Beppu, Japan

Here are some photos of the "mini-break" we took to Beppu while my mother was visiting. Beppu is an Onsen town only 1 hour and 10 minutes flight from Incheon. Built over hot springs, the town steams and spurts around you as you tour the bath houses while stopping periodically to soak your feet or steam some eggs. We stayed at a nice Minshuku (first photo) where they fed us ample breakfasts and dinners and let us wander around in nemaki and bathe in their large "family baths." Mostly the thing is to do in Beppu is bathe. The children love Japanese-style baths - wandering around naked and plunging into giant warm pools equipped with jets or waterfalls or scenic views is certainly their idea of a good time. I can only bathe twice a day at most, however, so we had to find some other activities. We went on the "Hell tour:" 8 jigoku, or themed hot springs (for viewing rather then bathing). We observed milky steam lakes, red mud baths, boiling pits of grey clay, geysers and assorted animals kept captive in these Hells to amuse the visitors (8 photos below - one for each Hell). We also visited "monkey mountain" where free-range monkeys swarmed an old mountain temple. The children walked among the animals, while dutiful monkey-attendants followed behind with brooms and dustpans to keep the mountain waste-free (second-last photo). Other than that, we strolled, observed steam, watched cats, ate noodles, soaked feet, and tried to spot bath-tourists walking the streets in robes and clutching soap and towels.