Noboribetsu is a city located in Iburi and is part of the Shikotsu-Toya National Park. We went to a smaller town called Noboribetsu-Onsen which is a well-known resort in Japan and is the largest "hot spring town" in Hokkaido. Our sole purpose there was to soak in the onsens so we checked ourselves into the most expensive hotel there because it has the largest variety of onsen pools to turn ourselves into prunes! Ha!
We stayed there for only one night but we squeezed in three onsens soaks after we checked in: one before dinner, one after dinner and one before breakfast before checking out.
There were separate onsens for men and women. It is the first time in my life that I saw so many naked women walking around without feeling embarrassed. And there were soooooo many types of onsens to try, indoors and outdoors. The outdoor ones were fantastic, especially in the cold morning air!
Yuen @ hotel entrance
The design/model of the onsens for men & women.
Yuen on streets of Noboribetsu-Onsen
Death Valley - the source the mineral water for the onsens. This Death Valley was just behind the hotel we stayed in. We could smell the sulphur in the air once we stepped out of the hotel.
We had a free bottle of wine @ dinner as part of the deal. It was a buffet dinner and there were a LOT of fresh seafood! Yummy!
Upon leaving, we took the local bus to the JR train station to take us to the next destination. The bus has a very cool system which allows the passenger to know the bus fare easily by referring to the board above.
A train just left when we arrived at the JR station. So we had to wait for the next one. There were toys in the train station which we used to entertain ourselves during the wait :) 
No comments:
Post a Comment