2023 Spring Asia Cruises II - 9-Day Kyushu Spring Flowers Cruise, Roundtrip Yokohama, Japan
March 17, 2023 (Friday) - Beppu, Japan
This was such a port intensive cruise that I did not even have time to do my travel journal while on the ship. I will have to depend on my memory and the photos to remember what we have done in port.
After sailing away from Yokohama, we had a day at sea as we enjoyed a relaxing day on this beautiful ship which we thought we were so familiar with. As I look back, there seemed to be quite some differences as far as the venues offered on board. I can't pin point it but Diamond Princess is looking as sharp as she can be!
They still have the morning exercise showing on deck every morning.
Champagne fountain on the first sea day.
Main Dining Room
Breakfast at the main dining room.
Important information to have when going ashore.
One major problem at this port is transportation. Princess shuttles charge $25 round trip between the cruise port and Beppu Train Station. For the 8 of us, that's quite a lot. And, even if we got to the train station, we still need to find our ways to 'Hell'. There are buses at the JR station that go to the Umijigoku-mae stop (#2, 5, 9, 41, and 43). You can buy one-day passes for 1000Y at the JR Beppu Station from the Foreign Tourist Information Office and you get a coupon book which includes a 200Y discount for the combination ticket to visit all the hells. We knew that we wouldn't have time for all the hells and figured there should be public transportation that can take us to where we wanted near the port instead of spending the extra money on the shuttles. There are bus stops near the cruise port and looked like easy walking distance. So off we went! The problem was everybody else had the same idea and the bus stops were crowded with cruise passengers in line for the limited buses that were coming by. After looking at the stop across from the pier, we decided to walk further away to another bus stop and at the same time trying to find taxis. Unfortunately, taxis are rare in this city and none of them will stop to take passengers even if they were vacant. We finally, got on the second bus at the bus stop at where we were waiting and on our way to 'Hell' on this very crowded bus.
Beppy is a city famous for their hot springs. In fact, one can see the steam going up from everywhere along the hillside with so many onsens around. We will be visiting some of the famous ones if we ever get to them.
We got off at a stop which was at the bottom of the hot springs area, a wrong move, because we would have to hike upward to the hot springs now. Should have stayed on the bus for two more stops until it gets to the higher level. Oh well! We followed everybody else and started our hike up. It was really not a bad walk, just that we had a couple of people in our group who have difficulty walking.
The first 'hell' we came to was on our left hand side as we walked up this street.
White Pond Hell (Shiraike-Jigoku)
Since this was the first hell that we encountered, naturally, we had to go inside to take a look. They do sell combination tickets but as I mentioned, we would not have time to see all of them so we just picked the ones we wanted and pay admission fees for each.
The White Pond Hell is a smaller hot spring but it is very pretty. We were lucky that we picked a good one to go in.
Main entrance of the White Pond Hell.
What we saw first thing when we entered.
Definitely pretty!
We were early so not many visitors there yet.
We walked around to the back of the grounds and found this.
They also have a small aquarium next to the hot springs.
We made a circle and soon were done visiting this hell. It got more crowded as we were leaving this site.
We did not enter this one-the Demon Mountain Hell.
As we continued to walk up to the Umi-Jigoku (Blue-green fuming Pond), we saw this on the way. A friendship sculpture from Yentai, China.
Umi-Jigoku (Blue-Green Fuming Pond)
This is the main pond in the area and we were told that this is the prettiest and biggest. If you only have time for one, this would be the one to visit.
A pond right after entering the gate.
They were steaming 'buns' using this natural hot springs.
The 'buns' from Hell.
We would come back to get some later.
"Sea Hell"
This is a much bigger place,
and very pretty everywhere.
Son found an interesting spot.
A tiny shrine
We went up to the 2nd floor of the building and had a good view looking down.
Akaike (Red Pond)
We also took the opportunity to dip our feet in the Foot Bath at the park for free. It was fun and relaxing. Just have to remember to bring a towel to wipe off at the end.
Before leaving the park, we just had to try their steamed 'buns', which was not what I expected. Not really a bun, but more like a tiny rice ball type stuffed with red beans paste inside.
600Y for this. Very sweet though.
Our bus trip back to the port was uneventful. Although the weather was not the best but we had a good time visiting a couple of the hells in town. Maybe next time, we can check out the other ones that we've missed!
From the ship, we could see the steam by the hillside where the hot springs are.
We actually met a couple who said because of the transportation issue, they walked all the way from port to the hells. Wow!
Another look at the hot springs.
We were definitely hungry when we got back to port so dinner was welcomed.
What an interesting port visit! I think it would even be better if there is no transportation issues but as travelers we just have to roll with the dice.
For video of this day, please click here.
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