A morning in Hell.
No, not a day spent Christmas shopping in Asda and Primark but rather the Hells region of Kunnawara, north of Beppu.
Named due to the volcanic waters and steam that seep from the ground through the rocks, drains and rivers (the painted plastic devils that have been placed randomly around the area are just a nice touch) the Hells area is circuit of eight natural wonders where boiling water and mud bubbles ferociously from the ground. Local entrepreneurs have taken to cooking in the intense heat but there is only so much egg and corn you can eat in a morning before wanting to vomit.
The other attractions in town surround the Japanese pastime of onsen, which is the putting of your tired and weary body in the aforementioned boiling water, whilst the water is not as hot as that found at the Hells it is still bloody hot, and the last thing you can be is weary when you need to jump three foot in the air after stepping into the water. Fortunately there are different temperature pools for those weaker mortals inclined to keep the top five layers of skin on their body.
In the evening I pay a visit to the Jin Roberta and Beer Pub. As soon as I walk in I am staggered by the enormous variety of… fish.
In a novel take on the traditional pub, a very limited supply of two beers (one of which is a stout so I am more than happy) is supplemented, under a huge glass counter along the bar, by enough dead fish to keep a gang of drunken penguins happy for hours. It seems strange but it works incredibly well, order a beer, point at a fish you like the look of, and the barman will grill it right in front of you. Fresh mackerel and beer what more could any man want his woman to smell of?
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