Naked in the snow

[syo]

I just got back from a 2 night stay at an onsen (hot springs) inn in Northern Japan at the end of our long New Year's holiday. I went with my father-in-law who is a bonafide expert on onsens. For those of you who may not know, it is a wonderfully relaxing experience. We take about 4 baths a day and eat amazing food and lounge around in yukata (a kind of kimono). Hotsprings are all over Japan and the waters have different properties depending on where you go. Many are good for arthritis (good for me!), skin problems and even (supposedly) cancer and other ailments. But mostly it's just relaxing. Where we were they have several different baths from different springs. Baths are separated by gender and everyone is quite naked. They have three baths which are outside which is especially nice when it's snowing. Fortunately for us it was snowing and we enjoyed the outdoor bath quite alot.

One rather haunting part of the trip was the location. We flew into Sendai airport which was hit by the tsunami in the big quake last year. We saw so much of the coverage on television that I felt like I knew the place even though I'd never been there before. The surrounding area had been largely leveled and we could see remnants of many foundations and still a bit of debris. On arrival, at the airport there were travel posters for places that don't exist anymore. Quite a sobering experience. The onsen was in the mountains another hour and a half away but I kept thinking about the badly hit areas the rest of the trip.

For those of you interested, you can see where we stayed here:
http://www.takuhide.co.jp/english.html
It's an English page which will give you some idea of the place. Highly recommended.

[sunvalleylaw]

That looks absolutely beautiful Syo! To me, one of the most peaceful things in the world is softly falling snow, and experiencing that in an outside bath such as that one would be a great experience.

[FrankenFretter]

Now I want to go there.

Did you experience any of the healing properties, Syo? I think it would be worth it just to relax.

[syo]

That looks absolutely beautiful Syo! To me, one of the most peaceful things in the world is softly falling snow, and experiencing that in an outside bath such as that one would be a great experience.

Then you must be quite a peaceful fellow, Steve. :) You certainly get plenty of snow (softly falling and otherwise) in your part of the world. The water in the one outdoor bath we were in was pretty hot. About 44-45C I think. But when you soak up to your neck with the cold air/snow on your head, it kind of balances nicely.


Now I want to go there.

Did you experience any of the healing properties, Syo? I think it would be worth it just to relax.

Well we will have to get you over here sometime, Sean. Actually it did seem to help, at least temporarily, with the arthritis. Definitely though most come for the relaxing part.

My father-in-law has been coming to this hotspring area since his college days and this particular inn for about 20 years. They take special care with him whenever he visits so it was especially nice. I really wish I could have stayed longer. Inns like this typically charge around $200-$300 per night per person which includes a terrific breakfast and wonderful dinner (booze extra). Not exactly cheap but in my book it's quite a bargain for the experience. We also went to the local town which has springs all over and paid about a dollar each for a terrific bath, so one can have a nice soak for next to nothing too. But the whole inn thing is particularly nice.

[Robert]

When I saw the title, I was thinking "there will be juicy pics!". But no... :(

[syo]

When I saw the title, I was thinking "there will be juicy pics!". But no... :(

Yeah, I threw that in there to boost readership. One of the oldest tricks...:)

[Robert]

Yeah, I threw that in there to boost readership. One of the oldest tricks...:)


It worked!

[NWBasser]

That looks absolutely beautiful Syo! To me, one of the most peaceful things in the world is softly falling snow, and experiencing that in an outside bath such as that one would be a great experience.

Hey Steve, your area has loads of hot springs too. And snow.

AFAIK none of the amenities mentioned by Syo for the central ID springs though.

[sunvalleylaw]

True, there are hot springs nearby. Frenchman's, out Warm Springs road, is the most famous, but there are others tucked away here and there. More more rugged though. The beauty of the pacific rim aesthetic in the pics in Syo's link make it look really inviting.

We need some of that snow to fall about now. We got some, and the skiing is pretty good, but the valley is pretty dry, especially down south in Hailey. I would love a good, slow moving storm from the Pacific to blow slowly in and sit on us a while.