April 7 - Beppu, Japan

 Beppu is famous for its hot springs - there are 8 of them that are developed.  Our tour today was Amazing Hell Springs & Village Stop.  (There was also a tour called Beppu Hot Spring Experience.  Phil and Carol had signed up for that one and then Phil read the full description to discover that it included a naked soak in the hot spring.  They quickly changed to something else.  Also tattoos were forbidden on that tour, not that that mattered to Phil and Carol, but it was interesting.)  We left at 10 am and headed to a village where they produce alum for cosmetic purposes.

View from our balcony

The welcome in the terminal

Our guide, left, translated as the gentleman described a little about the alum processing.  I didn't understand it, but was delighted to feel that the ground beneath us was warm from the hot springs below.

This pond was part of the little "village" where the alum making was done.

They steam eggs using the natural steam in the area.  The eggs are supposed to taste differently depending on which hot spring is used.  It takes about 8 hours for hard-boiled.

You see these steam vents all over the city.  They use it for hot water and heating their homes.  When you build a home, you pay around $6,500 for the hot water pipes and equipment and then don't pay any more thereafter.  You include the equipment in the price if you sell the house.

The next hot spring we visited had a light brown tint.  The color depends on what minerals are found in the area. 

Here you could soak your feet - no need to get naked!  It was wonderfully relaxing.

Some soaking, some putting their shoes and socks back on, which could be difficult with warm, wet feet.  Towels were not provided.

More of the steam vents around the city.  Once in a while, you'd get a sulphur smell.

Then off to the final hot spring (Hell Spring) which had a cobalt blue pond and gorgeous gardens including a hothouse that even had a few banana trees.

Not the cobalt blue pond

The sign warns against putting your hands or feet into the water as it is around 100 degrees Celsius.

The cobalt blue pond

I was going for the interesting advertising on the left with the outline of a big cat, but also liked the little shed with the neatly bagged recycling on the right.

We got back to the ship just in time to have lunch in Prime 7.  Compass Rose is closed for lunch, but they alternate between Prime 7 and Chartreuse for lunch.  I believe the menu is the same, but we'll have to check that out soon.  For the first time, I sat on our big balcony under a blanket and worked on this while watching passengers return from tours.  Since tomorrow we'll be in South Korea, we had to have an exit immigration check when we returned to the ship.  Guess we'll have to check into Korea tomorrow.  Hope we get a passport stamp.

There were only 4 of us for most of trivia (Tom arrived at question #12) and we didn't finish in the top 3.  Naveen (our butler) brought us canapes (a cheese tray) to nibble on while we got ready for the Captain's party for Seven Seas Society Members.  It's always fun to hear how many of each category are on board.  Then it was off to dinner in Compass Rose.  They have their wonderful miso-glazed Chilean Sea Bass on these party nights.  But it's now no longer Chilean Sea Bass, but regular sea bass and was a bit disappointing.  The flavor was good, but it was a very thin fish now rather than the solid thick fish it used to be.

We had a nice video chat with Daniel after dinner (Sunday morning his time) to catch up on how they all are.  Love technology.  Then off to bed.  I think we're finally over the jet lag.