Yamada Bessou Beppu

This charming village may be a highlight of the trip -　a touch of `old Japan` so elusive in the cities. Found another old ryokan where no one spoke English, but managed to get a room, and head straight to the onsen.

Decided to spend a second night -- in part to rest from ...

... the streets made me wonder if I hadnt somehow been here before.

From the three story pagoda we found our way to the Nogami Yaeko Memorial Museum. (Open year-round 9:30am to 5pm. Entrance 300yen for adults. Info 0972-63-4803). This museum celebrates the literary artist Nogami Yaeko. Her family was in the shochu industry. Kyushu, particularly Oita, is known for its mugi shochu (Japanese whisky) and we were invited into the brewery as we eyed over free samples of ...

... station for free for three hours which would give you enough time to do this, so staying in Nakatsu City isnt necessary if you are visiting there to do outdoor activities. There is a big shopping center near the station called YouMe Town (pronounced You-May Town)which could be somewhere to stock up on neccessities before going out of town.

From Nakatsu Station you can venture out to Yabakei Town which offers relaxing ...

... like a business and a new product. Basically you could have an amazing product to sell that you know will do well within its market but if you don’t promote it correctly it will fail to make an impression; well the same sort of principle can be applied to you. You could tick all the boxes and be the ideal candidate for a job but if you don’t come across well in the translation of your CV then you have no chance of ...

... in front of a bunch of Japanese men. Honestly, I struggle to use Urinals because I find them primitive and barbaric! Anyway, I found one of the biggest and famous in Beppu (Takawari or something like that). It also, had a sand bath! The lady pointed me to a change room. I soon realised I was the only guy there. They make you undress and put a special robe on. The robe is like a hospital robe and is completely undone at one side. You have to tie it up well ...

... jumping from pools of different temperatures into a sauna into a heated swimming pool outside), we headed to an izakaya for some simple food and alcohol, which makes a great chaser for the dehydrating experience of onsen (plus all I've had up to this point is chocolate, cookies and peanuts--the Babak skiing diet...) So I got a local specilaity of tori-ten (essentially fried chicken with a tempura batter), some tofu stuffed with pork, and some more shochu, and spent the ...

... on the big fellow yet. It's on my to-do list, really. He plays for the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix (say that 3 times real fast!) of the Basketball Japan League. Teammates often call him Ming Ming or Sun. When he dunks the ball, it feels as if the entire floor is shaking. He mostly lumbers down the floor, but has a soft shooting touch.

... The two men next to me were snoring away happily so I figured it would be OK to lie there a bit longer. Soon after I was asked to shake off the sand and shower off in the bathroom. There was much pointing and not wanting to take any signs for granted, I followed the men... nearly Offensive Item No 3; walking into the men's shower room! - Saved by the scooping lady I was re-directed to the ladies. I was told to take my towel with me, but in the shower room ...

... onsens and specialty baths. One after another, we bathed, and bathed some more. It was blissful. Sand baths, mud baths, steam baths, salt baths, sea water baths, baths in the middle of nowhere... the list just goes on and on. We just kept bathing, and bathing some more. Beppu has 9 different geothermal hot spots, which are referred to as the 9 hells. They have resort like attractions in each area and you can go in and take pictures ...

... hair for days! My newfound Swedish friends and I decided to visit several 'hells' on the 13th and so decided to get an early start and catch the first bus - we missed it. We caught the 2nd bus and were at 'umi-jigoku' (sea hell) by 8.45. Umi means ocean and the steaming water (78 degrees) of the jigoku is a lovely blue colour. After looking at the water for a few minutes and taking a few photos we moved onto a bubbling mud pond ...