It`s the rainy season here in Kyushu,which usually means a lot of very heavy rain,torrential rain enough to bring floods and landslides in some areas……but so far this year it has rained relatively little. It has been cloudy and thus (thankfully) quite cool and not as humid as expected. I don`t usually go to hot spring baths in July and August to be honest,but a few days ago I tried `Konoyu` (no 2 on the map,and a little way from the center of Kurokawa) with my `helper` who had finished school early for the day!
We were met by courteous staff with umbrellas and shown to reception.
Luckily the outdoor bath had a roofed area as it started to rain a little heavier,also the shower/washing area was outside,but nicely protected inside a sort of outhouse . Ouch,the water temperature in the showers was hard to control though,comfortable one moment but scalding hot the next…. The main bath itself was rather hot today too,so I didn`t stay in too long.
There were several areas to explore here,the main bath is quite big and one section of it is inside a sort of small cave. Also,there is a 130cm standing bath on the women`s side which was pleasant (and cooler),but I didn`t really know what I should do there apart from just walk up and down a bit! My helper informed me that the standing bath on the men`s side was a lot deeper, 160cm!
It was quiet in Kurokawa today for a Friday afternoon..
…so we wandered back to the center of town for our favourite `choux cream` cakes from `Roku` cake shop.
In summary…. HOT!
Would I visit again? Yes,but after checking the water temperature first!
Staff: Helpful and some English spoken

onsen-hopper

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