The question of the day is…How do we incorporate the Japanese experience of Onsen bathing into our life in Canada? At our age, we both suffer from a series of conditions that give us pain…knees, shoulders, back…and the list goes on. This area of Japan has an abundance of hot springs which yield therapeutic water with medicinal value. Last night we stayed in a Minshuku and had the luxury of using their Onsen. We had had a tough day of riding. Walking up the stairs to our room, we both felt aches and pains. However, I’m not kidding, we both felt better and we woke up, having slept well on our tatami mats and we felt ready to go.
A treat for breakfast called Natto…fermented soybeans to which you add a liquid and then it becomes very viscous. A bit weird to be honest, but it tastes better than it looks.
This area of Japan is known for its special hot springs. The spa at our Minchuko, Garappaso lists the ingredients found in the spring water: sodium-bicarbonate/chloride/sulphate hot spring. The benefits include relief for muscle/joint pain, hypertension, stress, asthma. It sounds too good to be true but we can certainly attest to the effect it has had on us. We were given a corner room with an incredible view of the waterfall and Sendai River. At first we noticed the smell of sulfour, but that subsided.
The process is easy…first you cleanse yourself sitting on a stool and then you enter the pool. Water runs continuously and your only job is to relax.
The blue drape signifies men’s toilet and the pink is for women. Japanese homes and traditional inns require that you remove your outside shoes before entering. You wear slippers throughout the house, but you must put on different slippers that are exclusively for use in a toilet room. Sometimes we get mixed up, but the concept is simple.
While we were looking for the park, we came upon this field full of seniors playing a game called Ground Golf. lt is a sociable endeavour with the objective of hitting the ball into a hole, similar to golf but with only club and one ball per person. Very popular and low stress with fewer rules. It looked fun.
Maruike Spring Water Pond is renowned as one of the top scenic water spots in Japan. The water is esteemed as being very pure and good for you. People arrived with big jugs to take water home.
The aquamarine colour is quite beautiful. Apparently in the winter it becomes a striking deeper blue colour. This mi real richwater comes from 40 m below the surface and is sourced from the foot of Mt. Kirishima..
We seem to be magnets for these interactions with locals. Our trikes are an oddity and attract attention, but in our time here we have yet to meet any other people touring by bike. We enjoyed visiting with this family and her dog Lucy. The boy and girl took turns sitting on Barry’s trike. Her children gave us cold bottles of water for our trip. Thank you!
Charmaine RuppoltI have read books by Josie Dew (British author) of her biking in Japan, and she had similar gifts from people who would stop and give her lots of beverages and fruits, etc. :) Japanese people are very kind! Reply to this comment 1 year ago
As we were drinking our coffee on our trikes outside the convenience store, a young woman came up to us give us freshly baked croissants from a bakery for our journey. The hospitality is heartwarming and genuine. We are grateful for the many kindnesses we are experiencing everyday.
We have entered the town of Ebino and are in a new prefecture, Mizyaki.
Kudos to the creator of these cycling routes in Kyushu. We would never have found these off road paved paths that give us such great riding and views like this.
We do try to ride further in a day, and generally Barry’s motor problems are not the cause. Everyday is so full of unexpected experiences, people come up to us and want to visit and there are such beautiful places to just take in.
We need to stop for the day soon as we are hot from climbing and ready to stop. Once again, we find ourselves at a Japanese Inn and once again they have an Onsen. You can guess what we did as soon as we checked in..yes, we went to the Onsen and we were lucky enough to get a private one for the two of us. Bliss.
Today's ride: 31 km (19 miles) Total: 458 km (284 miles)
