Onsen Mania! Beppu and Dogo

Hey all,

Feeling all mellow here in Dogo, Matsuyama. We left Kyoto in high spirits and headed south to Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, Kyushu. Three super smooth trains got us there in under 4 hours. Laine has already been to Beppu and stayed at our very convenient hostel so the day was a breeze and map free! We dropped our bags and headed straight to a local onsen where you can get buried in hot volcanic sand for 10 to 15 minutes. Ahhh, ignore the feeling you are being buried alive and allow yourself to snooze in the hot sand bed. After you can use the sand to exfoliate as you wash off… Spa-rific!

All relaxed and rejuvenated we headed for the grocery store to pick up some dinner and came back with dinner + beer + shoes (for Laine, don’t ask). We ended up shooting the shit and drinking all night with a German couple and a Japanese man. I’m not entirely sure how this always seems to happen, but I think it isn’t my doing!

The next day we were feeling in dire need of an onsen, if ya know what I mean. So after a shoyu ramen and niniku chahan (ramen noodles with pork in soy broth and garlic egg-fried rice)breakfast we were rarin’ to go! To the hills!

Beppu’s rolling volcanic mountains puff billows of steam, giving away the location of natural hot springs. The problem is getting to them. The roads all start in one direction and wind and twist in another. But still the geysers beckon. We wandered and got lost and wandered some more. The high note is that we saw the REAL Beppu. We never did get to the source of the steam though.

We hopped on a bus and then tried to catch another one to the Suginoi Palace, home to the sexiest onsen I’ve ever seen. This place is five levels of cascading baths complete with a calcium pool cave, sauna and hot barrel baths. Bliss! Surely this makes up for the frustrating day and, ahem, hangover. Oh, and did I mention the view? No? How silly of me! The whole of Beppu was laid out in the light of the full moon and the city lights were shamed. The bay had a lone ship in the harbour and it was picture perfect. Too bad you can’t take photographs in onsens. Sorry! Just use your imagination. Check it out…

http://www.suginoi-hotel.com/english/facilities/spa.html

That perfect night had kink in it however and I left a bag on the bus and the bus driver took it home with him instead of leaving it at the station! It was only two damp onsen towels and my toileteries bag (Sorry Elise! I love that bag, alas, some Japanese housewife is now it’s owner!) We shook it off and went for dinner. Then sweet sweet slumber.

Early morning and we boarded a train to take us to Shikoku Island and the city of Matsuyama. Laine found an Octopus Jerky type snack and swears it was delicious. I just can’t have dried seafood in the morning, I don’t know about you. Smooth sailing ahead of us and soon we were crossing the big bridge that connects Honshu and Shikoku. It makes me want to cash in my chips and live on an island.

Anywho, the real reason most travellers come here is to visit Japan’s oldest onsen, over 3000 years old. Our main reason for coming was that Miyazaki fashioned his Onsen to the Gods in “Spirited Away” after the Dogo Onsen and we just had to see it. We did the cheapest option which is BYOT(owel) and BYOS(oap). The building is marvelously old and beautiful, the baths are small and not so awe-inspiring after the goliath in Beppu.

It might be worth going back and doing a more luxurious option, but I think we’ll pass. We’re too excited for Naoshima tomorrow and so we are here at the computers in our hostel and doing our laundry.

Hope you are all staying warm, each destination is getting a little cooler. We’ll be in touch soon with more pictures, we promise!

Keep on,
LAiNE & ERiN