Back to Naruko Onsen - Miyagi Prefecture

 Here we are again in Naruko Onsen. The free shuttle service from the Hotel Onikoube dropped us off in front of the train station around 10:00 am and we walked to our hotel and asked them to take care of our luggage until we could check-in at 15:00. 

With a lot of time to kill before our 15:00 check-in time we decided to go on a walking adventure to Lake Katanuma.

It's up-hill all the way to Lake Katanuma but the scenery along the way is nice. 

We arrived at the lake which is really a volcanic crater full of acidic water. There's so much acid in the water that fish cannot live in the lake.

There's a walking path on the right-side of the picture. On the left-side is some sulfuric land that has pockets of volcanic steam rising from the ground. The steam can be toxic if one lingers to long.

After we got past the steam zone we goofed around taking pictures of each other.

We were happily surprised to find that the path continued all the way around the lake.

It's a wonderful path covered in green moss. 

In the background one can see the area with the toxic gas; in the foreground there's a guy on a paddle board. I hope he doesn't fall into the acidic lake water. 

At this point we're over 3/4 of the way around the lake.

From here we're almost all the way around the lake and we decided to follow a road through the countryside to get back to Naruko Onsen.

As we walked along the road we passed by a gulf course. 

We also passed by a lot of restaurants and coffee shops that were out of business and abandoned. There is also an abandoned snow skiing slope with ski lift in this area. That's the way it is in Japan now. 

After awhile we returned to Naruko Onsen and checked into our hotel. After so much walking it was nice to soak in a hot-spring bath and enjoy a cold beer afterwards. 

Day 2: Another walking adventure.

We wanted to go to Nakayamadaira-Onsen by train and then walk back to town but we found out that the train line was closed for a year because storm damage. However, there was a special bus which we could take to get there so that's what we did.

The bus dropped us off in front of the station.  

While the train line is not in operation, the station is open to visitors. Emi made an entry in the visitors log.

If the train line was in operation these train rails would be nice and shinny instead of rusty.

As we walk along the road back to Naruko-Onsen we passed by more abandoned businesses. It's sad to see sites like this.

We've decided to stop at the famous Naruko Gorge for some sight-seeing.

This is another common sight in Japan now. Bears are becoming a bit of a problem. But being the fools that we are we'll press on regardless and do some exploring.

Most people view the gorge from up on this bridge. Not us! We're going to take the trail down to the bottom of the gorge and see what there is to see.

Down the trail we go!

It's not to difficult to go down the trail, just need to watch out for the slippery places. 

We're almost at the bottom of the gorge; directly above us is the bridge.

This is the bottom of the gorge and the end of the trail. 

It's not exactly what we were expecting. There is no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.

There's just me!

After looking around for a short period of time we head back up the trail.

Heading back up.

One nice thing is that there are lilies blooming all over the place.

Now we're standing on the bridge that most people stand on to see the gorge.

In the distance is a restaurant and souvenir shop. We stopped there for a coffee after we climbed out of the gorge. It was a nice place to take a break.

As we followed the road back to town there was a long tunnel that pedestrians were not allowed to use. We had to cross over the hill that the tunnel ran through. This took more time but the scenery was nice. 

Now we're back on the main road that leads to town. 

At last we've come to the train crossing that marks the entrance to the town. Now it's time to go back to the hotel for another long soak in the hot-spring bath and some more cold beer!

Day three: It's time to go home.

After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and went to the train station to start our journey home. This train will take us to Sendai city where we'll catch a bullet train back to Tokyo.

It's a smooth ride on this train ride.

It's starting to rain. Emi looks out the window at the green rice fields. She's probably already planning our next trip!

The End

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Resort Park Onikoube - Miyagi Prefecture

 This time we're visiting the Resort Park Onikoube in Miyagi Prefecture. We stayed at the Hotel Onikoube and I have to say that the Hotel provided outstanding service. To start with they sent a van to pick us up at Sendai train station. From the train station to the hotel is a two hour trip! And, we were the only people they picked up. The driver of the van also kindly stopped at a Michi-no-eki so we could use the restroom and look around for shopping. Outstanding!

Here we are arriving at the Hotel Onikoube. This place is in the middle of nowhere.

Hotel Onikoube's website

The hotel's main entrance. The hotel is designed to be like a Swiss Chalet. 

Emi getting us checked in at the front desk.

A coffee and cake corner near the front desk with a big fireplace. I think this is a popular place for the skiers to warm up in the wintertime. 

My first priority after checking into the room was to visit the hot-spring bath (onsen). Normally I wouldn't be able to photograph the bathing area but because we were the first customers to check-in I was able to take some pictures. 

Put you clothes in the baskets on the left and head in!

Nice!

A nice view to enjoy while soaking in the bath. There are other Onsen baths in the hotel to enjoy but this was the only one that I was able to photograph.

Back in the changing room to dry off and get dressed.

A quick selfie after putting on my hotel yukata. 

Next day after breakfast it was time to explore the resort area. The big thing to do here is to ride a gondola to the top of the ski slopes and go wandering around. So, here we are at the ski slope gondola place!

The gondola ropeway.

And, there goes a gondola!

This ropeway is no joke! It's a long way to the top!

This is the gondola station at the top of the mountain.

And, this is the view from the top.

We didn't expect this; there's a swing with a scenic view. Of course I asked Emi to swing on the swing so I could take a picture.

Next thing we did was to follow a hiking trail through the woods. 

We followed the trail for about a half an hour and then we headed back to the gondola station for our ride back down the mountain.

By the way, it was not a busy day here, we were the only customers. I'm sure it's quite crowded on the weekend. The guy in the shadow is the ropeway operator.

We were told that one gondola is for 4 people. They must be for 4 tiny people because when Emi and I got in I didn't see where 2 other people would sit.

The operator is standing by our gondola waiting for us to get in so he can send us down the slopes.

Down we go!

This is actually a lot of fun!

Last day: Time for breakfast. 

The doorway on the left side is the entrance to the dinning room.

This is the dining room. The day before it was quite crowded at breakfast but today there's only a few people. 

Also, the day before breakfast was a big buffet but today with fewer customers breakfast is a set menu. No problem, it was delicious!

Emi serving rice.

There are plenty of tables, they seated us at the table with the best view.

The view from our table. After breakfast it was time to pack our bags and check-out. I have nothing but good things to say about Hotel Onikoube; especially the staff and the quality of the food... outstanding!

We stayed at the Hotel Onikoube for two nights and on the morning of the third day they provided us with shuttle service to Naruko train station where Emi and I started our next adventure!

All the best,

Mike