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Aso and Kurokawa Onsen
I'm now sitting in a youth hostel near Kurokawa onsen area, eating the little sweet potato buns that are supposed to be omake but which I bought as a snack for tonight since hostels have ridiculously early curfews (10 o'clock in this case) even though we're on top of a mountain and there's nothing to do out here. It's also -10 degrees C outside. I don't intend to find out how cold that is in farenheit until I get home, for my own peace of mind (wah, 14 degrees?!). I paid for my own room so I'm huddled in front of the gas heater typing. I'm sure it will be warm enough for me to sleep in a few hours. *knock on wood, or tatami in this case*
I awakened and wandered around taking pictures of the pretty pension I was at (Minami Aso Takamori - Pension Cottage Club) in the snow. I discovered I had a view of one of the craters around Aso out my window and that everything was pictoresque and gorgeous. It was still snowing but there was only about a centimetre more of the stuff on the ground. I had a filling breakfast which was mostly Japanese except for the cheese omelette. I also drank far too much oolong tea. Another couple - an Australian and his Japanese girlfriend - invited me over to their table to talk and we chatted on for awhile. Outside, one of those little bamboo fountains with a ladle in it had actually frozen over. It was pretty neat to see it. I lingered for awhile then checked out. The owner was quite worried for me and convinced me to try an easier way around the mountain and to check if the road to the crater was open before I tried to drive up it... which would have been slightly easier had they said anything in Japanese I could understand on the sign (I could read "This way 'chuun' something" whatever that means). I decided to go up anyway since cars were coming down (the side roads near the pension were actually quite dangerous since they still had layers of snow packed on them. See? (and isn't that a cool pic *g*)). I found it was actually not too bad. There was some snow still on the roads in places but it was mostly clear and better than the roads around the pension. And since no one was on it, I stopped frequently to take pics out my windows. After a long and winding climb through snow covered hills in which the words to Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" wouldn't stop running through my head - I arrived at the cable car station you could take up to Aso crater.
I did so where of course, it went from "fucking freezing" to "piss freezing" level. Luckily, the edge of the crater wasn't all that far away. I headed over to cough on the poisoness gases and stare down at the roiling cloud of steam that was a volcanic crater. It's apparently 4000m across. I could see a sort of turquoise blue at the bottom at one point. I took pics and had my pic taken and took Sauron's pic which took less then ten minutes then gave up and headed back inside where I bought a hot drink from a vending machine to warm my hands and waited for the next cable car down (it was a cool trip though I could see how it might disconcert someone afraid of heights or of a nervous disposition considering how often the car jerked around...). I befriended two young women from Britain on holiday (today was my day for chatting with random foreigners) and we chatted and took print club pictures together (they had a print just for Mount Aso). I debated having lunch up there then decided against it and took the road down the other side of the mountain. This road was clearer of snow but much scarier cause they kinda missed putting in railings in places and it was very windy. I did get a fantastic view of Aso crater in the snow.
Once I reached the valley, I headed towards Kurokawa onsen area. I stopped for a quick lunch of a meat bun and a sweet, then stopped in at a small onsen in Uchinomaki, partially because I wanted to go to at least one onsen around Aso, and partially because I was still half frozen and needed to warm up. For a 300 yen onsen it was actually quite nice with a good indoor pool stained red with iron and smelling of sulfur like most onsen around here. The outdoor pool was kinda cool since it had a tunnel leading to the mens side if not for a gate, but it was so cold out that the water felt only lukewarm. Nicely warmed up, I headed for Kurokawa which I found with little difficulty, but I couldn't find information where you buy your pass for three onsen of your choice so I headed further down the road to the hostel to check in (I gave up on the idea of staying at a ryokan since it would be too much trouble) which turned out to be a good choice since the hostel guy explained the system to me (and where info was) and recommended several good onsen to me. I unfolded my bedding, made a note to myself to come back early enough to turn on the heater and headed back to Kurokawa. There, I parked in the right place and bought my pass, which turns out to be this totally cool medallion of wood with the onsen area branded on one side and three little onsen stickers on the other which the onsens all peeled off one by one and then stamped their own special stamp on the wooden medallion. It had a date as well, making it a pretty cool souveneir.
Kurokawa incidently is this pretty little town full of winding paths and packed to the gills with ryokan. The Kurokawa river winds through it and not a single 7-11 or pachinko parlor is in sight. Two of the onsens I was told to visit were closed (which left two more I wanted to visit and one freebie) so I headed on a long, cold walk to Kurokawa onsen (the area is called Kurokawa which means black river, and there's a ryokan and bath of the same name). It was a pretty tradional place with a huge indoor pool and a huge outdoor pool surrounded by rocks and with a plunging, hot waterfall. I quite liked it, but the water was too damn hot. Despite the fact that it was freezing outside, you found yourself perched on a rock, barely submerged and splashing water on yourself. I'm used to spending a lot of time in onsens, but I barely made it past the thirty minute mark at this one. The water was a pretty turquoise at least. Verdict - pretty, but too hot.
My second onsen was Shinmeikan which is famous for its caves. They looked part natural and part man made - either that or all man made, but basically the water was flowing around several small caves in the side of the cliff. The woman's side was a small circle and was kinda cool to wander around but that got old quickly. As I told the next set of foreigners I befriended, I felt like I should be doing laps. There weren't really any places to sit either though I think it was worth the visit just for the sheer novelty of being in an onsen that's in a cave. On the amusing side, there was a window so that the women could peep on the men's side! I got an eyeful before I realized where the window led too *L* Apparently, it was too high up on the men's side for them to peep in return... It was beautiful on the outside too.
I headed outside and stared towards the mixed side wondering if I should risk it (cause when else would I get the chance?). There would be no yukata this time of course, just starkers in front of a bunch of Japanese guys (since that is generally what happens in mixed baths since the women are too chicken to go). There was another two foreigners there, two JETs from New Zealand and Britain respectively. The woman wanted to go into the mixed too but mentioned she didn't want to do it on her own. I suggested we do it together since I would prefer the company - so we did. It was kinda funny actually cause the Japanese men all immediately got shy and started covering themselves. I'm pretty sure they were scared. We sunk into the bath and chatted away (this one was a nice temperature and the mixed bath had more lounging space) which was a nice and relaxing. (I was covering myself with a small towel when I got in and out for those wondering.) Having conquered the mixed bath, I felt pretty confident as I wandered the town looking for someplace to eat dinner. I found a nice little restaurant and ordered kinoko don which is kinda like a mushroom and egg omelette on top of rice in a bowl. I finished 'Charmed Life' in the Chrestomanci series and wasn't really all that impressed by it, possibly because I wasn't all that enthused by Cat and his inability to talk to adults (or the adults inability to talk to him for that matter). I grow more and more to dislike children's book plots that hinge on not asking adults for help or telling them things. Sometimes it works, but a lot of the time it's just lazy writing. Rant over.
My final onsen of the night was up in the woods about a km above the other onsen - Yamamizunoki. This turned out to be an excellent choice not the least of which because everyone in the onsen was eating dinner so I had the place to myself. It was like those onsen you see in anime. Complete with rocks all over, rising mist and a little shed to shelter under and chat. It was so cold by that point that the waterfall of hot water was actually a fall of steam. The water was actually too hot in places but it was more bearable than Kurokawa onsen. The pools were beside a rushing mountain stream (which I assume becomes the kurokawa river) and it was just fun to relax and revel in having an entire onsen to myself *L* I took a very cold path along the river to a second pool, nearly killing myself in the process since it had iced over (that's how cold it was...) but it wasn't as much fun and while the waterfall/showers looked fun they were too hot for me to approach. So I went back to my little pool (I couldnt' be bothered to try the mixed bath since it would have involved getting dressed and undressing yet again which I was getting kinda sick of). It was probably my favourite onsen of the day actually but it may have been the special circumstances of having it as my own private onsen *grin*
I'm going to watch Hogfather part 2 now and I'm debating whether to go back and do another three onsen tomorrow before I head to Beppu, or if that would be overkill... Ja ne!
I awakened and wandered around taking pictures of the pretty pension I was at (Minami Aso Takamori - Pension Cottage Club) in the snow. I discovered I had a view of one of the craters around Aso out my window and that everything was pictoresque and gorgeous. It was still snowing but there was only about a centimetre more of the stuff on the ground. I had a filling breakfast which was mostly Japanese except for the cheese omelette. I also drank far too much oolong tea. Another couple - an Australian and his Japanese girlfriend - invited me over to their table to talk and we chatted on for awhile. Outside, one of those little bamboo fountains with a ladle in it had actually frozen over. It was pretty neat to see it. I lingered for awhile then checked out. The owner was quite worried for me and convinced me to try an easier way around the mountain and to check if the road to the crater was open before I tried to drive up it... which would have been slightly easier had they said anything in Japanese I could understand on the sign (I could read "This way 'chuun' something" whatever that means). I decided to go up anyway since cars were coming down (the side roads near the pension were actually quite dangerous since they still had layers of snow packed on them. See? (and isn't that a cool pic *g*)). I found it was actually not too bad. There was some snow still on the roads in places but it was mostly clear and better than the roads around the pension. And since no one was on it, I stopped frequently to take pics out my windows. After a long and winding climb through snow covered hills in which the words to Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" wouldn't stop running through my head - I arrived at the cable car station you could take up to Aso crater.
I did so where of course, it went from "fucking freezing" to "piss freezing" level. Luckily, the edge of the crater wasn't all that far away. I headed over to cough on the poisoness gases and stare down at the roiling cloud of steam that was a volcanic crater. It's apparently 4000m across. I could see a sort of turquoise blue at the bottom at one point. I took pics and had my pic taken and took Sauron's pic which took less then ten minutes then gave up and headed back inside where I bought a hot drink from a vending machine to warm my hands and waited for the next cable car down (it was a cool trip though I could see how it might disconcert someone afraid of heights or of a nervous disposition considering how often the car jerked around...). I befriended two young women from Britain on holiday (today was my day for chatting with random foreigners) and we chatted and took print club pictures together (they had a print just for Mount Aso). I debated having lunch up there then decided against it and took the road down the other side of the mountain. This road was clearer of snow but much scarier cause they kinda missed putting in railings in places and it was very windy. I did get a fantastic view of Aso crater in the snow.
Once I reached the valley, I headed towards Kurokawa onsen area. I stopped for a quick lunch of a meat bun and a sweet, then stopped in at a small onsen in Uchinomaki, partially because I wanted to go to at least one onsen around Aso, and partially because I was still half frozen and needed to warm up. For a 300 yen onsen it was actually quite nice with a good indoor pool stained red with iron and smelling of sulfur like most onsen around here. The outdoor pool was kinda cool since it had a tunnel leading to the mens side if not for a gate, but it was so cold out that the water felt only lukewarm. Nicely warmed up, I headed for Kurokawa which I found with little difficulty, but I couldn't find information where you buy your pass for three onsen of your choice so I headed further down the road to the hostel to check in (I gave up on the idea of staying at a ryokan since it would be too much trouble) which turned out to be a good choice since the hostel guy explained the system to me (and where info was) and recommended several good onsen to me. I unfolded my bedding, made a note to myself to come back early enough to turn on the heater and headed back to Kurokawa. There, I parked in the right place and bought my pass, which turns out to be this totally cool medallion of wood with the onsen area branded on one side and three little onsen stickers on the other which the onsens all peeled off one by one and then stamped their own special stamp on the wooden medallion. It had a date as well, making it a pretty cool souveneir.
Kurokawa incidently is this pretty little town full of winding paths and packed to the gills with ryokan. The Kurokawa river winds through it and not a single 7-11 or pachinko parlor is in sight. Two of the onsens I was told to visit were closed (which left two more I wanted to visit and one freebie) so I headed on a long, cold walk to Kurokawa onsen (the area is called Kurokawa which means black river, and there's a ryokan and bath of the same name). It was a pretty tradional place with a huge indoor pool and a huge outdoor pool surrounded by rocks and with a plunging, hot waterfall. I quite liked it, but the water was too damn hot. Despite the fact that it was freezing outside, you found yourself perched on a rock, barely submerged and splashing water on yourself. I'm used to spending a lot of time in onsens, but I barely made it past the thirty minute mark at this one. The water was a pretty turquoise at least. Verdict - pretty, but too hot.
My second onsen was Shinmeikan which is famous for its caves. They looked part natural and part man made - either that or all man made, but basically the water was flowing around several small caves in the side of the cliff. The woman's side was a small circle and was kinda cool to wander around but that got old quickly. As I told the next set of foreigners I befriended, I felt like I should be doing laps. There weren't really any places to sit either though I think it was worth the visit just for the sheer novelty of being in an onsen that's in a cave. On the amusing side, there was a window so that the women could peep on the men's side! I got an eyeful before I realized where the window led too *L* Apparently, it was too high up on the men's side for them to peep in return... It was beautiful on the outside too.
I headed outside and stared towards the mixed side wondering if I should risk it (cause when else would I get the chance?). There would be no yukata this time of course, just starkers in front of a bunch of Japanese guys (since that is generally what happens in mixed baths since the women are too chicken to go). There was another two foreigners there, two JETs from New Zealand and Britain respectively. The woman wanted to go into the mixed too but mentioned she didn't want to do it on her own. I suggested we do it together since I would prefer the company - so we did. It was kinda funny actually cause the Japanese men all immediately got shy and started covering themselves. I'm pretty sure they were scared. We sunk into the bath and chatted away (this one was a nice temperature and the mixed bath had more lounging space) which was a nice and relaxing. (I was covering myself with a small towel when I got in and out for those wondering.) Having conquered the mixed bath, I felt pretty confident as I wandered the town looking for someplace to eat dinner. I found a nice little restaurant and ordered kinoko don which is kinda like a mushroom and egg omelette on top of rice in a bowl. I finished 'Charmed Life' in the Chrestomanci series and wasn't really all that impressed by it, possibly because I wasn't all that enthused by Cat and his inability to talk to adults (or the adults inability to talk to him for that matter). I grow more and more to dislike children's book plots that hinge on not asking adults for help or telling them things. Sometimes it works, but a lot of the time it's just lazy writing. Rant over.
My final onsen of the night was up in the woods about a km above the other onsen - Yamamizunoki. This turned out to be an excellent choice not the least of which because everyone in the onsen was eating dinner so I had the place to myself. It was like those onsen you see in anime. Complete with rocks all over, rising mist and a little shed to shelter under and chat. It was so cold by that point that the waterfall of hot water was actually a fall of steam. The water was actually too hot in places but it was more bearable than Kurokawa onsen. The pools were beside a rushing mountain stream (which I assume becomes the kurokawa river) and it was just fun to relax and revel in having an entire onsen to myself *L* I took a very cold path along the river to a second pool, nearly killing myself in the process since it had iced over (that's how cold it was...) but it wasn't as much fun and while the waterfall/showers looked fun they were too hot for me to approach. So I went back to my little pool (I couldnt' be bothered to try the mixed bath since it would have involved getting dressed and undressing yet again which I was getting kinda sick of). It was probably my favourite onsen of the day actually but it may have been the special circumstances of having it as my own private onsen *grin*
I'm going to watch Hogfather part 2 now and I'm debating whether to go back and do another three onsen tomorrow before I head to Beppu, or if that would be overkill... Ja ne!