Yes that's about the best way to sum up the final experience as I took courage in hand and went to the local Onsen - this is a type of spa bath and has natural hot springs. I have to say this was a most unusual experience, not the least because of course you have to take off your clothes! Now just forget what I looked like and try and image how it felt!
I deposited my shoes in the small locker and took the key to the reception where it was exchanged for a key for another bigger locker. Now the time to reveal all - strip off and put the stuff in the locker and put the key around your wrist and head to where the action is. Now I want to remind you that Japanese people are not as well made or tall as Europeans - and the hired towels are small to say the least...you get two towels for your use for 200 yen and it was suggested that it was much better to do this than to have wet towels to bring home....one towel was like a long version of a face cloth and is the modesty towel, should you choose to use it. Now there is something to be said for - well - as the saying goes - when in Rome, do what the Romans do - and that means take courage in hand and strut your stuff, carrying the modesty towel in your hand..... Oh and don't forget to leave any qualms with your inhibitions at the doorway!
Now all the signage is as you would expect, in Japanese, so I was trying to work out which door to go through - and really what the process was. Try and remember all I knew was that this was a spa experience but didn't actually know what facilities there would be. I had read and understood that the purpose of the spa has nothing to do with getting clean and the first thing you have to do is take a shower - this is in the public area so folks would know if you didn't follow protocol. Let's face it - it was mid afternoon on a typical Friday and the clientele was apart from me all Japanese with an average age of - well 70 or more. Japanese women are extremely skinny!! I am white (obviously) and not skinny so wasn't that surprised to get stared at a bit - I decided to just smile back - when you have nothing else to wear, you should always wear your smile!
So following the shower I headed in the direction I had seen another woman go - this was not such a good idea as the door lead outside to where there were 4 or 5 hot pools of various temperatures, some loungers for you to chill out on and a 'cold' (understatement!!) tub to either get in or use to splash yourself with. Before I go on, I would like to remind you that I had just deposited my clothes - vest 2 tee shirts, cardigan, scarves, and two jackets along with my trousers etc in the locker so to go outside stark bol**ck naked was a bit of a shock to the system!
Needless to say I did a U turn and headed to the inside area where I made a bee line for the nearest hot pool and quickly got in and sank to my ears....brrr it was cold out there but thankfully hot in the water. The water was cycled round the pool and entered via a very forceful jet which you could position yourself against to get a massage from the water.
There were several pools with different temperatures and I think the idea is that you start of with the lower temperatures and work from pool to pool rising in heat till you have had enough. The temperatures were 40.3, 41.6 and there was others that I didn't read. Another was 17.6 - and it felt too cold to go in although I did stand in it up to my knees....but not for long. One of the other clients laughed at me - she indicated it was too cold for her to try! After a few soaks in the pools I headed through another door to investigate. This was a large sauna where you sit on a little rubber mat that you pick up at the doorway - or you can sit on your folded modesty towel. I used mine to wipe my rather hot brow! I like both sauna and steam rooms so this was fine - I knew the ropes here! So after watching some Japanese film on the large TV in the sauna for a while, I ventured back out to the cool tank for a sploosh and then went outside to cool down. Now that I had been through the process, the outdoors didn't seem quite so bad - especially once I was in a warm pool again.
I enjoyed watching the goings on - the women seemed to be with their pals and it all seemed the most natural think in the world. The equivalent Japanese version of a Mrs Brown having a natter with Mrs Smith when Mrs Jones arrived and got in the pool and joined in the chatter. Just a good way of hanging out with your pals - and makes a change from going for a coffee!
When I had had enough, I made my way to the final cleaning area - the end of the spa had about 30 wet stall areas, all with shower gel, shampoo and conditioner for your use. You could regulate the shower temperature and use the hand held shower whilst sitting on what is best described as a plastic bucket stool with a central hole in it. You sit to shower and can use the small washing up like bowl to throw water over yourself if you so choose. Now you discover how small the other towel is and head to the changing rooms to get dry and dressed. Finally you move to another area to use the hairdryers, not forgetting to collect your hairbrush and comb from out of the sanitizing unit. I did my hair and applied a bit of lippy - had no other make-up with me so just had to accept looking a little under made!
For an additional cost you could have had a variety of different massages but I couldn't understand the sign - and didn't really have that long as the taxi was coming at 6.10p.m. - and I needed a final cup of tea before that!
The cost of the spa was 1000 yen - £6.66 at the rate I had exchanged my money for - and for that you could have stayed as long as you want. My only regret is I hadn't tried it earlier in the holiday since if I had, I would have made several visits. I really enjoyed it and felt warm but thoroughly chilled out. An ideal way to go home after a fantastic holiday!
When I got back to the digs, Haru wanted to know what I had though of the onsen - he seemed pleased that I had tried it and also that I had enjoyed it. I had my cuppa and got my coat back on as the time to go was nearly here....I went to look for the taxi just at the moment that it arrived. So all was well. I made my final goodbyes and headed off to the airport. Luckily the preparation I had done with the scales etc led to an easy passage through the check-in procedures. My bag weighed in at 29.8 kg - (30 kg allowance!) and the very nice attendant decided my hand luggage was only small so she wouldn't weigh it! Thank goodness for that as it was considerably over weight - and I had a shopping bag that also weighed a ton!
For the next time I will invest in better hand luggage - with wheels so that I don't have to struggle quite so much - two heavy bags with bad knees and ankles really don't go well together. I got my exercise for the day just walking around the airport and going to the right gate - it seemed like miles. In fact it was even further at Dubai!
It was an uneventful journey home - just a bit of disturbance with heavy clouds but nothing too bad. On arrival at Birmingham - the usual wait and battle with the luggage carousel and relief when my bag finally appeared. I got a trolley (should be a pound charge but as my card wasn't accepted by the machine I got a freebie thanks to a friendly giant of an attendant!) and headed through the doorway to find Paul at the front of the waiting hoards - a perfect end to a perfect holiday!
This is the last post .........until the next time!!
Hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures and a very big thank you to everyone who added a comment or sent an email. Perhaps you will be encouraged to also be brave and go it alone if you really want to go somewhere. If you haven't got a travelling companion you shouldn't let this stop you making your own adventure!
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