Roving Japan

Day 19 Photoset

Our last day in Kyushu and it was pouring rain! Our plan was to go to the hidden onsens up on the mountain behind the city, but since the weather was so bad we figured we should just enjoy the day by relaxing.

Then the great debate began.

Risa wanted to go to an onsen to relax. I was relaxing quite comfortably in the Hostel. Risa wanted to GO relax. I was relaxed right where I was. “But we are in Beppu, you have to go to Onsens.” says Risa. “Why do we HAVE to go to an Onsen?” I reply. “To relax!” answers Risa. “But I am relaxed right here.”

Back and forth it went, “Lets GO relax” “But I AM relaxed!”

Of course, I ended up losing, and we went to GO relax.

We didn’t want to go too far because of the weather, so we found a place that had great reviews for being an onsen and a restaurant. The deal is that for $12 you get to enjoy the onsen with views of the city and when you’re finished, you have lunch waiting for you. Sounds good right?

After a 20minute walk we got to the restaurant and found ourselves to be the only customers. The lady showed us the way to the onsens and told us that when we are finished we should call down and they will bring us our food. The onsen was interesting… it was milky blue water with a decent view of the city. But this onsen unfortunately wasn’t very clean. There were some bugs in the water, and there were no shower facilities. At the end of the soak, I actually felt dirtier than before. At least there was lunch included with the deal right? Risa was excited because this place is a restaurant first, and the onsen is bonus. So we were both very disappointed when they brought us two lunches in plastic boxes that looked like they were just purchased from the local convenience store. For $24 we got a so-so onsen and a crappy lunch. Lets just say, we weren’t very relaxed.

We complained to the lady as we left, and we learned that May – August they serve these little obento boxes instead of fresh food. Thanks for letting us know before hand! They even have the gall to charge the same price. If anyone stumbles upon this blog while looking for Ichinoide Kaikan in Beppu, be warned. Don’t bother going May – August. It’s overpriced convenience store food and a dirty onsen.

Now that lunch was over we needed a mood change so we went to GO relax… at the hostel.

We also bought a bunch of chocolate on the way back. Chocolate is always good for improving your mood.

Day 18 Photoset

Mt. Aso is a 2.5 hr drive from Yufuin, but the drive is very pretty and the time flys by. On our way we stopped at Yumeooturi bridge that is supposed to be pretty famous. Its a pedestrian suspension bridge that crosses a deep ravine. From the bridge you have a good view of a couple of famous waterfalls. Now, you may or may not known this about me, but heights kindda freak me out. I can handle rock climbing and roller coasters because I feel safe since I am strapped in… but I’m not very comfortable leaning over the side of the golden gate bridge, or in this case, a very narrow foot bridge crossing a deep ravine. The bridge has no vertical support structures, it is purely held up by suspension cables. It’s cool to look at, but I just wanted to get to the other side as fast as possible. The worst part was once you made it to the other side, you knew that you eventually had to cross the thing AGAIN to get back to the car! Risa is much stronger than me when it comes to this stuff. She was calmly walking across and taking lots of pictures. Thankfully we weren’t at the bridge too long, and we were soon back on the road and heading to Aso.

Mt. Aso is a very cool volcano. There is a deep pool of green liquid in at the top of the mountain that produces a toxic gas. We were lucky today because there was a nice breeze keeping the gas from floating over the observation area. Since there was no gas, we could walk all the way to the top and look down at the green water. The view of the Aso caldera is also quite impressive. It’s pretty cool to see the massive crater and how the caldera floor is now all farms and city.

On our way back from Aso, we stopped at the onsen resort town of Kurokawa. We didn’t have a lot of time there since we had to return the car, but we got to go into one onsen that is famous for the green water. So far this has been my favorite onsen. I like the onsens that feel like you’re out in the middle of nature. This onsen is surrounded by trees and a garden with little or no sign of modern civilization. As a bonus, I was the only one in the water!

We are now back in Beppu. Tomorrow is our last day, then we head to Shikoku!

Day 17 Photoset

Today we checked out of our hostel in Beppu and took a bus to the small resort town of Yufuin. When searching for hotels, Risa narrowed our options down to two places. One was a converted house turned b&b, and the other was a real hotel with an onsen. The hotel was only $3 more, so we went with that one. Good thing we did, because when we arrived, we learned that we were the only people staying there! That meant that we got the hotel onsen all to ourselves!

We spent the afternoon at the most famous onsen in the city, and one of the top 20 onsens in Japan, Musouen Onsen. For an incredibly low price of $7, we got a private outdoor onsen with a great view of Yufu mountain. We also could go to the much larger separated onsens. The womens onsen is 150jou, the mens is 100jou. (1 Jou is the size of a tatami mat) Musouen is fantastic. Clean, cheap, huge, great views, and they provide soap!

Yufuin is a resort town that mainly caters to older crowds. The result is that all the shops close their doors at 5:30. This bummed me out because I really wanted to get a Yufu burger for dinner, but even the restaurants are closed at 5:30! Don’t these people eat?

Tomorrow we are renting a car and taking a day trip to Mt Aso! All the guide books say to go with the JR rental car place by the train station, but we found a much better deal with the Budget rental car place. If you’re ever in Yufuin, rent a car from Budget! You get the car for 2 hours longer and for a cheaper price!