[2014 Kyushu Family Trip - 6] Downtown(?) of Kurokawa Hot Springs, a Nice Tea at Warokuya

December 23rd, 2014

After checking out of Okunoyu, my family left our luggage at the front desk and headed out to explore the central area of Kurokawa Hot Springs.

This was another ryokan we spotted on our way.
Having a bridge as an entrance looked kind of cool.

 following the stream

following the road

and another familiar view on the go.
This was one of the sceneries that I took a picture of on the night before, and turned out pretty bad.

 these are some of the details that could not be observed during the night.

this place looks really nice either during the night or the day.
(I believe that's the central area of Kurokawa Hot Springs)

After looking around places that my family has and has not been to the night before,

we had already arrived here, which was....

...wait for it...

...wait for it...

TADA!
The Pathway to the Central Area of Kurokawa Hot Springs!

What makes this area different from where Okunoyu is located?
Well, this area has a lot more people (I was even able to hear some Korean as well)
and as you can see, a lot more buildings.

This was the first building that caught my attention.
This is actually a public hot bath that has no affiliation with any of the ryokans.
There's many more public baths like this one around the central area, and if you purchase an 'Onsen-Hopping Pass,' you can try 3 of the 24 various onsen in the area and get a stamp from each (and yes, that includes Okunoyu)

This is called "Face Mist"
This is where you can get some hot steam for your face, and it's also the main source of the smell of sulfur in the central area of Kurokawa Hot Springs.

the area has some simple, but nice architecture.

and of course, it has a souvenir shop near by.

After walking for a while, my family came across this place, where various ryokans seemed to be located near by.

I mean look at this, there was quite a lot of bridges in this one small area.

This place seems like another big ryokan, I suppose?
I don't know why but the bridge entrance feels kind of special, for some reason.

I don't know what those bridges are for,
but I think this is one of those places that you could actually use the "Onsen Hopping Pass."

If you don't have one, I believe they would charge a separate fee.

seems like Okunoyu is not the only "nice" ryokans around here.

This is located somewhere near the end of the central area of downtown Kurokawa Hot Springs.

and WOW
that looks like something that would look gorgeous during the night.

Too bad Kurokawa Hot Springs is too dark to navigate our way to this place after sunset...
Maybe next time, I should book a ryokan that is located somewhere near here.

after walking past that building with a sign that reads "Warokuya"

my family spotted this phone booth, that looks awesome.

and we also found a small pool of hot water, which was like a hot bath just for your hands!
After carrying my camera with bare hands in the wintery weather for a while, I figured that I might need a dip,
and HOLY WOW
It Sure Felt HEAVENLY!


after walking a bit further,

we came across this place, which looked like an old-style Japanese... uh.... meeting area?

and it's actually a part of one of the most popular ryokan in Kurokawa Hot Springs, Ikoi.
Lots and lots of tourists were there.

That was pretty much it, and my family headed back to find a place to get some lunch.

Our first stop was "Warokuya"

It looks very nice inside.
However, this was more of a cafe, than a restaurant.
and the food was very expensive as I remember.

So, my family just had a cup of coffee/tea here, and decided to go somewhere else for lunch.
and Oh Boy, was our next stop unexpectedly fantastic.

You'll learn more about it on the next post.