Happy holidays
Japan has a secret treasure - its hot springs. It can get pretty cold here around this time of year, -19C in parts of Hokkaido last night. You are lucky if you can head up to the hills, to the small hostels or inns that feature steaming hot water from springs deep in the volcanic mountains. They also (often) have great food.
With friends, I headed up to Chichibu, Saitama, where the Arakawa River has its origin, providing fresh water to some 30 million people in the greater Tokyo region.
We got a delishious mushroom based stew with tofu and plenty of mountain treats. Sweet Chichibu wine was served, and konbu, to be enjoyed with the sweet miso (bean paste). I had about three baths, including the rotenburo (outdoors hot spring). Never slept so well in my entire life.
The next day, we hiked back to our train station, eating yuzu off trees along the road, crossing the impressive, 85 meter long Arakawa Bridge, built in 1923.Happy holidays.
Comments
P, Momo would have liked the cool cafe we went to on the way back. They had about 7 or 8 prize-winning dalmatians, all very genki and perky. And good curry too.
Saitama has some wonderful surprises for the brave...
What I didn't like was the garbage, even an abandoned rice cooker, in the forest. Not to mention the plastic bags, PET bottles, and so on. Where are the NGOs when you need them?