Beppu!

This weekend I went to Beppu with Alex. Beppu is on the main south island called Kyushu. It has alot of hot springs and therefore is a bath house town! We stayed in the Khaosan hostel, which was really nice! It had a big rocky bath and free internet and clean bunks etc... it was very comfortable!
Alex and I got there Friday night and then Saturday had a really full day of bathing! I had 3 baths!
We caught a bus to an onsen area around 20 mins from the center of Beppu. On the way we found a really strange statue. It is of a man that is kind of leaping forward... and the statue sign says that he is called Shiny Unkle and that he loved children. It was very strange and connoted alot of weird suggestive ideas.

Anyway Alex and I spent the first part of the morning pretty lost... walking around the hills through the suburbs with steam rising out of drains from the hot springs. Finally we found our way and definately needed a bath! The first onsen we went to was called Hyotan. It was fantastic! I think I spent over half an hour trying all of the different baths... and my bathing etiquette is much better now so it wasnt stressful at all! The first bath I tried had these water jets pouring down and you could stand under them or sit under them to massage your back! They water was very powerful but I got a good back massage. There was also a wooden bath and a pebble bath and another one with all of these rocky pools and one with a religious statue etc... there was also a sauna but I didnt use it... I loved the open air out door bath - it had a waterfall.
After our baths Alex and I met back again for lunch and had tasty chicken tempura, miso soup, tofu, rice, pickles, etc etc which were all specially prepared with hot spring water like hot spring steamed etc... We had a little nap on the tatami nap... everyone seemed to be doing this after lunch...
We had another bath at Hyotan after lunch! and then went on an adventure up the mountains and went to one of the Jigoku (hells) which are some hot springs that are for viewing but not bathing... I think you would cook yourself. There was a massive one that was cobalt blue (something to do with the sea) and a red muddy one that was bubbling away. They were pretty impressive. Alex and I had a foot bath there aswell. There were some really beautiful red gates... and they were open... something about letting the spirits and god flow through. I think what I understood from the conversation tonight was that it was god... and similar to Miyajima Island etc...
After that Alex and I had one more bath at a little public bath house and it was free... some little old ladies talked to me and I didnt understand. One guestured to me as I was putting my jeans on and laughed... Im not sure why... maybe telling me they were tight or something lol
The bath houses were very relaxing and I was soo tired after the day!
ALex and I shared a carton or two of plum wine at the beach after dinner... plum wine is so sweet and nice! but today I am suffering the consequences! Plus I was given some home made plum wine today as a gift!!! ahh! hehe




Alex and I went to a really big old bath house in the morning before heading home! It was wooden and very tradditional looking... the bath was fairly small... but SUPER HOT!!! omg... Alex said that he couldnt even get in the bath! I had to ease my way in and I was bright red... like a cooked crab... !! I kept my arms out though... it was so hot if you moved a little bit... So I didnt stay in there TOO long... incase I might cook all of my innards...