the-hells – FAQ Japan

After a few days of relaxing and enjoying the views, I decide its about time Ihead out and see the sights. A sign in my hostel reads, Like us on Facebook! You get 1 free boiled egg. I instantly like them on Facebook.I write for a few hours then hire a bike from the hostel. 1,000 deposit, returned to me when I return the bike. Not bad, a free bike.nI cycle around the narrow streets. Mostly empty with the exception of the odd car. I pass a shop selling face masks ofManchester United players and former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. As I cycle uphill I see a tower in the distance. It feels like I am cycling up a mountain. I suppose I am. I park my bicycle at the Global Tower. Here, I pay300 to ride the elevator 100 metres to the top. Global Tower isthe symbol forone of the largest most advanced conference facilities in Western Japan.I take my first few steps out of the lift and onto the upper observation deck. I instinctively know that there is nothing below me. The platform hangs in mid-air. It takes me a while to find my feet; before I enjoy a lovely 360-degree panoramic view of Beppu and the ocean beyond. Very nice. I then start down a staircase encased in glass. The staircase literally floats in the sky between the upper and lowerobservation decks. It takes me a while to find my feet.nAfter leaving Global Tower, I cycledownhill in the direction of Beppu Park. My one-speed bicycle gathers momentum, and I begin to overtake cars. I slow down and my brakes shriek. The loudest brakes I have ever heard. All around me in the distance I hear dogs barking at the sound of my shrieking brakes. I pass a random golf course made entirely from concrete, before arriving at Beppu Park.nnnnnThe park has no entry fee, but I think it deservedly should. I cycle around the park. There are not many people here so I do a few laps and take in the lush greenery, the surrounding scenery, and the shelterof abamboo forest. I leave the park and head further downhill toward the ocean where I stop off at a giant supermarket. Japanese supermarkets are amazing. They have a huge selection of ready to eat food in plastic trays, but its all fresh, mostly healthy, and mostly delicious. I spend an hour wandering the infinite aisles before settling on todays lunch.nMy lunch isamberjack sashimi, someshrimp cutletwith tartare sauce, and two side salads. I also findsome cheese that for once isntin the shape of a Mushi Cake. Real cheese is scarce in Japan, so this is a big deal for me. With my meal, I also drink a bottle containing seventeendifferent types of vegetable and three different types of fruit. Sounds quite healthy but tastes ofdisappointment.nnLast night I took advantage of the free Nintendo Wii in the hostel and playedMario Kart with Ed, aguy from London. At the hostel, he asks me what Im doing today.I tell him I dont really fancy taking a bus anywhere, (most tourist attractions here are accessed by bus) and that Ive already hired a bicycle. We look at a map, Ed hires a bike, and we set off, uphill, in the direction of Kannawa. After about fifteen minutes we stop off for a Cooling Break outside some netted complex that turns out to be a driving range.nInside the driving range, we somehow communicate with anon-English speaking man at reception;before receivingtwo clubs and ball tokens. I put the token into the machine, my basket below; at least 250 balls pourout, I wasnt expecting thismany. We take our places on the driving range. We eachhave an autotee-upmachine; a littleroboticarm that places a new golf ball onto the tee for you. We stand for an hour hitting golf balls in the direction of a net. Beyond the net, all we can see is theocean.nnIts approaching 2 pm and the sun is blazing. I asked yesterday if it ever rains here. The hostel manager told me that the day before I arrived they had just had two weeks of rain. Me and my good timing. Back on track and heading toKannawa. After what seems like hours of more uphill cycling, we arrive at Kannawa Hyotan Onsen. Hot spring baths are everywhere in Beppu. Plumes of white smoke rise up in almost every direction. Even the cold water here comes outof the taphot. We use the free outdoor foot onsen at the entrance and relax for a while before heading even further uphill.nWe arrive in an area called The Hells. Eight connected outdoorspringseach with their own theme. We pay400 each and enter one of The Hells. Oniyama Jigoku, or Crocodile Hell. A sign inside says: The force of the steam is so strong here that about one and a half train cars can be pulled by its pressure, and it creates ideal conditions for breeding crocodiles. The sign is next to a really hot stream of spring water. The temperature, the sign says, is99C.nnWhen the spring water cools in the winter, they put the crocodiles inside to breed. We wander around. The crocodiles are quite scary and there are lots of them. We stare at crocodiles for a long while. They donot move. They do not even blink. Playing dead a specialty of theirs. We find some enclosures with water and a few crocodiles swimming around. There is one giant crocodile that wants to eat Ed. At 5 pm Crocodile Hell closes, and awoman kindly asks us to leave.nOutside, the conversation turns to sushi, and we get on our bikes andhead back in the direction of our hostel. The cycling is all downhill now. My favourite part. On our way, we pass Beppu Port. A huge cruise ship waits at one of the terminals. A bright red lighthouse waits in the distance.Back at the hostel, still no sign of my free boiled egg. We ask for directions to the 100 sushi restaurant. It turns out that its inside the same shopping complex as the supermarket I had visited earlier today.nnAt the restaurant, nearly all of the sushi is100. Weorder our food on a computer screen, it is then made in the kitchen before arriving to us on a train. We order plate after plate of sushi. Its actually surprising fresh. Ed orders a beer, I order a Highball, and we get through eleven plates of raw fish on rice between us. The cost is about1100 each.nAfter sushi, we head back to the hostel and watch the news. JapanesePrime Minister Shinz Abe is banging on about North Korea. We have a long discussion about the potential nuclear threat. It is massive news here and Im hardly surprised. People have been protesting in the streets; on Sunday a man in Shinjuku made a statement by setting himself on fire. War, what is it good for? Abe-solutely nothing.nAfter we finish our discussion, Ed and I head out with a couple of beers and have a little wander around Beppu at night. Also, I took this photograph of a dragonfly that I quite liked:nnRead the next part of my Journey in Japan, where I continue to explore Beppu by clicking here.