Shibu Onsen, as the name suggests, is a traditional onsen town nestled in a valley in the Yamanouchi area of Japan. Rich in hot springs, historic buildings, small hidden shrines and cobblestone streets -- it’s the ultimate trip back in time.

Although our primary aim of this stop was to enjoy the town itself, Shibu Onsen also serves as the perfect access point for the famous Jigokudani Monkey Park or more commonly known as the Snow Monkey Park. It offers the unique experience of seeing wild monkey bathing in the hot spring water and is particularly photogenic during winter when the monkeys are keen to warm up. Since we visited in summer though, we missed out on this opportunity but being in the area meant it was still worth the visit. After the short hike to see the monkeys, we came back down and stopped over at a café at the foot of the park to enjoy some sushi, including a platter of vegetarian sushi, edamame, salad and green tea for me.

Shibu Onsen has nine public baths, each with different minerals to heal and protect from different ailments. We stayed in a traditional ryokan in the town called Kokuya. A ryokan is a type of traditional Japanese inn featuring tatami- matted rooms and gives you traditional yukata robes and wooden Japanese clogs or geta sandals to roam around the town as you explore. Making the way to the onsen in those loud wooden clogs is quite a funny sight. After our trip to the monkey park, we changed into this traditional attire and spent our afternoon onsen hopping and exploring the narrow lane-ways. Be mindful that these onsens are not fancy or big, instead they are all quite small and traditional, focussed on healing your body. If you’re staying in one of the hotels in the town like we did, then access to these onsens is free. Among the onsens, there is a free foot spa as well, perfect to relax your feet and soak in the atmosphere.

After some onsen hopping we went back to our ryokan for Kaiseki, a tradition multi-course Japanese dinner.  It’s the epitome of Japanese haute cuisine and serves delicate looking dishes made from quality seasonal ingredients and is regarded as a sophisticated culinary art requiring years of training, so it’s worth the indulgence. Kokuya, the ryokan we stayed in offers vegetarian Kaiseki dinner so it’s an opportunity not to miss for vegetarians visiting the area.

Post dinner, we soaked in the private onsen in our room before heading to sleep. Our morning breakfast was part of our stay and included the famous onsen eggs from the town. They are eggs slow cooked in hot spring water and feature a firm yolk but custardy, runny whites. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but I guess it was an experience.

Our one-night stop at Shibu Onsen was quite a healing and relaxing trip. Although it’s a trek to get to from Tokyo, the peaceful and calm atmosphere with barely anyone around makes up for the hard work. To be very frank, my taste-buds didn’t quite enjoy every single dish presented to me but I did love the experience and do not regret it.