Beppu

I planned a substantial layover in Beppu on the way to Amagase so that I would be able to partake in the world famous suna-ya sand bath ritual. Beppu is one of only two places in the world to offer this luxury (the other being Ibusuki, also on Kyushu), and so I had to do it. Takegawara Onsen is a Meiji-era wooden structure in an alley of south Beppu that offers said sand baths. One is buried up to his neck in piping hot sand and left to roast for ten minutes. After 600 seconds (yes, I was counting) of excruciating pain, one submerges himself in a cloudy sand-ridden hot tub. I would've snapped some photos of heads floating above the sand, but as I was naked, I had nowhere to store my camera.

Me and some ten-minute friends in front of Takegawara Onsen:


Some views of Beppu's comericalized and polluted coastline: