Gero Onsen (Hot Spring R&R at Yunoshimakan)

     I just want to post some pictures during our R&R last January when we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary.  We spent it at Yunoshimakan in Gero, Gifu prefecture.  Customer service, food, and accomdations were great.  Our room had a great view of the mountains and main building rooftops.  The whole place was very quiet and I felt like we were on a time slip because the fixtures and architecture were very old.

View from our window at keizansou room (10th floor)

     Our room cost 18000 yen a night (check-in at 2 pm and check-out at 11 the following morning) which included dinner of kaiseki ryori consisting of hida beef.

     The hot spring water felt very good on the skin and not scorching hot as I imagined hot springs to be.  Our room had a bath supplied with water from the hot springs and had a nice view too from the window which can be fully opened if one prefers.

nice bath filled with the scent from the cedar tub

     Amenities include yukatas which are used when making the rounds of the hot spring baths at the ryokan.  Female guests get to choose their own colored yukatas.  I chose a pink floral one.

     That’s my youngest son with me in the photo.  We just had to take him with us just so he has nice memories about his winter vacation and have something to share in his class 🙂

This is my husband and my little one with  the ryokan’s main building at the background

For the uninitiated, bathing in hot springs requires one to take off all clothing!  Definitely not for the prude since there are also other bathers in the public baths.  This is actually my first time to bravely get naked in front of strangers.  After a while I got the hang of it.  There are private baths for families and couples aside from the public baths.  We particularly enjoyed bathing in the warm waters of the rotenburo (open air bath) so  much while the snow was falling.  It was such a wonderful experience.