Onsen rest day

Ah, finally that rest day. Overcast, mellow, some time on my tablet while lounging on the tatami.

I found a remote outside Onsen that transported me back a hundred years or so, it was in a woodsy setting overlooking a hillside filled with blooming cherries. Sulphuric smelly hot and perfect. I came out fully relaxed.

One of the local delicacies is food smoked in the sulphur vapors. I had an egg and it's taste is smokey in a special way. I'll have to have the sweet potato and other vegetables as well. The Yunohana are the old thatched huts used to harness the medicinal qualities fe sulphuric vapors.

I haven't seen but a few western tourists, even in Beppu which is kind off on the tourist track. When I see a Westerner it feels strange.

I haven't figured out where I'm sleeping yet tomorrow. I might have to have a look and pick a direction. I wonder if it matters, go left, go right, go back or up ahead?

Tosi tells me that tonight they are going to burn the big grassy hillside that looks like a giant scar. Then in a few weeks it turns green with new grass.Read more