Saturday, July 08, 2006

Relaxing Saturday

I decided to take a little adventure this morning, and headed to Hottarakashi onsen It is in Yamanashi Prefecture and it took me just about 2 hours to get there.


The place actually opens an hour before sunrise and I seriously thought about getting up at 2 and trying to get there to watch the sunrise. If the sky is clear you can see Mt. Fuji. unfortunately it was over cast and I only saw a small glimpse of the very top of the Mt. for a brief moment then it was gone.


The new section is open in the morning and so this was the one that I was in. There was an indoor bath, with two large outddor baths. The one above is where you can sit and watch Mt. Fuji. The one below was more realxing and a little cooler so you could leisurely soak and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.


On the way there I came across this Shrine with interesting ornamentation. I don't think I have seen this type of straw circle thing before. I have seen the straw snakes and the large twisted ropes with the white papers hanging on them. I wonder if it wasn't something to do with Tanabata, which was yesterday. I would assume that waking through it is supposed to bring purification or something like that.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.
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Anonymous said...

I like it! Good job. Go on.
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