This experience was one that had to be done...sooner or later (we preferred later). The whole concept is quite strange to the regular westerners and we're certainly no exception. But we finally plucked up the courage and got naked! (and no, sorry. No photos of this one!)
Jodi's recount:"I must admit I was pretty nervous, but going with Taube and Katie made me feel better. It was Katie's first time too, but Taube is an expert and is a huge fan of onsen. So, we headed to the Egret building, put our shoes in a locker, got our little towel, the girls said goodbye to Jono and Julian and headed for the locker room.
It was like something straight out of "Road Trip" with naked bodies walking around everywhere. Right about then, then floor was looking pretty good! But with mirrors and bodies everywhere you just didn't know where else to look! We found our lockers and started to disrobe. When I got down to my underwear I considered how I was going to do the rest without exposing too much of myself to my friends!!! But while I was contemplating my next move I got a case of the giggles, and it was contagious as Katie was soon giggling too! Well, I decided to just do it and soon we were all heading to the bathing rooms, or so we thought. We started following Taube (though she'd never been to this one before) but all of a sudden I felt like something wasn't right...as we poked our heads around the corner we spotted the entrance lobby of the onsen! Whoopsy! Wrong way!!! Giggling our heads off we also heard other women laughing too and pointing us in the right direction!
The first thing you have to do before you enter the baths is wash yourself, really well! So, you sat at a stall on tiny plastic seats with shampoo, body wash, a shower hose and a mirror set in front of you. After giving ourselves a wash we headed to the first bath. The room was really huge, tiled to the 2nd floor ceiling with a set of stairs at one end and plants scattered around the place. It was like a shallow pool, only the temperature was really warm. There were single people spa sections, which many women were enjoying. We just sat in the bath chatting and relaxing. After about 15 minutes were a bit too toasty so hopped out of the bath and went up the stairs (we could have caught an elevator) to the second floor. Here there was a sauna (complete with a plasma screen), 2 more shallow baths and 3 single baths overlooking the castle. After more chatting and relaxing we decided we had had enough and went back to the change rooms. It was certainly an experience to remember!"
For Jono's recount, stay tuned...
For those who were really patient, Jono's recount is now here! Onsen was really nice... though a little strange walking through a 2 story building starkers! Was definitely more confident walking around after sitting in a hot bath for about an hour... My highlight was definitely the extremely large plasma in the sauna... the low point was when the cleaning lady waltzed through whilst i was in the sauna... lucky the towel was close by! And I know the question all you girls are asking... and the answer is I don't know... though I can tell you that the towels they use are quite small...
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