Onsen wonderland

Japan is a very geologically active country. This leads to frequent earthquakes, there are quite a few active volcanos, tornados occur quite often in the South, etc. But Japan has included a part of this natural conditions in its culture through the omnipresent onsen.

An onsen is a hot spring and they are found all over Japan. Going to an onsen is considered a perfect way to relax and the Japanese people like to spend their (scarce) holidays in places with onsens.

One of the most famous onsen towns in Japan is Beppu, in Northern Kyushu. It features eight areas with considerable geothermic activity and each has several onsen baths.

We went to the mud bath which is quite special for Beppu. The regular mineral water onsens are found everywhere, but the mud onsen is quite unique to Beppu. When you enter the onsen you receive a small bath towel. You then undress and wash yourself thoroughly first. The Hoyaland onsen featured a regular mineral water, female only bath first. The water is quite hot, but comparable to a freshly prepared bath at home. Next to it was the mixed mud bath. The ground is all muddy and you dig for the mud and put it all over yourself. It is supposed to have a cleansing effect and be really healthy. In any case it was a lot of fun to play around in the mud and become a mud statue.

There was a small Hammam as well with a very, very hot sauna area and a cool water tank.

After Beppu I travelled to Ibusuki in the South of Kyushu. It's famous for it's sand bath. You wear a yukata, lie down on the sand and you are then dug into the hot sand and lie there for about ten minutes. It's a strange feeling and certainly not for the claustrophobic. You feel your pulse in every area of your body, from your toes up to the neck. After the sand bath you go to the regular hot water onsen to relax.

In Ibusuki I stayed at a very small youth hostel. The owner and her son were totally making fun of me when they saw my huge luggage. They were laughing out loud and the son asked me how I ever wanted to get through the weight check at the airport with that. I was like: wait - aren't you Japanese and supposed to be really polite and diplomatic?! It's funny how people can surprise you again and again because you have certain images in mind. They hold true sometimes, but certainly the Japanese are not as uniform as the West would like to think. There are some Japanese traits that come through sometimes (see the Aso post), but you see a lot of variety and only when you start understanding the language you realize that more.