fantastic night shot here.
@sticksandstones Sorry for the delayed response. I don't know where the snow monkeys are in Japan so am not sure if we were close or not. We didn't see any on this trip. Our only animal event was a stork sanctuary. Thanks for visiting/commenting!
