Yunohana Jozankeiden @ Sapporo

I have missed too many onsen experiences to make a pass on one in Hokkaido. They are usually situated far and away from the city – read at least an hour away. The most user friendly one in terms of accessibility was the Jozankei Hot Spring! With a flat fee of JPY 1800, we get two way transport and the onsen entrance fee. You get to pick any of the onsens along the way to drop off.

Hence we ended up at the last stop of the Jozankei stretch and with our limited knowledge of Japanese we all thought the onsen was near the bus stop.



Gorgeous.



Trudging through the snow. Imagine how long we were walking to make it through the sea of white.

Yunohana Jozankeiden was actually a mistake because we forgot which stop we wanted to alight. Then again, it proved to be a mistake well made, the powdery snow made it fun walking and we built our first snow babies!



First attempt!



At the entrance after a 10 minute walk at least!

I even prepped a bikini for the visit which is totally unnecessary because I would have stuck out like a sorer than sore thumb this way – I was already looking so embarrassed being in the presence of naked women and looking flustered did not help one bit. JPY 300 gets me towels and pjs to change into after soaking in the waters but a thrifty tip will be to grab them from the hotel and bring them there! The maindraw of the onsen was the outdoor one – seriously, the contrast of freezing cold air above and boiling hot water beneath is beyond description therapeutic. Watching snowflakes fall made me the happiest naked person on earth. Reflective it made me feel being so close to nature.

There was only one eatery upstairs and most adjourned there for a meal after a rejuvenating dip in the onsen.



Like a school camp.



Yes, buzzers are used even high up on the mountains.

Hana Set

Trust the chefs to come up with such a pretty bento set even in a place so far from town! Delicious one too – good to look at and eat.



Yet another that came with all things too pretty to look at.



Japanese fried rice so oishi! Their grains of rice are different to begin with, just the right balance of oil and a simple ingredient like nori can lift the flavour so much!



BFFs of udon and tempura, done so right once again.

 

Japanese salad with that dash of sesame dressing - yummy is way below an understatement. 
 

Fried Chicken Butts

Disgusting upon knowing what the fried fritters were. The soft bones were beyond chewing for me. GROSS!



More normal and usually eaten chicken yakitori.



Fried chicken too!

Irresistible grilled squid to end off the hearty meal.

Onsens seem to be only for the elderly, or at least only the elderly were there. We were all surprised by the standard of food offered at the onsen - the obaachan's are indeed seasoned cooks! Fret not, the dining coupons are there to help if language is a barrier.

The other tour bus which would could have gotten us an easier way out.

The horror of horrors happened on the way back as we missed the only bus on the way back, thankfully there were other city buses passing through (and that ended up as an hour long journey through the city) if not, it would have been a night spent at the onsen! Please take note of their departure times when planning your visit!

http://jozankei.jp/en/access/