Fukushima: Day 1 - Yunokami Onsen

Just one stop from Tounohetsuri is Yunokami Onsen with its old style picture postcard thatched station house, and it was here that I stopped for the night at a small minshuku (inn) in a converted farmhouse that had its own hot spring baths.



The communal area of the minshuku was cluttered with various different ornaments and knick-knacks, ranging from pottery, scrolls, masks and obi to stuffed forest animals and dried fish.

I had a nice long late afternoon soak in the bath, which I had to myself as the other guests were all arriving by car and were delayed in the holiday traffic ~ a good enough reason not to start driving in my book! Then it was time for dinner, which consisted of fish, soup and lots of locally grown vegetables, some of which I can't tell you the name of, but it was all rather tasty and went down nicely with a bottle of beer.

Still feeling the effects of the flight back from the UK, I had an early night in a very comfy futon, only to be rudely awoken at 4:30 in the morning by the rather noisy family in the next room who were getting an early start to avoid the traffic. I didn't mind them getting up early, but wished they had been a bit more considerate of the other guests seeing as the walls in old Japanese buildings are rather thin.