Since we ran out of rides on our 18kippu ticket, we opted for the cheapest medium to return to Tokyo, which was, surprising, by air. Tokyo-bound flights from Oita were actually cheaper than shinkansen tickets–something to look out for! Flight Information:
Airline: JetStar
Price: ~¥9800/economy class
Departure Time: 15:45 Oita Airport
Arrival Time: 16:45 Narita Airport
Since our flight is at an awkward time in the middle of the day, there wasn't much time to do anything, so we just took things slowly, did some packing, and relaxed in the ryokan (since it was +40°C outside!).
Started the day with a healthy Japanese breakfast.
Natto, picked lotus root and misc. vegetables, tofu, salad, shirasu, fish, and yogurt, with miso and iron-cooked rice.
Daytime view of the rotenburo onsen
Again, the size of the bath isn't as big as I'd like, but the temperature of the water and the outside air was perfect.
Beppu Tower and the calm ocean
and the busybusy city packed with buildings. Love the mountains in the background, though.
We left the ryokan in the afternoon and headed towards Beppu Station to take the bus to the airport.
Random statue: this is the man called "Shiny Uncle" who loved children.
I saw this engraved onto one of the stones. The three best of Japan: mountain is Fuji, sea is the Seto Inland Sea, and onsen is Beppu. I'm proud to say that I've accomplished all of them without realizing it! Thanks to the people who accompanied me, Jay, Alexie, and Samantha!
手湯 hand bath? First time I've seen one, but you soak your hands here.
kabosu, a green citrus fruit related to the yuzu fruit
I'm proud of the fact that we've reached Kyushu island, the southernmost island of Japan (besides Okinawa). There are still plenty of places I haven't gone to yet and still want to visit, but I guess I'll have to save that for another trip.
Anyway, Beppu is the land of the hot springs. There are about three thousand onsen in Beppu, which accounts for more than 10% of all the hot spring vents in Japan. The plan for today is to go to hell. Literally. No, not really haha. But there are eight major geothermal hot spots in Beppu, known as the "eight hells of Beppu". Its name comes from the fact that the water at these springs is so hot that it is impossible to dilute enough so that people can bathe in it. Moreover, the steam from these sulfuric vents give off such a foul odor that the people of Beppu hated it, hence the place became known as "hell".
First things first, our train ride to Beppu from Shimonoseki allowed us to see the beautiful countryside of Japan.
Fun Fact: In Beppu, they use a card similar to the suica, known as SUGOCA, which is used in the JR Kyushu railway system. I've always been interested in how the Japanese come up with these names, so I did some research. SUGOCA holds two meanings: in English, it stands for Smart Urban GOing CArd, but in Japanese, it can be translated to 凄か, which, in the Kyushu dialect, means "great" (as in すごい). And for a mini Japanese language lesson on the Kyushu dialect, they have ka-adjectives rather than i-adjectives in standard Japanese. Thus, 寒い would become 寒か, 暑い would become 暑か, and so on.
Itinerary: There are quite a few places to visit in Beppu. Since we were only spending a day here, and the hells closed around 17:00, we needed to plan strategically.
1. 保養ランド Hoyoland Onsen, for the mud bath, approx. 2 hours
2. bus to Kannawa District, for the first six hells
3. bus to Shibaseki, for the remaining two hells, until closing time or before
4. check-in to 望海 ryokan
5. dinner at 19:00 or 20:00
6. 竹瓦温泉 Takegawara Onsen, for the sand bath
7. 高崎山 Takasakiyama Monkey Park, for the monkeys (if we have time)
First stop was Hoyoland Onsen. It's strange to start the day at an onsen, but because it was along the way and something we had to try, we had no choice. It wasn't so bad, though, because Beppu is, indeed, really hot.
Hoyoland consists of both indoor and outdoor baths. Indoor bathing is separate between men and women, but the outdoor bath is mixed. I really wanted to go outdoors, but the mixed bathing really threw me off. At first, I thought people just walked around outside naked, but actually, you enter the outdoor bath indoors and you walk outside (inside the water). Since it is a mud bath, the water has a thick foggy consistency, so as long as you stay in the water, you should be able to avoid being seen by people.
The mud bath was different from what I expected. The mud was gray and denser than water, so most of it sinks to the floor of the bath, but you can just grab the mud with your hands to spread over your skin.
My overall thoughts? It was alright. It was just like a mud treatment, and since I only went in once, I didn't see much of a difference in my skin. The thing that really bothered me, though, was the fact that they didn't have any shampoo/conditioner/body wash. In fact, they don't allow it for the purpose of preserving the natural spring, so perhaps it was just in my head, but I felt icky the rest of the day.
After spending a little over an hour at the onsen, we headed towards the hells.
This is a map of the hells. Since six of them are located in one area, it really helped us save time.
鬼石坊主地獄
Oniishibozu Jigoku
The first hell we stopped by was the Oniishi Shaven Head Hell. Oniishi is the name of the area its located in and it's called shaven head hell because the bubbles of the gray mud that boil up here look like shaven monk heads.
The place was really pretty. It features a free foot bath (which the water was really hot, by the way) and a small waterfall.
And I spotted this strange-looking flower growing on this tree. The entire flower faces and blossoms downwards.
Since it was already nearing lunch time, we decided to have lunch in the hells. I picked up one of the specialties (the jigoku pudding) and also a desert (ice cream filled into a freshly baked bread mmm). The pudding was nothing too special. It tasted like steamed custard with melted brown sugar.
We also took an order of 小籠包 steamed dumpling buns.
I later on discovered that they steamed their food with the steam from the onsen. How environmental!
海地獄
Umi Jigoku
Next up: Sea Hell. The name comes from its cobalt-blue color, which resembles the sea. This 200-meter deep water emerged after an explosion of a volcano 1,200 years ago. By the way, do you see the onsen eggs cooking?
At this hell, there is this manicured garden, where tropical water lilies are grown in the spring waters.
A cute little kappa (mystical creature in Japanese folklore).
This is the Victoria Amazonica lotus flower (大鬼蓮), which can actually withhold a weight up to 20kg!
There is also a greenhouse, where strange tropical flowers are grown.
and the local specialty
I forgot the name of it, but it was just a sweet pastry with red bean filling.
山地獄
Yama Jigoku
Mountain Hell. The name comes from the mountain of mud formed by the continuous eruption over the years. Thanks to the heat, many exotic animals are able to live here.
such as peacocks
and a hippo! Say "hello" to Shohei-kun!
The Japanese macaque 日本猿, a species of monkey native to Japan.
flamingos and the black swan
llamas
elephants and cats
and this is the mountain of mud that gave the hell its name.
かまど地獄
Kamado Jigoku
Oven Hell, because it used to be used for cooking foods long ago.
This 赤鬼 "red demon" is the mascot of this hell.
This white matter is a broken branch that was found under this pond. It is composed of SiO2 and hot spring precipitation, and takes over 50 years to produce.
drinkable onsen water, but it's 80°C!
steam vents: lavender foot and hand (left), throat and face (right)
鬼山地獄
Oniyama Jigoku
Mountain Demon Hell. The water here remains boiling at 99.1°C and the force of the steam produced at this hell can pull one and a half train cars. It is otherwise known for its crocodile park.
白池地獄
Shiraike Jigoku
White Pond Hell. The colorless water that naturally sprouts from the ground mysteriously turns creamy white.
By this time, it was already nearing 16:30. We almost thought we weren't going to make it in time to see the remaining two hells. We quickly jumped on the bus and headed towards the Shibaseki District. Luckily for us, the two hells were directly next to each other.
龍巻地獄
Tatsumaki Jigoku
Geyser Hell. This geyser erupts every thirty to forty minutes for about six to ten minutes. Fortunately for us, we made it just in time for the last eruption before closing. The geyser is blocked at the top by rocks in order to prevent the hot water from scorching people.
血の池地獄
Chinoike Jigoku
Blood Pond Hell. This is the oldest natural jigoku, known as 赤湯泉 the reddish hot spring. The clay at the bottom of the pond is hot to the point where the steam turns red.
金龍地獄
Kinryu Jigoku
Golden Dragon Hell. We didn't enter this one because it is a privately owned hell (you have to pay separate entry).
And that concludes our visit to hell. 地獄に行って来た！
In the end, we didn't have enough time to visit Takasakiyama, but I was satisfied seeing the monkeys at Yama Jigoku already. So we headed towards our ryokan.
the beautiful scenery in Beppu
The ryokan we stayed at was called 望海 Bokai. For ¥11800 per person per night, it includes dinner and breakfast, features an onsen (both indoor and outdoor), and excellent service. I always hear people say that ryokans are expensive and stuff, but I disagree because it includes two meals, which are pretty high quality (I love ryokan food =D).
Our room features this amazing seaside view.
On the left is the city, the right is the vast ocean, and in between is the beach and shoreline. I definitely recommend this as a place to stay!
Since we had time, we decided to stop by 竹瓦温泉 Takegawara Onsen. It's a seven minute walk from Beppu Station, which is around the ryokan.
The architecture of the structure was interesting. Made of bamboo and built in 1879, the interior was equally as exquisite.
And what this onsen features os a sand bath, where people are buried in hot sand. It was a lot of fun and really relaxing.
We headed back to the ryokan pretty late (around 20:00). By this time, we were ready for dinner. When making your reservation, or at least when checking in, you're actually supposed to let the staff know what time you want dinner (because there are time limits). But we didn't know, so we returned super late. Luckily, the staff was super nice and served us our meal anyway. We dine in our rooms, by the way.
There was so much food. Honestly, I felt like a lord with all this special treatment.
sukiyaki
matcha soba, seaweed salad, and fish skin
sashimi (lobster!)
pastry chower, side dishes, chawanmushi (egg custard)
rice and miso
desert = watermelon
I was stuffed! But everything was soooo good, sooo delicious. I definitely overate because I wasn't able to sit or stand after lol.
We went down to the rotenburo onsen (open-air bath) much later. It was quite small, but spcious enough for two people (since no one else was there).
You get the beautiful night view, and a glimpse of Beppu Tower.
Lockers (with locks) are provided, as well as other amenities, including skin care.
I'm thinking, hell isn't such a bad place after all! Enjoy!
By the way, Beppu is a bus city, so if you plan on going to multiple places in the same day, it would be better to purchase the one-day pass, which is ¥900 for regular adults. There is a ¥200 student discount, though, so if you are a student, be sure to bring your student ID along!
