大満足のホテル白菊をチェックアウトして向かった先は、湯布院の立ち寄り湯でした。ネットでチェックして最も心惹かれたその場所は、「牧場の家」という温泉宿です。
広い敷地内に車を停めるとまず、整然と立ち並ぶ家族湯の施設に目を奪われます。一つ一つの建物は小屋と言っていいほど小さいものの、真新しい、清潔感あふれる佇まいです。案内に従って、受付のある母屋のような建物に入ると、そこには食事を提供する広い座敷があります。食事のサービスは宿泊客しか利用できないとのこと。食欲をそそる出汁の香りに包まれながら受付を済ませ、露天風呂へと向かいます。手入れのよく行き届いた庭園を楽しめる小道がまた気持ちいいです。「大露天風呂」と看板をかかげた建物のドアを開けて、中へと入りました。
We set off for a hot-spring which we could drop by in Yufuin after checking out the greatly satisfying hotel, Shiragiku. We googled and were interested in the place whose name was ‘Makiba no ie (A House in the meadow)’.
As I parked my car on its large property, I was intrigued by the private facilities designed for families, which stood in an orderly row. Each building was so small that I could call it a hut, but they looked brand-new, and clean. We followed signposts and entered the main house with the reception counter, which also had the large tatami dining room. I heard that only guests who stay at the hotel could use the dining room. We checked in while smelling the appetizing aroma coming from the kitchen, then set out for the open-air hot spring. It made me feel good to walk along the path in the well-kept grounds. We reached a building with a signboard, which read ‘A Large Open-air Hot Spring’, and opened the door to enter it.
理想の露天風呂です。広さ、ロケーション、岩と緑の配置、全てに満足できます。ラッキーなことに先客は無く、ゆったりとその大露天風呂を楽しむことができました。鍵付きのロッカー、給水機、シャンプーやボディソープ、ドライヤーなど、細かいところまで配慮が行き届いています。これなら立ち寄り客も安心して楽しめます。湯の温度はやや高めですが、竹筒から流れ出ている冷水の側だとずっと浸かっていられます。この「牧場の家」は立ち寄り湯で済ませるにはもったいないという気にさせる、一度は泊まりたい温泉宿でした。
It was an ideal open-air hot spring. The big size, location, fine arrangement of stones and plants, everything was satisfying. We were quite lucky because there were no other people so we leisurely enjoyed ourselves. The place was full of amenities for guests such as lockers, a water server, shampoo, body soap, hair dryers, and so on. Even someone like me who just drops in can enjoy easily. The heat of the water was rather high, but you could stay in it for a while if you take a place beside the bamboo tubes from which cold water was running. This place, Makiba no Ie, was a hot-spring hotel, which made me feel like staying there at least once.
「牧場の家」を出たのはちょうどお昼で、お腹が空いていました。次に向かった場所は、別府冷麺発祥のお店、「胡月」でした。湯布院と別府間は30分ほどの道のりです。到着するとお店の前には行列ができています。お店の駐車場は広いのですが、すでにほぼ満杯で、一台ぶんだけ空いていたスペースに停めることができました。列に並びましたが、お客の回転は速く、程なくして2階の座敷に上がることができました。注文したのは冷麺の並盛でした。届いたそれは、透明なスープにネギがたっぷりと散らされていて、極太の麺の上にキムチとチャーシューとゆで卵が乗っかっています。見るからに涼やかな、食欲をそそる佇まいです。酸味の少ないスープは、クセの無い、さわやかな味わいです。麺は驚くほど固く、噛み応え抜群です。特筆すべきは牛肉のチャーシューです。それ自体も美味しいのですが、スープやキムチとの相性がよく、さっぱりしていていくらでも食べたくなります。夢中で掻き込んで、スープも飲み干してしまいました。
次に向かった先はやまなみハイウェイの向こう側、熊本県の黒川温泉です。続きは次回で。
We left Makiba no Ie at noon, and we were hungry. The next place we headed for was Kogetsu, the noodle restaurant which was the originator of Beppu cold noodle. It was about a thirty-minute drive from Yufuin to Beppu. When we got to the restaurant, people already made a line in front of it. Even though the restaurant’s parking lot was quite large, it was almost full but we found a space so parked there. We joined the line, and soon took our seats upstairs because the customer turnover was quick enough. I ordered a regular portion of cold noodles. It was soon served and I saw it had a lot of chopped green onion scattered on the transparent soup, and what was on top of the noodle was kimchi, sliced grilled beef, and a piece of boiled egg. It looks refreshingly cool, and appetizing. The soup was not so sour and had a very mild, refreshing flavor. The noodles themselves were surprisingly hard and quite chewy. The grilled beef, in my opinion, deserved a special mention. It was not only very tasty, but also it went so well with the soup and the kimchi, plus it was not greasy at all so I couldn’t get enough of it. I was absorbed in eating it and finished it up to the last drop of the soup.
The next destination we set out for was Kurokawa hot spring in Kumamoto Prefecture, the other end of Yamanami Highway. To be continued.
turkeyrice.hateblo.jp
turkeyrice.hateblo.jp
