Our next stop is Noboribetsu, a humble hamlet famed for its volcanic mineral waters and array of Onsen bath hotels. Our plan was complete R &R for 36 hours after our hectic forays the first week around Tokyo and Sapporo.
*kiki may only have meaning to my kids as it refers to a classic black humor joke where the only choice a prisoner gets is “death or Kiki.” Choosing Kiki is worse!
Okay, back to my story. After three nights in Sapporo we had the transit system wired. We cabbed it to the main Sapporo station and wended our way to the JR Intercity trains.
We stopped at the customer service to be sure we had the right train line to Noboribetsu, an hour away. That’s when we learned there was an accident somewhere on the tracks and all trains were seriously delayed. Via translation app, he told us to find other transport. That’s all the help we got from him!.
So, we googled bus routes and found an intercity bus line. What we didn’t find was a bus station.
For the next hour we shlepped our bags 10 minutes in one direction then 10 back again. We crossed streets, entered unground passageways and remained completely lost. Miraculously, in another underground passage, we found one woman with modicum of English and a boatload of compassion. She led us through the underground world to surface at the correct spot.
However, there was no bus station there either. But outside a nondescript office building a short distance away was a tiny hut that had a bus image. Yes, it was a ticket office but not the right one. They pointed us a little further down to another corrugated hut. It was the JR bus ticket office!
The little woman in the office spoke not a speck of English but somehow managed the transaction. But where was the bus? She stepped outside, grabbed my bags and walked us around the corner to an ordinary bus stop. And she waited until our intercity bus arrived. A round of grateful arigatos and bows ensued and then we were on our way. The bus took longer but it got us there. Kiki averted.
AHHH ONSEN…
Noboribetsu needs a new PR team, They call it Hell Valley. And they use a hideous fire monster as their brand mascot. They should rename it “heavenly valley” because that’s what we experienced.
I chose Dai Ichi Takimotokan Spa Hotel because it had the highest ratings and reviews. It’s also the biggest spa in town.
After checking into our western style room (mattress instead of tatami mats), we decided to take a hike through the national park. It is filled with spewing thermal waters, a crater lake along the valley carved by the volcano and the rushing river waters.
Since rain was predicted for the next day, we also didn’t want to chance having no hike at all. However, it was late in the day so we didn’t do a complete hike circuit for fear of impending dusk AND the hungry brown bears for which the area is also known.
We returned to our room, stripped down to our kimonos and slippers and headed to the Onsen area. It is in the main building and we were ready to see what all the bathing fuss was about.
Dear readers, there won’t be many or any pix of our Onsen experience. No cameras or phones permitted. It was nekkid time! But I’ll try to paint a picture.
Oh my! There were so many baths and pools behind the curtains. There were salt pools, alum baths, sulfur baths, hot baths, cold baths, shoulder pummeling waterfalls, lying down pools, hot and cold saunas. But first we were required to shower completely.
It was a phenomenal experience. Especially the large pool with floor to ceiling windows to the other-worldly, steaming-landscape outdoors. I sat there realizing that we have all forgotten to just be still and be in the moment. No phones, no earbuds with music. Just me and my birthday suit hanging out in serene, soaking silence. Ahhhh…
One more Onsen treat was the women’s private outdoor pool. I felt like I was in Cezanne’s The Bathers painting with a few serene women beside me.
Then off to find dinner along the teeny tiny main drag. We ended up having ramen and fried chicken at a busy little spot.
The next morning we headed down to the included breakfast buffet and realized there are a LOT of people here. Although there was a ridiculous abundance of food, we stuck to the few western basics. Everyone else was piling up plates of savory, mysterious and or heavy items that we couldn’t manage that early in the morning. But the coffee was excellent and plentiful.
Good thing we hiked yesterday. It was pouring today! No worries. Our agenda was for more Onsen and creative pursuit time. ( Andy to music, me to blogging about our time in Sapporo.).
We took a couple of walks in the rain. Then we had a delicious wood-fired pizza dinner in a highly touted little joint in town. Yes, astonishing good buffalo mozzarella pizza. But wait, there’s more…
That evening, we again donned our kimonos and headed to the spa area for 60 minute massages! Then we packed up for Friday’s early and tight connection to fly south to Kanazawa.
36 hours of R& R. Nailed it!
Our spa website so you can see for yourself:
Homepage
Or check this out from promo:
大浴場
THE GRAND BATH
The Grand Bath Onsen Heaven features
five naturally flowing springs, including
two sourced from Takimotokan. Located
beside Jigokudani (Hell Valley), it also
offers a heated pool for year-round
relaxation.
The Grand Bath building
Our hotel has a 1,500-square-meter bathhouse building with open-air baths, health baths, and a heated pool. We have five types of mineral spring water, which is the largest in Noboribetsu Onsen, with a total of 35 baths for men and women. You can enjoy various baths with different temperatures, shapes of soaking pool, and views. You can enjoy the hot spring paradise all day long without getting bored.
