My plan for the next day was to take a day trip out of town to an onsen. As I was hanging out in the common room studying some Japanese in the morning, I overheard the Indian grad student (who had finished his conference presentation yesterday and was now free to travel) asking about onsen. I told him I was planning to go as well so that we could go together. There was a fairly limited schedule of buses to go out to the mountain village, so I finished studying and packed up to get ready to go.
Though we were tight on time, I insisted on quickly going to a supermarket to grab a big bottle of Pocari Sweat and a couple of onigiri since it was unclear what food and drink options would be available. Because it took him a while to get ready and I went out of the way to go to a supermarket instead of 7-Eleven, we reached the bus stop after the scheduled departure time. However, as we settled in to wait 30 minutes for the next bus, they bus came by a few minutes late. I had a sneaking suspicion that that would be the case since the bus hadn’t exactly passed us on the street.
We took the bus all the end to the end of the line, Hoheikyo Onsen, which is a couple kilometers further into the mountains than the main onsen town Jozankei. I would actually say I finally got the true onsen experience. Most of the baths were outside set among a garden. As one soaks in the hot sulphur-rich water, one also soaks up the natural setting. Bamboo, pines, and a dozen species of trees gently swaying in the wind, birds chirping away, golden weasels skittering around the rocks. It was a rainy day, but the clouds presented a moving picture across the sky and rain fell intermittently. After about 45 minutes, I was getting hungry and sleepy. I got out, changed into dry clothes, ate my lunch, and lay down for a nap inside. After my nap, I went for round 2 in the onsen, but I kept it rather short because I wasn’t sure how long the other guy would sleep.
He was still snoring away when I finished, and I studied Japanese for a while. When he woke up, he wanted to go back in (fair enough) although I was basically done for the day. We consulted the bus schedule and he went off to bathe again. I kept studying, but I was pretty bored and restless. The onsen was also starting to fill up with more and more people.
We got back to the hostel around 4:30 and I was pretty hungry by then, but needed to wait until restaurants started serving after 5. I grabbed the ramen coupon, but discovered the shop was closed, possibly because they sold out during lunch time. Of course, there is a ramen shop on every corner, so I didn’t have to go far for an alternative. In fact, I went to the one place that had a huge line the other night after the pizza party. I got straight in, but by the time I left, there was already a line forming. It was quite good.
Of course, ramen wasn’t the only thing I was craving. I had another ice cream shop that I needed to visit. “Milk Village” is a bar that pairs ice cream with apertifs. If anything in Japan was designed for maximal Instagram-ability, it would be this quaint little bar that serves everything just so. I ordered the A set, which gave me a choice of two liqueurs plus yogurt, quinoa, rum soaked beans, and a crepe. They literally had everything, and rather than being overwhelmed by the choices, I picked a 100% agave tequila and a eu de kirsche. With each bite of ice cream, you add a little bit of topping, creating a different flavor experience. The ice cream portion was generous and you get one refill as well. If I lived in Sapporo, I would get so fat (and broke), going out to these specialty ice cream places maybe once a week.
I was pretty high from the experience (I’m not sure there was really enough alcohol to get drunk off of), so after returning to the hostel, I decided I wanted to get another drink and finally settle in with a movie. I went over to a grocery store, spent some time browsing the aisles, and grabbed a couple of craft beers. Giving up on watching a movie on a big screen, I claimed a couch and laid down with my computer to watch “Memento.” It was good, though halfway through, I decided to run down to the 7-Eleven for a bag of popcorn and another beer.
After the busy, crazy weekend, it was been weird to see how quiet the hostel is. Japan is a place where a lot of locally based people take weekend trips and not too many backpackers pass through, so there is a big gulf between weekdays and weekends.
| Rice balls and sports drink | 470 |
| Deluxe bus | 960 |
| Hoheikyo Onsen | 1000 |
| Boss coffee | 170 |
| Local bus | 810 |
| Ramen | 760 |
| Ice cream | 1500 |
| Beer | 834 |
| Total: | 6504 JPY (439 RMB) (USD 63.48) |
Running Total: 39603.1 RMB (USD 5726.1)
Daily Average: 327.3 RMB (USD 47.32)