ONSEN
Onsen are one of the nicest things about
riding in Japan, and in Hokkaido there is
an amazing range, from sulphuric to alkaline,
from lukewarm to scalding, from fully developed
spas to holes dug in the gravel of mountain
streams, from small wooden baths to the Kamuiwakka
Yu-no-taki, a long cascading series of hot
waterfalls. They are perfect for washing
of the road dust and relaxing the tired muscles
at the end of a long day of riding, or for
warming your bones on a cold or rainy day.
A good gaijin friend of ours said that when
he first got to Japan he thought the best
thing about this country was the women, but
now that he's older he realizes that the
best thing is really the baths. We think
it's a pretty close contest.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of onsen,
we don't have a lot of pictures of them.
Here are a few where we remembered to bring
our camera.
Onneto onsen is near Akan-ko. You have to
hike a while to get to the bath but it's
worth it. Our buddy Riderman and his fiancee
introduced this one to us.
Karamatsu-no-yu is a bath by a small stream
at the end of a long dirt road with a broken
down shack outside for changing.
The continuing adventures of a couple of American bikers
in the Land of the Rising Sun
