Rain arrived as forecast and stuck around for most of the day. I wasn’t complaining, after very broken sleep for two and a half weeks, and the heat – I was in desperate need of a rest. Orlaith wasn’t – off on the bike somewhere to hike up a mountain. We returned to the visitor centre and spent some time in the upstairs cafe looking out over a beautiful forest. Lovely lunch down the street at a place run by an elderly couple (we would eventually learn to seek these out for the care shown in and the authenticity, tastiness of the food).

A long nap was high on my agenda early afternoon as the rain continued to fall. Once it stopped raining, bike cleaning and maintenance. The click from my bottom bracket had returned over the last week, so I had another go at fixing that – but the slight noise returned in another few days. Thankfully it was only mildly irritating rather than mechanically significant.

Remainder of the day spent soaking in the onsen, wandering the small thermal areas around town, a drink at a local bar with a curious gallery in the attic before dinner at an izakaya. Altogether a pleasant low-key day. Little did I know that it would be a month before the next rest day – far too long, both at the time and especially in hindsight. A few snaps from about town:

Numerous onsen and places we stayed had large bookcases filled with graphic novels and other printed materials. Not much use to us, but pretty cool to see.

Despite the rain, it was still hot – so a iced tea in the air conditioned visitor centre overlooking forest was the ticket.

First public foot spa we’d seen – pleasingly, not uncommon on rest of the trip.

Venison for lunch for me (certainly enough deer around), Rachel had oyudon (a chicken and egg, or is that egg and chicken, dish) – which she was still salivating over weeks later.

Fairly typical izakaya. Some seats at the bar, some tables with cushions for sitting on at a raised platform.