Right back where I started from
...which is the westernmost prefecture in Japan. Heh.
Just got back from Beppu, an onsen [hot spring] resort town in Oita. Had a blast trying out different baths with Oil [My friend. Not like cooking oil, huh]. The first was a seaside sand bath. Wearing nothing else but short robes, we were covered in warm sand whilst we looked out on the endless expanse of sea and sky. [Random thought: Saying that clouds look like cotton is so unimaginative. A cloud can be a George Washington look-alike, or a fat dragon.] And then, we showered to wash off the remaining sand [believe me, sand so sticks to you]. During that time, my last shower was around 30 hours before, so it was a relief to have contact with water, soap and shampoo again.;D
After that, we headed to what we thought would be only a mud bath. Turns out the place had a whole menu of onsens for us to choose from. Apart from the mud bath [indoor AND outdoor], there was a sulfur bath, a steam bath, a sand bath, and yet another mud bath [with really soft mud we used as mud masks]. The mud baths were MIXED. Meaning I have seen enough of Japanese boys' butts and had almost-glimpses of fronts to last me a lifetime [OK, so maybe just a pretty long time].:P It didn't help that the wind was really strong, so all those teeny towels that the Japanese people hold daintily to cover their privates were sometimes ineffective. I brought a normal-sized bath towel, so maintaining my dignity was somewhat easier.
You have to be buck naked before dipping into an onsen, after you wash yourself. Surprisingly, after the initial 5 minutes of hedging and waiting for people to leave so I could finally get into the baths with minimal flesh exposure, and the about-face everytime I saw a fellow bather, I got used to it. It helped that I kept thinking, Well, they don't know me and I will never see these women again. [Or could it be voyeuristic tendencies...?] I mean, we all have boobs and stuff, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about, really. Really! Right? Riiight.
I heart onsens, definitely.
Just got back from Beppu, an onsen [hot spring] resort town in Oita. Had a blast trying out different baths with Oil [My friend. Not like cooking oil, huh]. The first was a seaside sand bath. Wearing nothing else but short robes, we were covered in warm sand whilst we looked out on the endless expanse of sea and sky. [Random thought: Saying that clouds look like cotton is so unimaginative. A cloud can be a George Washington look-alike, or a fat dragon.] And then, we showered to wash off the remaining sand [believe me, sand so sticks to you]. During that time, my last shower was around 30 hours before, so it was a relief to have contact with water, soap and shampoo again.;D
After that, we headed to what we thought would be only a mud bath. Turns out the place had a whole menu of onsens for us to choose from. Apart from the mud bath [indoor AND outdoor], there was a sulfur bath, a steam bath, a sand bath, and yet another mud bath [with really soft mud we used as mud masks]. The mud baths were MIXED. Meaning I have seen enough of Japanese boys' butts and had almost-glimpses of fronts to last me a lifetime [OK, so maybe just a pretty long time].:P It didn't help that the wind was really strong, so all those teeny towels that the Japanese people hold daintily to cover their privates were sometimes ineffective. I brought a normal-sized bath towel, so maintaining my dignity was somewhat easier.
You have to be buck naked before dipping into an onsen, after you wash yourself. Surprisingly, after the initial 5 minutes of hedging and waiting for people to leave so I could finally get into the baths with minimal flesh exposure, and the about-face everytime I saw a fellow bather, I got used to it. It helped that I kept thinking, Well, they don't know me and I will never see these women again. [Or could it be voyeuristic tendencies...?] I mean, we all have boobs and stuff, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about, really. Really! Right? Riiight.
I heart onsens, definitely.
