After hiking Takachiho Gorge on the third day, and getting lost on trains somewhere in the Mt. Aso caldera of Japan, we finally made our way to the Ryokan (pronounced Yokahn) in Aso at 8 pm. We were exhausted and starving. The Ryokan is a traditional Japanese dinner, bed, and breakfast inn and these particular ones were also onsens--or hotspring houses. We were shown to our room where the rooms had a table on the floor with cushions to sit on and mats to sleep on. We were given traditional robes called fukatas. It is expected that you will wear these around the ryokan, to the hot spring pools and to the meals. We had no problem with this because they were really comfortable and they were the only clean clothing we had by this point.
I loved the ambience of the places. It was so cozy, romantic and authentic Japanese like you see in the movies. But the best part was definitely the hot spring tubs. We could have gone to the outdoor hotsprings, but let me just say a little bit about onsen ryokan etiquette. First, one is completely naked, second one must squat in on a tiny wooden stool and scrub down entirely before entering the spring, and last, one must keep a small handtowel wet and folded on the top of one's head. For these reasons, we were not feeling inclined to venture to the outside pools. Neither of us have nudist nor voyeuristic tendencies. We were quite content to reserve a private hotspring bath for just the two of us. . . and boy was it super romantic!!
(I know I look like I am being all sultry in this picture, but really I was getting irritated with Brian because he takes soooooo long to take photos.)
The next morning we got up early and headed out to hike the volcano, Mt. Aso. We were really excited for this and had been looking forward to it the entire trip. But, wouldn't you know our dumb luck, it was dumping rain and they shut the crater when it's rainy. The visibility was terrible and the rain was dumping on us, so we decided to jump on a bus and head up to the resort town of Kurkawa where we had reservations for another onsen/ryokan. The town was beautiful and it reminded me of a Japanese version of Steamboat Springs, CO, or Snowbird in Utah. Instead of ski resorts, there were hotspring resorts. The popular thing to do is to get a pass (which is a wooden disk) and go from resort to resort to bathe in the various springs. Remember the bathing ritual I described earlier, that is required in all of the springs. I had only been to a few private baths and I was beginning to feel like Meryl Streep in Silkwood from all of the scrubbing. Also, here it was not necessarily divided men and women, but some pools were mixed. I wasn't feeling up for a nudist colony excursion, so instead of hotspring hopping, we decided to do some shopping and exploring.
Everything in Japan is excruciatingly expensive--$3 for a can of Coke, $10 for deodorant. We may spend quite a bit on travel, but we're kind of stingy when it comes to pinching costs when we can. . . like walking vs. taxis, starving vs. expensive meals. In Kurokawa the restaurants were a bit steep, so Brian and I found a tiny little bakery tucked in the corner of town. We ordered a couple cream puffs with cinnamon streusel on top. They looked amazing, but we weren't especially hopeful because over here (and in France) the pasteries look highly desirable until you bite into them and discover they forgot the sugar. That, and for some reason they put green tea in everything here. Surprisingly, those cream puffs were the best either of us have ever had. Upon finishing the two we ordered, we stood up went to the counter and order four more, two more to eat then and two more for breakfast in the morning.
We checked into our ryokan at 3 pm and it was unbelievably cool. Located out in the woods on the edge of the river, it felt absolutely secluded from the rest of town. We were given a suite with a dining room and a bedroom, a morning area, a bathroom and our own private hotsprings in the forest outside our bathroom. Wow!! is about all I can say to describe it. Let's just say it didn't just spark the romance, but kindled a fire! Man, it was HOT in the HOT TUB!
Before dinner we explored the resort, dressed in flip flops and fukatas. As you can see in one of the pictures below, they didn't carry flip flops Brian's size, so he walked around we half of his foot hanging off the back of his shoe.
Everything in Japan is excruciatingly expensive--$3 for a can of Coke, $10 for deodorant. We may spend quite a bit on travel, but we're kind of stingy when it comes to pinching costs when we can. . . like walking vs. taxis, starving vs. expensive meals. In Kurokawa the restaurants were a bit steep, so Brian and I found a tiny little bakery tucked in the corner of town. We ordered a couple cream puffs with cinnamon streusel on top. They looked amazing, but we weren't especially hopeful because over here (and in France) the pasteries look highly desirable until you bite into them and discover they forgot the sugar. That, and for some reason they put green tea in everything here. Surprisingly, those cream puffs were the best either of us have ever had. Upon finishing the two we ordered, we stood up went to the counter and order four more, two more to eat then and two more for breakfast in the morning.
We checked into our ryokan at 3 pm and it was unbelievably cool. Located out in the woods on the edge of the river, it felt absolutely secluded from the rest of town. We were given a suite with a dining room and a bedroom, a morning area, a bathroom and our own private hotsprings in the forest outside our bathroom. Wow!! is about all I can say to describe it. Let's just say it didn't just spark the romance, but kindled a fire! Man, it was HOT in the HOT TUB!
Before dinner we explored the resort, dressed in flip flops and fukatas. As you can see in one of the pictures below, they didn't carry flip flops Brian's size, so he walked around we half of his foot hanging off the back of his shoe.In addition to the amazing facilities, we were given our own personal servant to do EVERYTHING we needed. She brought us things, made our beds on the floor, served us dinner, brought us things. I felt a little bit awkward with this arrangement because I'm such an equity minded person, and becuase it's usually me waiting on everyone hand and foot. However, I admit it was a nice break. . . for a couple days.
Dinner was an adventure in and of itself. Ryokan dinners are traditional fourteen course Japanese style dinners. There was so much food it was unbelievable. Most of it, I had no idea what it was and I, for the most part, felt it was safer not to ask. On the left of the picture below is our platter of seaweed jello, sashimi and raw horsemeat. I ate the jello and the sashimi, but I could only manage one piece of the cold, raw horsemeat. It felt like it was going to come back up. I just can't eat food that doesn't cooperate when swallowed! Seriously though, I was impressed with how Brian and I tried everything we were served. We didn't always eat all of it, but we tried it.
Brian eating the horsemeat. He wanted it recorded for future generations. Brian also ate raw jelly fish, and it was CRUNCHY! Who knew?
In the morning we were served another very traditional style breakfast. I had been up sick in the night from something I dared to eat and come morning I was not feeling the same adventurous eating drive. I tried to eat as much as I could, but the mostly raw egg in tofu/seaweed slime was more than I could handle. I went back to my room and pulled out the cream puffs, thankful for our decision to buy extras the day before. I'm sorry, but I just feel like a day must begin properly with American-style sweets.
We took a three hour bus back to Fukuoka and then a ferry back to South Korea. It was a perfect little vacation with my favorite person in the world. We had so much fun and, not that we necessarily needed it, but nonetheless it was a great team-building, marriage-strengthening activity that we will always remember fondly.
Dinner was an adventure in and of itself. Ryokan dinners are traditional fourteen course Japanese style dinners. There was so much food it was unbelievable. Most of it, I had no idea what it was and I, for the most part, felt it was safer not to ask. On the left of the picture below is our platter of seaweed jello, sashimi and raw horsemeat. I ate the jello and the sashimi, but I could only manage one piece of the cold, raw horsemeat. It felt like it was going to come back up. I just can't eat food that doesn't cooperate when swallowed! Seriously though, I was impressed with how Brian and I tried everything we were served. We didn't always eat all of it, but we tried it. Brian eating the horsemeat. He wanted it recorded for future generations. Brian also ate raw jelly fish, and it was CRUNCHY! Who knew?
In the morning we were served another very traditional style breakfast. I had been up sick in the night from something I dared to eat and come morning I was not feeling the same adventurous eating drive. I tried to eat as much as I could, but the mostly raw egg in tofu/seaweed slime was more than I could handle. I went back to my room and pulled out the cream puffs, thankful for our decision to buy extras the day before. I'm sorry, but I just feel like a day must begin properly with American-style sweets.
We took a three hour bus back to Fukuoka and then a ferry back to South Korea. It was a perfect little vacation with my favorite person in the world. We had so much fun and, not that we necessarily needed it, but nonetheless it was a great team-building, marriage-strengthening activity that we will always remember fondly.
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