I woke up initially at 6, but ended up going back to sleep before I startled myself awake at around 7:15. We were supposed to check out at 7:30 to catch our bus at Fukuoka airport at 9:56. After a hurried breakfast and getting ready as fast as possible, we rushed to check out (fortunately by just depositing our keys in a box) before catching the train from Saga station to Hakata station. From Hakata station, we caught the subway to Fukuoka Airport. Afterwards, it was trying to figure out which bus we had reserved. We first had to transfer to the international side of the airport via shuttle bus. It was a cramped ride, but we made it with 20 minutes to spare or so.
The ride was generally quiet. I think there were only about 12 passengers on board a bus that could easily sit 60 people. At our bus stop at Kurokawa Onsen Town, I was surprised to see that there was somebody from the ryokan (Yamamizuki) we booked waiting to pick up our luggage, even though we requested to have a shuttle bus from the ryokan to pick us up two hours after we arrived. I was impressed by the service, followed by him dropping us off at a sister ryokan for a complimentary bath. It was my first outdoor bath since 2015, and it was somewhat relaxing, despite having people peer down at us just a short distant away. As like before, I was self-conscious initially, but got past the fact that everyone was naked in the baths. Besides the four of us, there was only one other individual in the pool at that time.
At around 1:45, we took a shuttle bus to the ryokan. We were greeted promptly at the door and were given a tour of the ryokan. It was small, compared to a hotel, but had a very upscale feel to it. The floors seemed to be polished quite frequently and the atmosphere was quite welcoming. We were then shown to our room, followed by an initial snack and tea. I was amazed at how spacious our room was, for it had multiple rooms and a private onsen.
We took a bath at the outdoor bath, while admiring the lush nature around us. Yamamizuki is up on a mountain, meaning that we were secluded from the public. That also meant that the bath was semi-private, which is definitely to my liking. Since it was the afternoon, it was still quite hot outside, making the hot spring water somewhat uncomfortable. I could only stand to sit in the baths for about 10 minutes, before feeling like I was burning up. However, the scenery from the outside onsen was simply AMAZING. There was a small waterfall and river just meters away from us. Our onsen was surrounded by tress of various types as well. I'm not allowed to take pictures of the outdoor onsen, but here's one picture from their own website of the men's onsen.
Followed by the bath, we relaxed in the living room of our accommodations before heading down to dinner. Dinner was served to us in a private dining room. There, we were served what seemed to be a 10 course meal. Each dish was masterfully presented and tasted amazing. To this date on the trip, I had to say it was my favorite meal. Dishes varied from fish (cooked and raw), vegetables and scrumptious sukiyaki. I don't recall having such amazing sukiyaki before. Our hostess helped explain each meal to us and even cooked the sukiyaki for us (probably because we looked to be total scrubs).
After dinner, it was off to the baths once more. It was better in the dark, for it was cooler. My regret was not wearing my glasses this time around, for I had troubles walking to the onsen after washing myself (about a 10 m walk).
And so that marked our day. Not as much walking, but very relaxing nevertheless. I highly recommend visitors to book a night at a ryokan! It's by far one of my favorite and most memorable experiences in Japan yet.
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