Continued the trip in the Japanese Alps. Not exactly the biggest mountains in the world, but certainly beautiful and full of lush green mountains. The hiking was low key but very "Japanese", which means well marked, well graded, absolutely clean as an E.R. and green.
The Ryokan Onsens ( the traditional bath houses) are very interesting. They are mostly inside a sauna like room, but sometimes outside. They are typically divided according to sexes and they have a very specific ritual you go through before getting the pool. First you get comfortable being buck naked. They provide you with a "modesty towel". These are small by Japanese standards and to put it mildly, I am a little bigger than the average Japanese. The bruises on my forehead may attest to this. Even the elevators require me to duck. I am often mistaken for a Yeti, especially by the children. I kid you not. Anyway, imagine a hand towel as a "covering". You then proceed to the shower area and take a soapy shower and get cleaned up, sitting on a bench about as tall as my ankles. Again, imagine the Alice in Wonderland sequence where she is too big to fit in the room and you have and idea what I mean. It must be like the Jolly Green giant when I come into a bath house. You then try ( key word... Try) to get into the scalding hot tub. It is outrageous how hot it is. The whole time there is a hole in the rock that is spewing out more insanely hot water. Since I was the only one in the room most of the time I pulled the cheater hose of cold water into the cedar tub. It took a while to get to the point I could dip in the water. I felt like a lobster or something, because I was turning bright red and quickly cooking myself. But it sure felt good. Although you sleep on the floor, in a "bunk" room with a real futon, the relaxed nature of my legs and body meant I was finally over jet lag in such a way I vaguely remember laying down. I managed to
