Beppu and Onsens

This morning we had a complimentary breakfast at the hotel restaurant, the same one that was responsible for the death of thousands of fish last night. Well, it was free, and besides, breakfast can't be all that bad, right? I mean, they have bakeries all over Japan.

To be fair, there was enough to almost satisfy us. Aside from the baked fish, miso soup so thick it was more like Bonito Paste, vegetables in a fish sauce, salad with some seafood in the dressing, crab croquettes and some unidentifiable stuff in a plastic cup, there were tiny omelets with what can only be described as nikuman filling (pork buns), tiny, mostly tasteless rolls, canned fruit salad(thankfully!) and a plain cabbage salad. Oh, and free Tang.

So, not starving, we headed out to the station to wave goodbye to Aoshima

Now THAT'S a train station

The four hour trip to Beppu was uneventful, other than some very quick transfers, and we found ourselves at our new digs for the next few days, Happy Neko! (Happy Kitty)

Nice topiary

She won't admit it, but she booked the room just because of the cat picture.

The place is amazingly cheap ($17/night per person), but you are renting a two room apartment, complete with refrigerator and washing machine! The owner, Bibo-san, is a younger guy from Czechoslovakia, and he spent about a half hour with us going over all the things to do in Beppu, where to eat, how to get to the sights, what the different onsens offer. It was wonderful, helpful and made our planning much easier.

Room 1: Kitchen, laundry and entry hall

Room 2: everything else

Small, but huge compared to a hotel room, and clean. This place, like many in Beppu, have no showers or baths. This is because Beppu is famous for its many hot springs (like, hundreds), and many residents just go to one of the local onsens for a ¥100 bath every night. Japanese tourists will just walk around all day in bathrobes, sampling the different onsens and what they offer. Some have special minerals in the water, some have mud baths, some have sand baths (you put on a robe they give you and are buries up to your neck in sand), and all have very hot water.

So, after hitting a nearby Italian restaurant:

All her fault. We go halfway around the world, she wants pizza.

And I wanted chocolate (and strawberries)

りんごクレープ(apple crepe). These were considered "Japanese Desserts"

we did some boring stuff, including food shopping for the next few days and laundry (the washing machines talk to you in Japan)

(she - the washing machine - said いらっしゃいませ - something shop owners say to greet customers)
and then got in our "pajamas" like the rest of the tourists, and walked over to a nearby onsen. At night, you can see steam rising from all the onsens. It looks like a bunch of smokestacks, but it's just water. Some of them have colored lights, some have special monuments:

The one we chose had special private outdoor baths that you could rent for a family or couple, rather than share with whoever else was bathing at the time. it was about twice as much, but worth it for us tonight. They are popular, though, so we had to wait about 30 minutes for one to open up (no reservations). While waiting in the common area of the onsen, you could try drinking from a special fountain

86C. The water sterilizes the cups, so they can be reused by anyone. Not sure how you are supposed to drink anything that hot.

or pray at the shrine out front

No Merry Christmas hats here

before finally getting into your bath

That just oozes relaxation, doesn't it?

We also had a steam bath in our area, though we couldn't sit in it for more than a few minutes. Too hard to breath. This particular onsen had water so hot (remember, 86C?), that you needed to mix cold water with the bath in order to be able to use it. We failed to do that at the beginning, and couldn't even stick our feet in it until we ran enough cold water in it. If you ever get the chance to try a hot spring bath, I urge you to do so. Quite possibly the most relaxing experience ever.

That was it for today. Tomorrow we visit Hell! Eight Hells, actually. Those are the ones recognized by the Japanese government. We even have a coupon for admission to Hell!