The fifth part of our holiday took us to Beppu in Oita prefecture. For anyone who doesn’t know already, Beppu is a city surrounded by mountains, famous for natural hot springs. So I strategically placed our stay in Beppu towards the middle of our trip so we could relax and unwind after the adventures, getting us more prepared for the second half. I was hoping this would stop us feeling so exhausted by the end. I think it worked, with one exception of course. I currently have a sprained ankle, it happened just over a week before our trip and it’s still rather swollen, and when I stepped into the onsen, I didn’t realise the tiles would be as slippery as they were. I went flying, my back hitting the tiles faster than I could have counted a second. My elbows and head quickly followed. Nothing broke, I knew that immediately and thanked the world for such fortune, and I didn’t feel dizzy or head any after effects from hitting my head, another blessing I was grateful for. None of my limbs felt fuzzy and I could move fine, so no nerve damage, one again very thankful for that, but my goodness it HURT. I hurt everywhere and knew the black bruises I now have all over my body we’re inevitable. My lower back, which took the initial impact, was immediately red, like the colour of a bad blood blister. But the bruising around it didn’t appear until the next day. Luckily, I could still get in the hot springs and I’m sure the natural waters helped heal my sore body. Its now about a week later as I write this and everything has improved significantly so don’t worry, I’m going to be okay and nature did its job of being the best soother.
Back to Beppu though, we spent the most money on this hotel, almost three times what we spent on any of our others, because we wanted somewhere luxurious. We’ve been dreaming of Beppu for many years and, now we were finally here, we were going to make the most of it. And we did. This hotel had two rooftop infinity pools, alongside a rooftop bar, sauna and jacuzzi. The views on top were outstandingly breathtaking. I’ve never known anything like it. Luckily for us too, although many people were in the hotel, because it was under 30degrees although not by much I have to admit (it was 27 I believe,) the temperature was cold for most of the Japanese people staying there. For two Northern Brits though, used to tanking the elements without umbrellas or jackets, the weather was beautiful and the heated pool made it even better. We got to enjoy the amenities on the roof by ourselves. A private oasis, worth every penny.
We stayed on the roof to watch the sunset, getting in our yukata and reading on the loungers as the day turned into night. Once the stars were out, we went for dinner, then we got back to our room early-ish to enjoy the skyline and nightime view from the room-length floor to ceiling windows of our suite. A luxury we’ve never afforded ourselves before, but will be sure to do again because it was incredible.
The hotel also had unlimited drinks for our stay. It was free of charge if you wanted soft drinks, tea, coffee etc and 1000yen per person (around £5.50 in British money) if you wanted alcoholic ones. The rest of the facilities were also of a high standard including their coin laundry, library and lounge. We really could just drift away and recharge. It did the job and more.
Oita prefecture, where Beppu is located, is famous for shitake mushrooms and limes. Because of this, I got a box of lime cream wafers for my students and we got some beautiful dried mushrooms for ourselves and some friends. The shop which sold the mushrooms was really cute, explaining in detail the difference between each of the mushrooms to help us decide which was right for us. They also did a small menu, and we sat on two of their three chairs by the bar they also used as a till, to eat our brunch before catching the train to Miyazaki. We had onigiri and mushroom soup. Sam also had a mushroom skewer, but it did contain soy so I couldn’t enjoy this with him. He said it was great though and I don’t doubt it for a second if the rest of the food was anything to go by.
