I’ ve been very lazy in Beppu. I think moving around, heavy nights and coming to the end of the trip have taken their toll.
I went out in Hiroshima with a few folk from the hostel to sample the ‘start of summer’ festival. It ended up being a good night out of discussions, sake and beer. I headed to Beppu the next day sharing the train with one of the girls from the night out (who was heading to a $250 a day hiking trip!), and did very little.
A good night’s kip (11-12 hours!) was finally had last night and all I did today was head to the hot sand bath and got covered in hot sand for 20 minutes. It was a superb feeling though, if not a bit bizarre, and a bit fake given the location – not quite right on the beach as expected, but worth it anyway.
I had intended to go and see Mount Aso, and active volcano, but I slept past the train, and it was raining heavily and very cloudy, so it would have been a bit of a wasted journey anyway.
Tomorrow (Monday) I’m spending most of the day on the train getting to the Mount Fuji area, slowly getting back to Tokyo.