Visiting Time: December 22, 2014 This past weekend, after the orchestra’s performance, I went on a two-day, one-night trip to Oita with my wife.
faint snow scene
The next morning the weather was cloudy and sometimes snowy. Oh, it has snowed as expected…. Fortunately the weather had held off until the day before, so we were able to get to the inn, and the staff at the inn would help us even if we needed chains depending on the weather in the morning.
Morning bath and breakfast
Anyway, I’m going to take a morning bath and then
It was breakfast. They cook rice in a pot for each person. You can specify the breakfast time the day before, so the rice will be cooked according to that time.
The food itself was very good, but the breakfast as a whole was average.
Chain mounting
The snow was only occasional flurries until the morning, but it started to fall hard during breakfast and quickly accumulated several inches.
After breakfast, however, the innkeeper suggested, « I’ll have the staff at the inn install a chain for you. » He suggested. Excellent. I’ve never worn a chain before, and it was very helpful.
I decided to observe the installation process to learn more.
And in 10 minutes or so, the installation was completed successfully.
Apparently, the only place where snow is falling and piling up is the Yudaira Onsen area. If we go to the foot of the mountain, we can take off the chains.
In any case, we were going to make it out of this snow zone in one piece.
Stroll around the hot spring resort for a while
I strolled along the cobblestone streets of the hot spring resort in bad footing for about 20 minutes. Souvenir shops don’t seem to open until about 10 o’clock. There was not much sign of tourists. It was a feeling that there was in the Ryokan here and there.
Check out safely, remove the chain at the bottom
And check out after 10 o’clock. At the end of the day, we were treated to a Karintou manjyu and we were off.
Just after departure, we had a problem that the chain got tangled in the front wheel, but the innkeeper helped us again to solve the problem. Chain running is not a problem if you ride slowly. The grip is also good.
And when I went down to the foot of the mountain as informed, there was no snow at all. I found a good shoulder space and took off the chains here.
This day is going to be a nice day compared with yesterday. I’m going back to Tokyo by 20:00 flight on this day. The last sightseeing tour in Oita will start.
（続きます。）
