Ivar A
Google
We stayed 3 nights, and loved it. The YH is attached to a temple. The priest and his wife are the wardens. They are kind and helpful, with the few words we share. They fetch you in the afternoon (17-18), and bring you to the station in the morning (7-8). The food is good, typical Japanese. You sleep in tatami rooms for 4 or 8 pax. The hostel is 12 min drive from the station (5 km), high up the mountain slope. You can walk on the small roads among hamlets, bamboo grooves and fields. They have a beautiful peony garden within 400 peonies that just started blooming. We made a day trip to Iya Valley. Taxi 2580 yrn from Oboke. Very recommendable. And a very rewarding day trip to the shinto shrine in Kotohira (come early, with the devotees, before the schools arrive, and climb to the top shrine, where shrine and nature merge). The 3rd day we just walked around.||This is the most vibrant Lodging during our 4 w stay in Japan.
