Date: 25 December 2014 Thursday
15:30 PM Beppu Jigokumeguri, Umi Jigoku
We drove on and arrived in Beppu according to plan. Our first stop here is Beppu Jigokumeguri (The Hell Tour of Beppu). There are a total of 8 (or 10?) onsens in the Hell Tour of Beppu. We picked the Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) since it is the most spectacular one and we didn’t have the time to visit all the onsens.
Our tickets
JR told me to take a photo of them from the opposite side of the onsen. It was really hilarious because there was too much steam and I couldn’t see them. It was a pity that I couldn’t capture the beautiful cyan colour of the onsen on photo as there was too much steam.
Enlarge the photo… There is JR & R!
We came across a small onsen for visitors to soak their feet.
JR forced me to dip my feet into the onsen but didn’t do it himself because he was too lazy to take off his shoes. There are small towels for sale but I didn’t want to spend $ on unnecessary items so I put on my socks over my wet feet. It wasn’t too bad because the hot water dried up really quickly in the cold.
16:45 PM Tenku Yubo Seikaiso
We left Umi Jigoku and headed for our Ryokan. After checking in, a Ryokan staff brought us up to our room on the 4th floor. We had chosen to stay in the traditional Japanese style room. We entered our room into the genkan, a traditional Japanese entryway for the removal of shoes before entering the main part of the room. The Ryokan staff left us shortly after sending us up.
The room is covered in tatami. We explored the room since it was our first time staying in a Japanese styled room. R loved the room very much as everything was within her reach.
The washroom has a wash basin and a separate area for a bath tub & bathing area.
Where is the toilet? JR couldn’t believe me when I asked him the question. We were wondering where could the toilet be when JR said it could be outside. Indeed, the toilet is located separately from the main washroom. It is outside at the genkan. Hilarious as we couldn’t find toilet.
The toilet outside at the genkan. It was freezing out here.
There is also no wash basin in the toilet. So inconvenient and unhygienic to exit the toilet without washing hands. It was after I flush the toilet then I realised the small faucet on top of the toilet. It is a water saving toilet where the faucet automatically turns on water for washing hands before filling up the toilet for the next flush. I still think it is unhygienic because there is no soap provided and I had to stretch my short hands over the toilet…
The sea view from our room.
Though the Ryokan provides free wifi on all floors but we couldn’t connect to the Internet as the wifi signal was really weak. Felt so lost without Internet connection. We wanted to have dinner at the Ryokan but it had to be pre-booked at least a day in advance. We booked the dinner for the next day and left for the nearby shopping mall for dinner and shopping.
19:45 PM Yume Town Beppu
We had dinner at a random restaurant.
Free flow of soft and hot bread. Yummy!
My Chicken Leg
JR’s Hamburg
Shopping time!
Free toddler carts are available.
Look at the beef!
We finally got connected to the Internet that night. JR managed to set up ACB’s SIM card in my old iphone, which we used as a hot spot adapter for the rest of the trip in Kyushu.