Beppu
Boiling Hells abound!
Eric dropped us off so this was our first day along (just the five of
us) in Japan. After the hotel provided breakfast, we went to the
bus station and picked up a discount tourist pass. Our first
destination was the ropeway up to the one of the hills surrounding Beppu.
The Hells of Beppu
Beppu has several claims to fame - the
most impressive to me is the Jigoku - boiling hells. The Beppu
area has several near boiling hot springs that form coloured pools of
water. The hells are wrapped up as tourist attactions with gift
shops and grounds. I was not so thrilled with the developement,
but the geology of the hells was certainly impressive.
The Bathing Ritual
The next morning we got up to leave Beppu and I stumbled onto a
photographic opportunity. Our hotel has both showers in the room
and a group bath on the ground floor. The group bath (which is
common in Japan) was closed for cleaning every morning, but the cleaning
staff didn't mind if I slipped in and took a few photos. The
first photo shows the changing area - you take your clothes off and put
them in the baskets. You then move to the washing stations where
you sit on the little stools and throughly wash yourself. A bottle
of body soap and bottle of shampoo is provided.
Tags: Japan(9), bathing(4), hot spring(3), volcanism(3), steam(3), insect(1)
People: Andrea(1), John(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > Trips out of the Country > A Second Trip to Japan > Beppu
Last Modified Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 00:42:13 Edit
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