We headed out, sorry to leave Beppu, but ready to head out for our ride across Kyushu. Ultimately we want to ride to Mt. Aso, an active volcano. We made our way through small back roads of Beppo and found a great Ramen restaurant for lunch.
The Beppu Tower was built in 1956 to boost tourism, but is now used as a reception tower for TV. It dominates the skyline at 328 feet tall and is quite a presence at night illuminated with red lights.
Our ride out of Beppu to Oita is delightful as we are riding directly alongside the sea on a wide paved bike route. The busy highway is safely separated from us.This bustling seaport is very interesting.
As often happens to us, our time exploring meant that we were making slow progress forward. But, we both agreed, that this was probably because we were not ready to leave Beppu. After our incredible time yesterday in the historic area of Beppu up in the hills, we decided to turn around and find accommodation at a Japanese Inn. Our goal is also to find one of the historic onsens and have an experience that defines this area of Japan.
On our ride up to Beppu, we were following a steep curvy narrow road and we could feel the curious gaze of a cat from above. The soulful and curious gaze of this old guy won us over.
We have reached our destination, Minshuku Hiromiya. We will have a traditional Japanese style room sleeping on futons. We have read great things about this place, due to the hospitality of the woman who owns it
Choosing which Onsen to go to is a challenge as there are so many. Our host recommended Hyotan Onsen due to its long history and multiple pools with different properties and the opportunity to have hot sand treatments as well.
First thing you do at any onsen, is to take off your shoes and put them in a locker. While walking around the onsen, you wear sandals that are provided. This is standard procedure whenever you enter an establishment or business in Japan. This includes stores…I went to a change room to try on some clothes, and I left my shoes outside and put on sandals they provided.
The half length drapes are a way to identify an onsen. This is where Barry and I part ways to go into our onsens. There are still some Onsens where men and women bathe together. This one offers separate baths, which we prefer.
We each paid 940¥, about $8. We had an amazing experience. In my (ladies) onsen, there were about 8 hot pools each with different properties in the water. They were indoors and outdoors. There were cooling pools, a very hot sauna (lasted 2 minutes), a waterfall pool to use for massaging your back and shoulders…..an incredible experience.
A photo from the internet showing the waterfall bath. In the men’s bath there were 18 of the waterfall spigots. When I first went in a father and his two young sons were bathing there. The kids were playing with an inflatable boat that they were trying to paddle along in the pool. It was a real challenge for them as the boat would quickly fill with water. When the father saw me they bailed the water out and left.
Hyotan Onsen gave us an experience we will never forget. So glad we mutually agreed that we needed to return to this part of Beppu again before we headed off.
Well, it finally happened. We met another couple who are cycle touring in Japan, Jan and Naemi. Jan is from Toronto and Naemi is from France. They are staying at the same Japanese Inn where we are staying. Incredible.
