Yunomine Onsen

In the afternoon, I walked a very steep section of the Kumano Kodo entitled Daimchi-goe over the top of a mountain from Hongu to Yunomine Onsen. It was only 2km but took a couple of hours. An American lady avoided a very poisonous snake on the path. I had blood on my trousers so may have been bitten by a leech on my lower right leg.
I could smell the sulphur when descending into Yunomine Onsen. I went to the Public Bath which had an 1800 -year history. The entry cost Y400 plus Y700 for a small towel which I kept. There was only one other person in the onsen.
There was a stream of hot water flowing alongside the road in the village where a few people were using the foot-bath, and where you could boil eggs.
My overnight accommodation was Ryokan Yunomineso which was slightly out of town so it was the final walk of a day when I'd probably walked 13km in total. The ryokan was more like a medium-sized hotel.
Dinner was in a large dining room with individual tables all facing in one direction, a bit like a classroom. There were eleven dishes in the Japanese set meal, and this was the first and only place where a waiter indicated in which order the dishes should be eaten.
Having dressed in the yakata, after dinner, I went to the onsen which had two indoor and one outdoor pools.Read more