Relaxing in Hoshinoya

In the Garden for morning Yoga 

Breakfast being delivered in the room

Breakfast served in the Tatami Room

Boat propelled by pole

The Canyons the river carved 

Aboard the Romance Train

Bamboo Forest

Worker bowing as our boat approaches Hoshinoya

Dinner in our Room

Salad 

Beef with Rice

 In the morning, we went to an outdoor yoga class in the “Hidden Garden” here at Hoshinoya. It was nice to do yoga outside, and the instructor showed us some different breathing exercises than we usually do, I will incorporate them into my practice.

We returned to our room for breakfast. I was amazed that after last night’s dinner we could eat breakfast. But somehow, we managed. This is a meditative experience, so we knew we wouldn’t be running around shopping and sightseeing.

The one thing we did do was take the “Romantic Train” ride. Hoshinoya sits on the side of the Katsuragawa River. The river is very wild with lots of rapids. It meanders through tree and bamboo covered mountains rising steeply from the water. There is a short train ride that parallels the river. The cars are quite old with wooden benches. It offers great views of the mountains, water, rapids and the many white river rafters negotiating the turbulent waters. We took the private launch of the Inn. They dropped us off at the main dock where a taxi was waiting for us to take us to the train station. The train ride was enjoyable, the views magnificent and everyone seemed happy, if not romantic.

We returned the way we went, Train back to the station, taxi to the dock, boat to Hoshinoya. As usual, staff met us at the dock where they did the traditional Japanese bow as we approached.

We had arranged for long massages upon our return to the Inn. They were traditional Shiatsu style, no oil, just pressure. They were excellent.

We decided on a simple dinner in our room of Salad followed by Beef with Rice. We still had some of the leftover cheese cake that Shima had given us for dessert. We started with a Sake then moved on to a great white wine with dinner finishing with cognac. Netflix streams well in Japan. HBO / Showtime doesn’t (or at least I couldn’t make it work). We remained in our room and streamed the new movie “The Meyerowitz Stories” then we watched the next episode of Narcos. Some reading followed by sleep. Tomorrow our restful time ends as we leave Hoshinoya and take a taxi into our favorite town: Kyoto.