Why are you here?

Beppu has some of the best hot springs in Japan, but no one ever comes here!

That’s what my friend told me an old man told him as they were on the open air hot spring on the roof of the hotel in Beppu. That just about summarizes our experience in that town.

We left Osaka pretty early. We were on the train really promptly and made our connection. Within hours we were in on the big southern island of Kyushu, and in the resort town of Beppu. DWhen we walked out of the train station there was a table being set up where they were giving out bottles of water and bamboo water guns. I still haven’t tried mine out, but I’m sure it’ll work just nicely. One of the others didn’t want theirs so I took it. I plan on giving it to someone–just don’t know who.

Our first intent for the town was to go and check out the Hells. The Hells are super hot springs that are too hot for bathing. They have these differing physical properties between each one though. Anyway, we got a bus pass from the tourist office and started the windy trek there. Seems like the other two weren’t way too keen on seeing them and really only wanted to see the best of the bunch. Admission to each individual one was only ¥400. In the end though we got a pass for ¥2000 to see all 8. Now, let me say some of them are entirely beautiful. The Umi-Jigoku (I think it was Umi) has steam coming out of vents all over the place. The spring was this beautiful shade of opal blue. That one was worth admission. Some were sort of interesting like the Oniishibozu-Jigoku head one. The springs seemed to have this muddy mineral quality to them. As stuff bubbled up from underneath it looks like some shaved heads are bobbing up from underneath. Almost all of them are picturesque, but some are just kind of boring. Some of them are way too tourist-trap-like and that quality really irked me. To be honest, I question whether paying $20 was worth it. Regardless, I’m alright with having seen the 8. Would I recommend seeing them? Eh…well…some of them. Some of the souvenir shops were selling fans that said in Japanese: “Everyday is hell.” I kind of regret not getting one.

After the Hells we headed back to the hotel and claimed our rooms. We decided to request the Japanese style rooms with low tables, tatami mats, futons on the floor, and paper screens. The door to the room from the hotel hallway is normal–the paper screens separate the inside parts. I’ve never stayed in a Japanese style room before so this was new to me. It was awesome. Though, to be honest, in retrospect I’d probably have enjoyed a Western style room better. Even so, this experience was valuable, you know? I will say though–thank God the room had a Western style toilet and not a squatter. Whoo! The view from the room was interesting. He had a west-facing room with a view of the ocean, the Kyushu hillsides and parts of the city.

After relaxing for a while at the hotel we headed for the Takegawara Onsen. This public bath seemed really old, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s actually one of the oldest in the city. They’re well known for having this hot sand bath. Basically, after stripping down and putting on a yukata, you lie in a sand pit and some old ladies bury you in the hot sand. As they started to bury me, my immediate first thought was about just how heavy the sand was. Yes, it’s an obvious thought now, but back then you don’t expect to have that much weight on you. As well, damn they weren’t kidding about the sand being hot. The old ladies frequently came by and wiped my forehead down because I was dripping sweat like mad. Atsui desu ne? “It’s hot isn’t it?” All I could do was agree with a long “eeeeeee.” I ended up getting a lot of the attention because of my overactive glands. The sand bath is 10 minutes long, but by the last minute or two I started to think that 10 minutes would never end. I started to feel a bit of mild panic. My thoughts started going crazy. “It’s too hot! I’m going to pass out!” My toes wriggled free for some air. Soon enough though, the ten minutes was up and we were asked to get up. God, that was fun. I washed the sand off and got dressed. We hung out in the main area for a while just cooling off and getting fluids back into our body. It was nice and relaxing.

We had dinner at an izakaya in a covered shopping arcade. The menu was completely in Japanese and heavy with kanji so we relied on my friend to order. There were some surprises. Onion rice? It was just sliced fried onion–no rice. I would gather that tomato rice is actually sliced tomato. He also ordered fried fugu. We were expecting some fried slice or something. When they came in though it seemed like they fried whole fugu. You could still see the face and everything. They obviously removed the poisonous part, but still, how creepy! Being an ocean town, the sashimi was nice and fresh. It was all fun.

Actually, next to our table was a bunch of Japanese university students and what seemed to be their coach. They were celebrating. My friend was watching them egg on this one guy in their group to chug a beer. They noticed him watching, at which point he encouraged the dude to drink up. When they found out that he could speak Japanese they started trying out their non-existent English skills on him. Hilarity ensued.

That was basically my Beppu experience. It was a pretty light day, all things considered. I can say I’ve been to hell!