Shiobara Onsen

We are just back in Tokyo after an evening away at Shiobara onsen, not too far from where we used to live in Shimogo.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the New Shiobara Hotel. The large number of onsen / baths was a real plus point and it was especially pleasurable to sit in the outside bath whilst the snow slowly fell around me. I also took the chance to open the pores by suffering the sauna for 30 minutes.

Holidaying in Japan seems to be a real lottery. Sometimes you end up really disappointed despite paying a high price whilst at other times you find a real gem for a quite reasonable amount of money. I would really recommend the New Shiobara Hotel, as despite the age of the hotel, money had obviously been spent to keep it in tip top shape. The highlight was certainly the large number of different onsen to bathe in.

It was also fun to walk around in the heavy snow and have a snowball fight with Clara. Work starts again tomorrow but the happy memories of the weekend will help we get through. I now need to book my holidays for February and March - once these are organised, I can look ahead to some more fun.