|
You gotta love
a town that prides itself on being the gates to hell. Noboribetsu
is a stinky, steamy hell-hole. It truly is. But I mean "stinky
hell-hole" in the most endearing of ways. The small hot-spring
tourist town is constantly filled with steam rising from the
volcanoes that surround it. And it stinks to high heaven because
of the sulphur being burned in these same volcanoes. And it's
a hell-hole because, well, the main attraction in the city
is....a big, long, eternally burning chasm called "Jigoku-dani",
or Hell Valley.
Noboribetsu is famous for its hot springs, its wildlife (northern
foxes abound), and its Satans. Satans rule Noboribetsu. There
are colorful statues of the devil all over town and according
to locals, they take pride in their relationship with hell.
Noboribetsu and
Hell Valley are filled with
great places and trails to walk around on all day. Yep, it
stinks, and yep, it's steamy, but it's worthwhile just to
catch an extremely up-close look at a volcano (you can walk
right on top of it if you plug your nose hard enough). If
you're like me and have some weird, geeky attraction to all
things volcanic, this town will tickle you pink.
Another selling
point of Noboribetsu is the plethora of GORGEOUS volcanic
hot springs they have here. Although there are probably a
good 50 of them in the city itself, I recommend checking out
one of the big hotels and paying the extra $5 or so to take
a bath in a nice spot. The hot spring I went to was at the
Daiichi Ryokan, a big, swanky Japanese-style hotel that costs
upwards of $300 a night to stay in, but pay them $10 and you
can spend as long as you want in their really nice facility.
Inside the hot springs are all kinds of different pools with
various chemicals and temperatures. There were about 20 kinds
of baths at that hotel, from acidic water baths (ouch!) to
aluminum baths, to a freezing water bath. Each one supposedly
helps treat different diseases and health afflictions and
the info is all there for everyone to read in both Japanese
and English. Definitely worth a visit if you're into bathing
with a bunch of other naked nasty-looking people. Hey, when
in Rome...(or Noboribetsu)......
If you do end up
in Noboribetsu, stay at the Kanefuku Youth Hostel. It's a
really, really old, dilapidated house owned by an elderly
Japanese lady who looks like an Ewok. No really, she's super-nice,
but she looks EXACTLY like an Ewok. There's no shower or meals
served there, but she'll help you out with travel plans and
you'll want to sleep as soon as you get home from a full day
of hiking around volcanoes and soaking in those awesome hot
springs. Noboribetsu RULES!
Kanefuku
Youth Hostel in Noboribetsu
|
