Birthday onsen

I had a very relaxing birthday today. In the morning I went with Kim (American next door neighbour), Karen (Aussie neighbour), Amy and April (random Aussies) to a really nice onsen in the mountains near my town. For those of you have escaped my raving about onsen in the past: an onsen is a big bath fed by a hot spring. Usually there are 2 baths, one for men and one for women. You wash before you go in and then sit in the incredibly hot bath with a little towel on your head until you feel a heart attack approaching. Then get out, lie on the cool stone floor, maybe have a cold shower, and get back in the bath. Repeat until soothed.

This one was particularly hot (53 degrees C) and quite sulphurous, and felt damn good. To get there, we took a little trek along a beautiful bit of river. Here's some pics for you. I didn't have my camera, so these are all taken on my phone, hence a bit rubbish.