Day 9, April 9th: The Hell Pools

We were up at 5:30 on Monday morning, got organized and had our Japanese style breakfast at a western table to make it more comfortable for mom's knees.

I was really loving those Japanese breakfasts.

The ryokan (inn) was kind enough to hold our suitcases for us while we went on our outing for the day.  We walked to the Beppu Station.

Unfortunately, they are having problems with crows there.  Neat plastic bags of garbage had been attacked by the giant birds and trash littered the sidewalks.

 We were able to catch a bus at the Beppu Station for the Jigoku (Hell) Pools. This is a hot springs area with lots of thermal activity.

There was some erroneous information that was given to us saying that we would not be able to walk to the thermal pools.  You can walk to see seven of them.  We didn't think we needed to see the two that were farther away.

I got this from the Japan Rail website:

The "hells" (jigoku) of Beppu are nine spectacular hot springs for viewing rather than bathing. They are presented to visitors in a rather touristy fashion, which might not appeal to everybody. Seven of the hells are located in the Kannawa district and two in the more remote Shibaseki district. 

One of the Hell pool sites had a mini zoo with flamingos, peacocks and a hippo who kept his mouth open for you to buy food to throw in.  There was also a pool site that had a LOT of very dangerous looking crocodiles.  They said the steam in the area made them thrive.

Oh yes, it's definitely touristy and maybe even a little silly, but it was still fun.

This photo is just to show the general atmosphere of the area.

The pool areas were given names like Shiraike Jigoku (White Pond Hell), Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell), Yama Jigoku (Mountain Hell), etc.

The boiling mud reminded me of Yellowstone National Park in miniature.

Mom saw this unusual flower decorating a walkway area.

I think this was the Mountain Hell.

It was all fun in a sort of theme park sort of a way until we came to this part of the Hell Pool Area.  This was certainly not hell; more like heaven!  Cherry blossoms were blooming everywhere and the water was this phosphorescent green.

It was enchanting!

It made the whole trip worthwhile just to see this.

At this pool they were boiling eggs dropped down from a bamboo pole and sold to anyone who wanted to try them.

The red torii left you no doubt that you were in Japan.

Then there was this reddish boiling mud.

They also had a little conservatory with tropical plants and water lilies.  Too bad the bananas were green.  I didn't see any papayas.

One of the best things we did was to have another soft serve.  This was strawberry and vanilla.  Not unusual, but yummy and perfect for the day.

And here's the last photo of the Jigoku pools.  This time it was gray boiling mud.  I have more photos, but I'll spare you.

We left the Jigoku Pools and caught the bus back to Beppu Station.  While mom and I waited there, Art and Dennis went back to the Nogami Honkan ryokan, retrieved our suitcase and joined us at the train station for a curry lunch.

We then caught the JR train for Oita, made a transfer and arrived in Nobeoka at 2:30.  In Nobeoka, we checked in at the Route Inn Nobeoka Ekimae.  Dinner that evening was unremarkable.

Art and Dennis did laundry that night and we prepared for another early morning the next day.