Iya Onsen (祖谷温泉)

Category: Onsen

The Iya Hotel Onsen has some indoor tubs, but the main focus is some rotenburo, outdoor onsen, down by the rivers edge. There are two separate rotenburo, one for each gender.

While some have claimed to enjoy this destination, my own trip was noticably dissapointing. The ¥1,500 fee was rather high, and while the cable car ride down the steep hillside to the rivers edge was nice, the tub at the bottom was quite crowded. There were no showers to wash in, and there someone had hidden the wash buckets. People were just walking into the water (which does turn over fairly fast, thankfully), and the water had plenty of dirt, skin, and assorted gunk floating around in it. There was a slight sulfurous smell to the water, and the water itself seemed to leave your skin nice and soft.