Onsens. If there's one thing that you can't leave Japan without experiencing, it is the onsen, aka hot spa. Recently I went with Meli to Tenzan-no-yu onsen for my first onsen experience. For those of you who don' t know, at Japanese onsens you enter only with the barest of necessities. In other words: you get naked. There's no ifs or buts about it, and you'd look even more out of place if you tried to sneak in a bathing suit. With this is mind, naturally I was filled with a little trepidation, however after reading about Tenzan-no-yu in Kyoto Visitor's Guide (a wonderful resource for those of you thinking of visiting Kyoto), I couldn't help but give it a shot. I mean who could resist after reading this description:
Tenzan-no-yu Onsen
"If you want to enter paradise, then this place is a great place to start. Indoor/outdoor soaking and warming (on stone beds!); sauna; massage; private stone bathtubs full of herbal blessing from the Japanese alps; lots of reclining lounge chairs; a killer restaurant that allows a bit of napping right after, during or before your meal..."
I was hooked and indeed the description was not a let down. Meli and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, so much so that we stayed there from one until nine at night. Eight hours!!?!?? Yeah, we could hardly believe it ourselves, but its definitely feasible at an onsen, where you can get in and out of baths and eat a little food, then read some and doze off in these really comfy chairs, eat a little more, get a massage/facial etc, get back in the baths for round two...what ever cycle or permutation you like until before you know it, it's time to go home and, still warm from the baths, to fall into a deep, relaxed sleep once you hit the bed...or not. At the onsen there are also these pools you can dip your feet in which have little fish. These fish then nibble at your toes and clean your feet of any dead skin or bacteria and, if it's indicative at all about my feelings towards these fish, that night I had a dream about them clinging to my feet like magnets...yeah, borderline nightmare. Needless to say, that was one thing Meli and I haven't tried, but who knows? If we can get up the nerve to go naked in public, maybe that'll be the next step: letting little fish get comfy with our feet. HaHaHa.
One other thing, for all you first time onsen-ers out there, I just want to let you know that you have to give yourself a good sudsing and wash up BEFORE you enter the baths, because otherwise it's seen as dirty. Also, (at least at Tenzan-n0-yu) the two shower stalls when you first walk in are NOT for this purpose. I think they're just for rinsing off? Meli and I stopped there first and after we got all good and soapy, realized that all the weird stares we were getting from everyone around us was not because Meli is obviously foreign, but because there is actually a whole area dedicated to washing off, complete with a multitude of shower stations and this season's themed brown sugar soap. Oops. Luckily it was still early in the day, so there weren't as many bathers!
More to come on New Years in a bit!
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