Yumotokan - June 27
We got up early to check out of the Washington by 10, and headed down to Shinjuku Station to take the Shinkansen (新幹線, bullet train) down to Kyoto for our onsen (温泉, hot spring) reservation. The train was very nice, with plenty of legroom and lots of great views out the window. It was nice to catch a glimpse of less urban areas than Tokyo. After about and hour and a half we arrived at Kyoto Station, and transferred to the Kyoto Subway to get to our destination station of Ogoto-Onsen (おごと温泉駅).
We arrived a few hours before our pickup time, so we decided to wander the area before heading over to the hot spring. We ended up on a back-road path through a residential area, and posted up on a small bridge for a little while before heading back to the station. We called Yumotokan (湯元館), our hotel, and they said it wouldn't be a problem to be picked up early. A van arrived shortly and we piled in along with a few other guests.
The hot spring experience was equal parts amazing, awkward, and hilarious. We were all unsure of what to expect and were just trying to be respectful, but in the end I think we ended up making things more awkward than they needed to be.
When we arrived we were escorted to our room, where we took off our shoes and sat down at the table. The waitresses arranged our shoes for us, brought our sandals for use in the hotel, and served us tea amidst cautious "thank you"s. We all sat at the table not sure what to say while the waitresses struggled to find the words to describe what they were doing. After serving the tea they left and we were left wondering what to do. We were very impressed with the room, and felt a little out of place as ruddy travelers in such a nice room. We debated whether the waitresses would be coming back or not, and whether or not we should have finished the tea by then, and so on. Lots of laughs were had as it became clear we had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into.
A short while later the waitresses returned to show us how to put on our yukatas. A yukata is something of a Japanese bathrobe and was to be worn around the hotel, to the hot springs, and to dinner. They helped us get the appropriate size out of the drawers full of various yukatas in the closet, and showed us generally how to put them on. Finally, the told us that we were to take off our clothes before putting them on, which led to some confused looks between us ("wait...not now right?"). They left afterwards and we spent a great deal of time fiddling around with yukatas before deciding on a decent way to wear them. We debated whether or not to wear underwear with them, but eventually decided against it. There was an English language guide to wearing a yukata on the table for us, along with a warning against "revealing all" when sitting, so we figured that meant no undergarment. Kirt's Taekwondo experience meant that he had a good strategy for tying the sash that goes along with the outfit, so we finally managed yukata-up.
Now fully clothed again, we decided to venture out to one of the open air hot springs in the hotel. The staff had briefed us earlier about which baths were available to us on each day (they are only available to one sex at a time so they rotate), and we ended up heading to one on the 5th floor that was made up to look more natural with rocks and trees surrounding it. Before entering the baths, you leave your sandals in some cubbies by the entrance and leave a numbered clip on your shoes. You then continue in to another cubby room (taking that cubby with the number on your shoes) where you can leave your yukata and other things. We were then off to the shower room, where we all took showers before entering the bath. Each shower stall had a stool, a small bucket, a faucet to fill the bucket, and a shower head, along with all the shampoos and body wash you could need. It was kind of a neat showering experience, and the bucket was a nice addition. We later learned that the correct procedure was to simply rinse off before entering the hot spring, then taking a full shower after, but we were close enough. We soaked for a while before heading back to the room to chill a bit before dinner.
Dinner was serving in a separate personal dining room and ours was called Sekishou (夕照), our waitress was waiting when we arrived, and the various courses of the meal were already spread across the table. The looked amazing and tasted great, and after some initial awkwardness we had some fun trying to communicate with the waitress about what everything was and how it was supposed to be eaten. She was clearly trying hard with her English, and my limited Japanese helped smooth things out a bit. The meal included everything from soups and salads, sushi, and even a bit of yakiniku. We left stuffed and headed back to the room.
Our beds had been prepared while we were at dinner, but we decided to have one last soak in a different hot spring before turning in.
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