We’re proud to announce that we were able to get the 3 stamps on our onsen day pass yesterday plus I asked our ryokan if they would stamp it too as they also participate in the program. This is a nice little souvenir to bring home and put in a box that will never see the light of day.
One thing about Kurokawa onsen that I haven’t encountered before is that there are baskets of eggs peppered around soaking in the hot springs water that you can just buy for $.60 on an honor system. There are even little packets of smoked sea salt for you to season your egg with. The eggs are perfectly soft boiled which is exactly how I like it. It makes for a nice little snack between meals because onsen hopping is a very rigorous activity.
Today was our final morning at the ryokan, we packed our bags, and went to breakfast a little disappointed that the onsens were closed until 10am which was when we needed to load up to head to the bus stop for Fukuoka. Breakfast was slightly more western leaning with a fried egg with bacon, sausages, pickles, and then the typical Japanese fare of grilled mackerel, pickles, rice, miso soup, tofu, and salad (which I don’t quite understand but it’s tasty).
I asked the front desk if the onsens really closed at 10am and she looked confused and said no, they’re open 24/7. So we quickly ran back to get our stuff and we got back into the open bath with no one around because everyone else was eating breakfast. It was also raining so that set a very nice mood to just be outside in the hot water while rain fell around you. AHHHHH if only we had these in Minnesota.
We dried off and got back to the lobby in time for them to take us to the bus stop heading back to Fukuoka. Even though it was rainy and dreary, I’m in still in awe of the misty landscape that we drove through. I was able to catch a few of the cherry blossom trees which were in bloom along the road too.
We got back to the bus station in Fukuoka, grabbed some lunch, and stretched our legs as we were on the bus for close to 3 hours and had another 2 hours on the train to Nagasaki. The journey there was pretty uneventful. Got to Nagasaki around 6pm where it was raining. The train station seemed very newly renovated and just looked beautiful to look at.
We are staying at a hotel near the Nagasaki Chinatown which is the oldest Chinatown in Japan. After dropping off our stuff, we went in search for Chinese food because we’ve been eating super traditional Japanese food for the last 3 days and didn’t want to hit a wall. I think we must have made a wrong turn because every restaurant we came across in 3 blocks was a bar or hostess club which didn’t seem right. It was raining even harder and we kind of gave up looking for something unique and just went with the Coco Curry chain around the corner from the hotel. Not complaining as I love Japanese curry and when I discovered this chain with my siblings in Kyoto, we ate it for 3 days in a row. Hopefully there are better food options in Nagasaki otherwise I’ll be disappointed.
That misty onsen is so beautiful.
Since it’s a savory breakfast, a side salad probably makes sense. Who wouldn’t want to eat cold, crispy veggies first thing in the morning right?
I’ve heard that Iceland does the eggs boiled in hot springs concept too.