Sansuien — Local services in Nabari

After spending the whole day in Nara, worn out by temple visiting (and we diligently visited many) and by thousands of people, we arrived at Akameguchi station in the dark. Without knowing a word of Japanese I started a chain reaction of unbelievable hospitality and friendliness when i called the Sansuien Ryokan from the train station public telephone. Within minutes my 2 year old daughter and myself as well as our backpack were safely tucked into a car and driven to this gem of a ryokan. When the taxi door opened again three japanese bowing ladies were guiding to our "river house" and again minutes later we were already sitting in the wonderful onsen, marvelling at our luck to be here. We stayed 2 nights and so the next morning we were driven to the start of the 48 waterfalls walk, which we followed for about 3.3km until the gankutsu taki fall. For all the parents out there, my daughter walked the whole way up and i carried her down in an ergobaby carrier without any problems. ||In the evening the food was prepared in our room and while we were ushered into a private family bath our futon were prepared. We fell asleep to the murmuring sound...

After spending the whole day in Nara, worn out by temple visiting (and we diligently visited many) and by thousands of people, we arrived at Akameguchi station in the dark. Without knowing a word of Japanese I started a chain reaction of unbelievable hospitality and friendliness when i called the Sansuien Ryokan from the train station public telephone. Within minutes my 2 year old daughter and myself as well as our backpack were safely tucked into a car and driven to this gem of a ryokan. When the taxi door opened again three japanese bowing ladies were guiding to our "river house" and again minutes later we were already sitting in the wonderful onsen, marvelling at our luck to be here. We stayed 2 nights and so the next morning we were driven to the start of the 48 waterfalls walk, which we followed for about 3.3km until the gankutsu taki fall. For all the parents out there, my daughter walked the whole way up and i carried her down in an ergobaby carrier without any problems. ||In the evening the food was prepared in our room and while we were ushered into a private family bath our futon were prepared. We fell asleep to the murmuring sound...

This review is for the day use onsen only, as I didn't stay overnight or go to the restaurant. Buy a ticket from the front desk (located in the building across the little red bridge) then go back outside and straight ahead to the baths.

There are two sets of indoor/outdoor onsen sides that rotate between men and women. I think I went on a day where women had the larger outdoor bath and it was great.

Side note to those without a car: This place is an easy walk from a nearby bus stop which connects to the station, but be aware that the bus stops running very early and if you were planning to walk back to the station it is DARK with no sidewalks. Next time I'll...