Sean`s guided tour of Kyushu, part 2

Alright,

So breakfast at the hotel was just as good as the dinner, very traditional Japanese, and I finished everything (much to the surprise of the lady manning the little dining room... Gaijin don`t eat pickled gobo!), and we checked the status of the mountain.

All lights were go at the bus station, so we went to the top. Walking up the hill from the last bus stop (we decided not to go the tram route, it`s always more fun to walk) was otherworldly. There were many sections of the mountain, all with different landscapes. Some were made totally of black nutrient rich mud, some stratified hills of different type of rock/soil, and the crater itself, really hot water, steaming like it was going out of style and as blue as a rare jewel.

A rare jewel that is looked upon as a holy mecca of Korean Scripture, and the entire country takes turns going to see it. Yeah, there were that many tourists. I mean, all of you know how much I dislike Koreans, especially the food, but my tour guide (actually able to tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans), informed me of the local customs and differences in tourist density from the different countries.

Ate lunch at a coffee shop on the recommendation (well, they said there was nothing else around) of this bakery, where we went in just to admire the beautiful pastries (as one can do all over Japan), and they immediately offer us cake and tea, just for coming in. The cake was good, so we bought one... good marketing. (and, as a side, the oven it was baked in was amazing... very advanced, very shiny) Then we took a bus to Yufuin.

Ok, I have the train pass, I know. I was informed by my travel advisor that the bus would be the better choice, logistically. After the trip, I will tell you, it`s the better entertainment choice too. The package is outstanding. All buses seem to have a built in tour guide system, informing you of the history/landscape/etc of what you see (in Japanese, so bring someone who knows the language), but if you are real lucky, you can hear the elusive `song of the highway` sung over the speakers. Continuing with the 70s theme, these people designed a scenic highway, and then sung a song about it in country-western time to promote it. Funny to begin with, even better when someone tells you what the words mean.

But no, boys and girls, the fun doesn`t stop there. For no extra cost, you can sit up front when it`s just you and the bus driver, and have a philosophical conversation where out of the three of you sitting there, only one person actually knows what is going on. It was a great talk that went on through Yuka`s translation, involving the idea that everyone is always thinking about sex; the bus driver wants to be reincarnated as a beautiful girl, but in the meantime will settle for a robot to carry him up and down the stairs (Alan/Sherri, I didn`t start the robot conversation, I swear); whether it`s better to be rich or happy; and all sorts of other topics over the course of an hour or so. In the end, it was better that Yuka was there, or else the bus driver thought I would strangle him.

So we get to Yufuin, and go to the hotel. The whole town is closed at 7:30 when we get there, and the reason is because the town is an Onsen town. The water is dug up in spades there (Ha! Get it?), and it permeates the entire town. Steam rises from random vents in the town, there are fountains of hot onsen water where you can rest your weary hands midway through a day of shopping at the myriad shops selling honey and glass sculpture (foot baths too, but I won`t slight those because I did one), and so many shops where you can sample different pickles, misos, soy sauces, and various other goodies. A spa town, where people relax in really hot water, but wait outside a cake shop for 45 minutes to get some roll cake that is supposedly amazing (don`t know, didn`t try, don`t ask).

Walked around during the next day, after going to the onsen in the hotel (of course), and grilling some meat over some fire (yay wagyu!). There was a lake that steam rises from constantly because it is warm on the outskirts of town. Very cool at night, almost eerie. During the day, full of all sorts of lucky fish that get to relax in a mineral hot tub 24-7. You really should come to Japan just for the onsen, it`s worth the plane ticket. Trust me.

Took a bus tour of the `Hells` of Beppu, a very cool touristy thing involving really hot springs with different mineral compositions, so they appear colors, do cool things, or just breed crocodiles in Winter in Japan. More of a picture thing than a talking thing. I wish we had more time, but it`s hard to pack it all in, and I regret nothing. I`ll just have to come back.

Anyways, left Yuka on the Shinkansen at Hiroshima, and here I am. Went to an Okonomiyaki place for dinner, best one I`ve had in Japan. The squid was perfect, and they put more cabbage in it than I`ve ever seen in one place, and then squished the mountain down to a pancake. Impressive.

So, I got lucky, I paid for a dorm, but they filled it, so I`m in a triple by myself, and I can sleep. Which I`m going to do.

Tomorrow, feeling terrible for being American.