Fudo Onsen Hanabishi

I booked this inn to stay at on my way back from climbing the Northern Alps, and to be honest, I didn't have high expectations, but it was a wonderful hot spring inn. Robatayaki is grilled by an aunty who handles everything with her experienced hands. There seemed to be an order in which to eat them, and I was told, ``After you eat this,'' so I left the eggplant alone, but it was a very delicious dinner with lots of local ingredients. I arrived late, and the hot spring was empty and spacious. I visited the open-air bath the next morning, and the view was great and the hot spring water was wonderful.

From Iida, we headed south on National Route 153, and the road on the Nagano Prefecture side was much easier to drive than I expected. I stayed on November 23rd, and the autumn leaves were in full bloom. I chose the accommodation based on the hot water with a pH of 9.9, but having dinner at the hearth table was more satisfying than I expected! I feel like I've never eaten wild wild fish with such fluffy flesh in my life, and even though the wild boar hotpot had a not too strong miso flavor, it didn't have any odor or strong taste at all, and it was a truly honest game game. Horse sashimi was also cool. I was able to enjoy almost the entire overnight dried sweetfish that was served for breakfast in another room. I went to the bath from the third floor, and the feel of the hot water was close to what I expected. The men's open-air bath is accessed from the cold spring bath, which is one flight of stairs from Fudo Myoo, and then down another flight of stairs, so be careful of your step and the cold. Fudo Falls could be viewed from the top. The room was an ordinary one as it was a ``choice plan'', but I think the air conditioner was in the comfortable category. The screen on the TV, which doesn't show BS, was a little small, so it was a little hard to see the ``Doha Delights'' that I watched while snuggled under the covers. I will never forget the beauty of the starry sky when I woke up early!