Kero, Anso and I hit the Hells - Thu 12 Apr

Did a big update of the last couple of big days on my blog, sitting in reception, which took a fair while!

I met Kero and Anso from Paris in the reception. I gave them tips on hot springs to try from my previous day's experiences. We ended up going together for a lunch, then a sweet dip at the pool-like onsen in front of the station. Only at a hot springs town in Japan would you rightfully encourage a stranger to get naked with you, squat in front of you on a little stool to scrub-a-dub, and hop in a bath together.

We rushed around the some of the jigoku ("hells", each of eight with a different theme for tourists), which were near closing by the time we'd had lunch and made our way there by bus. I realised on the bus that Kero looked a lot like Johnny Depp, especially with the long pirate hair. Anso, much less so. She was full of very sensible suggestions that make a day's sightseeing, connecting the dots.


The hells were less impressive even than you might expect, except for the umi-jigoku or sea hell (see consecutive post). They all photograph quite well, but they're generally pretty poky and theme-parky. Not worth a trip for thenselves, but interesting enough for a look if you're in the neighbourhood. I expected as much, but it's one of the things to do in Beppu, so I thought I should tick the box.

The Blood Hell.


The Geyser Hell.


A lovely vista on our quick-march to the next hell - note the plumes of hot-spring steam rising throughout the town.


White Hell.


White Hell also had a man-eating fish theme. Most of the fish were in tanks. These two fellas were not so lucky.


A road-side stand cooking eggs in their shells, over a natural steam vent.