Funaoka onsen 船岡温泉
Spring of youth
Located near the Golden Pavilion, this discreet onsen offers all the facilities of its bigger counterparts, with the local touch as a plus!
A dark wooden entrance, small individual compartments to place your shoes and socks, and a lady in her eighties with smiling eyes, and deep wrinkles. She holds out your ticket to you with the gentleness, which is specific to elderly Japanese ladies, and then it's off to the steamy room in which you are going to conduct your ablutions... you have arrived at Funaoka baths and you are going to stay for a long time!
Several baths are available: one made of cypress wood - inhale the strong forest smell! A herb bath, a sulfur bath and another filled with minerals, as well as a sauna and an outdoor bath where you can sit on the rocks and enjoy the gentle lapping of the small reconstituted waterfall.
Nothing better than to dive into these miraculous waters after a day of walking. If there is a chill in the air or if you are in Kyoto in winter, the delights of the hot water will be tenfold. After a few hours at this establishment, you will certainly come out feeling sleepy and a little red-faced, but delighted to have unraveled one of the mysteries of the beauty and youth of the Japanese people!
