The JR Sanin Honsen line - Kinosaki Onsen

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Section 1

We had come by shinkansen to Kyoto and our first stop would be Kinosaki. We found the platform for the JR Tokkyuu Kinosaki Express at Kyoto station, had time to buy some onigiri riceballs and we were off enjoying the long ride which brought us via the JR Sanin Honsen line passing the mountainous area to the other side of Japan. The views from the train were pretty but the weather changed before we arrived in Kinosaki and the rain started to pour down violently. From the station, the courtesy bus took us to our ryokan and it seemed that all the elderly people from the train had come to bathe in Kinosaki too.

Kinosaki had been famous in the beginning of the 18th century with many well known artists, writers, and calligraphers having come and stayed there. Kinosaki still has the feeling of the past about it and is very picturesque with the Ootani River flowing through the town flanked by willows and cherry trees. Our ryokan provided us with free tickets for the outside baths and we donned our yukatas and geta and visited Gosho-no-yu, Icho-no-yu, Yanagi-yu and Mandara-yu baths that evening. It had stopped raining and it was very pleasant walking through the narrow streets and along the river to hop from bath to bath just as the other visitors. On a street corner, a foot bath with hot water awaited the traveller and we made extensive use of it watching the other visitors stroll by whilst soaking our feet.

The food in the ryokan was plenty and included the delicious local crabs.

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