Hello,

as I spent my day yesterday with sorting photos and then just doing RANDOM stuff (no studying, no travel planning, NOTHING!!) like playing trials of various otome and yaoi games (*_*) (<- report will follow), I gotta get back to work today.
Starting with this first entry about my winter vacation. After that I'll have to get information for my spring trip as quite a bunch of my friends are coming over to Japan at the same time, so planning ahead is important. Although I don't feel like already planning, but this time it's necessary (^-^)>
Studying Japanese? What's that? (x__X) ... Well, one thing at a time, I guess. I'll eventually get back to studying.

Enough of my blabbering, let's start with reports and TONS of photos of my winter vacation (^-^)

This entry about my first day will be splitted into 2 for a very special reason. At the end of the day I also visited a sex museum and as some of you might be offended by the erotic photos taken there, I'll handle that in a seperate entry.
So don't worry, this entry is sex-free! XDDDD

Beppu - Day 1 (December 29th, 2009):



I arrived in Beppu early in the morning (as it's not sooo far away from where I live). As you can see the weather was not great (generally I was very unlucky with the weather this time - and a few other things).

Some information about Beppu before we go on (source: wikipedia):

Beppu (別府市, Beppu-shi) is a city located in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, Japan. On January 31, 2008, the city had an official population of 122,297 and total area is 125.13 km² for a density of 977 persons per km². The city was founded on April 1, 1924, and is famous for its onsen (hot springs), which are regarded as sacred. Beppu is Japan's onsen capital with the largest volume of hot water in the world apart from Yellowstone in the United States and the largest number of hot spring sources in Japan. Beppu contains nine major geothermal hot spots, which are sometimes referred to as the "nine hells of Beppu".

And that's why the first thing I visited that day were the "Hells of Beppu" (^-^)v (only 8, because one was closed -__-; ....)



No, that's not a hell. It's too cute to be one, right? XD
The first hell also had a small zoo, so on my way I stopped by cute animals and took photos. And this little guy posed so nicely (^-^)v





There was even an elephant! Only one, though. He seemed to be a little bit lonely (;o;)



*lolZ*



And, of course, monkeys :) They were enjoying the warmth of a small onsen-like thingie in their cage (see the steam?)



Now, that's what I call lazy! This guy was just sitting there, opening his mouth, waiting for tourists to ...



... throw some of these into his mouth!!! XD



So beautiful (*_*)



Finally reached the actual "hell": "山地獄" (yama jigoku / mountain hell).



The sign warns of "熱湯" (= boiling water) of 90°C!



More information about this hell, saves me time because I don't have to type it ;P



A lot of tourists, of course. 年末 (end of the year) => everybody has days off, so everybody is travelling like crazy XD (Me 2!)



There were even flamingos! (*_*)



I thought that was interesting. This was in a small pond and people tried to throw their money into that frog thingie.



Anyway, next hell. They are all within walking distance (well most of them are ^^)
海地獄 (umi jigoku / ocean hell)



I think, for me, "umi jigoku" was probably the most beautiful of the hells, what do you think?
I love the color of the water!! (*_*)v





And that looks like blood or something XD (this was a smaller onsen next to the "umi jigoku").



There was also a little, but very beautiful greenhouse.





I love the colors in this picture.



Did I say there was no "sex" in this entry?? XD ..... Ok, ok, sorry! Or is it just me? ARGH! *headdesk* XD



Outside of the greenhouse I saw this.



In Beppu it's really fuming no matter where you look! XD



Caution Engrish!!! "Hot spring of a leg"??? Ewwww! XDDD



Next was 鬼石坊主地獄 (oniishibouzu jigoku / demon stone shaven head hell).
It is called like that because the large and small bubbles of hot gray mud that boil up here look like the shaven heads of monks.



It was really difficult to get a good photo of a "shaven head", though XD Those bubbles are FAST, I tell ya!!



I managed to get some acceptable photos, but don't ask me how many photos I actually had to take XD



But even failed shots look interesting, ne? This hell was probably the most interesting out of the ones I visited :)





Almost everywhere in Beppu there are small onsen for your feet like this one (even here where I live we have same, but not so many, of course.)



What seems to be special about some onsen in Beppu, though (at least I never came across it anywhere else) are those orange like fruits that are often put into the onsen in Beppu. They make a great toy and they smell very good ^-^
The fruit is called "kabosu" - it is closely related to the yuzu and at first I thought it actually was yuzu (^-^)>



At around 1pm and with only 3 hells under my belt so far, I decided it's time for a lunch break. Unfortunately other people had the same thought, so I had to wait forever, but oh well ....
I decided to get a special Beppu dish called "dango jiru soup". Although you can't see it very well on my picture, what makes this soup so special is dango that's made into long and wide noodles! Maybe like "tagliatelle" (or "Bandnudeln") but thicker! And it tasted GREAT!!!! The pork and vegetables just added to the flavor and make a good meal to warm you up in winter.
Back right you can see "onsen tamago" (German info / Japanese info / no English available (o_o;) ..)which is also famous in areas where there are a lot of hot springs.



Refreshed and after warming my body up again (don't be deceived by the sunshine, it was freaking cold!) I continued my "hell hunt" *lol*
Next was "かまど地獄" (Kamado Jigoku / oven hell).



Close-up of the oni.



There was another small blue hot spring there, not as big as the "umi jigoku / sea hell" though. I just love that blue (*_*)v



And there you have some "onsen tamago" :)



Another version of the onsen for your feet (or hands ^-^)



Interesting o__O .... but I wouldn wanna try it out XD



And another hot spring for your feet. I told you, they are EVERYWHERE!!! XD
I didn't stop and use them, it was so cold and I didn't have enough time nor a towel that would have been big enough. Furthermore we have those hot springs here as well XD



Wow, quite hot (x___X)



And that's probably the main attraction of the "kamado jigoku". Again, a very beautiful color! :)





And on my way to the next few hells.



And the next hell, greeting us with another "oni" (demon).
It's the "鬼山地獄" (oniyama jigoku / demon mountain hell). The force of the steam produced at this spring can pull one and a half train cars!!! This "hellish" site is the happy home of a variety of crocodiles and alligators who slither down into the warm breeding waters.



Oh, here's one! :)



Three!!!! (O_o)



One thousand (O_______________O'') ..... XD



Steamed food, yummie (*_*)v



And that's the sex museum that you'll come across while walking from one hell to another. I entered it after I finished visiting all the hells.
Like I already mentioned, photos of that visit will be posted in a seperate entry.



Finally reached the "白池地獄" (shiraike jigoku / white pond hell).
The White Pond Hell is so called because the colorless water that naturally spouts from the ground mysteriously turns creamy white.
I had high expectations, but when I came there the water was not (milk-like) white at all :/



It looks more like creamy pastel-blueish to me, what do you think?



Well, it was still beautiful, just not white ;)



On my way to the bus stop (the last 2 hells can only be reached by bus) I saw this from far away. Looked like a castle, but there's supposed to be no castle in Beppu, so I wonder what it was.



Still on my way to the bus stop. I took this photo to show you that it's really steaming and fuming everywhere in Beppu.



Aaaa~nd reached the 7thhell: "血の池地獄" (chi no ike jigoku / blood pond hell).
The clay is steaming hot to the point that the steam is red.



Cute!!!



Well, it was steaming a lot and already getting dark, so you can't really see the red that well. Guess it would have been better with less steam and more sunlight, but oh .. well XD





And then I sprinted to the 8th and last hell: 龍巻地獄 (tatsumaki jigoku)
It's a geyser which means a hot spring souting out boilding water and steam in intervals. This particular spa appears in the limelight among the world's geysers due to the short intervals between spouts.



And I was lucky this time (^-^)v
Just when I came it was in action, yay!!! :)



Random discovery on my way back to the sex museum.




And that's it. Almost all of my first day in Beppu.
It was already 16:30 and the museum would close at 17 like almost everything else as well, so I had to hurry up.
That's what I hate about winter vacation in Japan. Everything opens late and closes early, so you only have a small span for sightseeing each day *sigh*


I hope you enjoyed this first entry of photos (after a long pause, haven't travelled since April/June last year).
More to come soon.

Thanks for reading.
Bye-bu ヾ(=・ω・=)o☆バイバイ☆ヾ(=・ω・=)o