Exploring Minakami

Everyone kind of seemed to wake up early this morning. There were already people up and noise from the corridor from around 6:30am. My room all got up around 8:30am. Got changed and headed down for breakfast! There was bread and cereal – the toaster machine was really funny because you had to put the bread through twice for it to actually get properly toasted. After we finished breakfast, we all packed up and headed to Takaragawa Onsen! It was supposed to be an 18 minute drive, but I kept taking the wrong turns in the mountains, so we went for some scenic detours before we got to the onsen! The car park was really full but luckily there was one little spot left specifically for Kei cars – perfect. The onsen was so beautiful – situated right by the river and the buildings were all totally Spirited Away vibes. It will definitely be stunning in autumn when all the leaves have turned, but even now it was still really beautiful. It was a very different onsen than what I’d experienced before though. For one thing they didn't have a shower area for you to clean up before you entered the onsen, you were just supposed to rinse yourself with some onsen water or the cold water provided. We weren’t sure if it’s because this onsen was also an inn (旅館) so maybe the guests could shower in their own rooms before going to the onsen? But anyway, the other cool thing was the layout of the onsen. It was almost like a little maze! There were a total of 3 outdoor mixed onsens, and 1 female only onsen, and some more indoor onsens. We obviously all went to the outdoor ones, because relaxing in an onsen next to the river is the best! I went to the female only one first to relax, but then went to the mixed one as well because everyone else was there. I had definitely never ever planned to go to a mixed onsen, but it wasn't as bad as I thought! Everyone had towels with them in the water to cover up, so it was all goods. Went back to the female only onsen with two other girls and we relaxed and chatted until we got too hot, then cooled down with the iced water and got changed. We all had lunch together at the little cafeteria. I had udon and fried chicken, and milk and ice cream!

After lunch we all headed our separate ways – some people went straight home, but I decided to stay and explore Minakami a bit before leaving! Had one other ALT friend come with me too. I was actually originally planning on staying in Minakami one more night to explore more on Monday, but was feeling very tired and sleepy after the onsen so I decided not to stay anymore. I dropped off 2 other ALTs first at an ALT’s home in Minakami, then it was off exploring! First we went to Lake Akaya – a lake created from a dam, and it was really calm and beautiful! Next we went to Suwakyo Gorges, where one of the Bungy Japan spots is! We were lucky that there were quite a few people doing the bungy jump, so we stayed there a while watching them. That jump is 42m, very similar to the one I’ve done before in back in NZ, Queenstown! After that we tried to go to our final stop (Kuroiwa Gorge) but we couldn't find a place to park and actually get down to look at the gorge, so we just drove past it and decided to head home. Dropped off my friend back at hers, and then arrived back home pretty early actually around 18:30! Had kimchi udon for dinner and then went to bed.