Nozawa Onsen I

I traveled to Nozawa Onsen (野沢温泉) last weekend in a group of ten people for some skiing and onsen'ing. (An onsen is a bath fed by spring water heated deep in the earth.) Our hotel was right around the corner from the town's public bath. Inside was little more than wooden shelves for placing your shoes and clothes. Strip down and jump in. There are few other rules.

One of the Japanese guys managed to convinced one in our group to drink the onsen water! It was pale green and had bits floating around. (Each onsen source in Japan has different properties -- particles, dissolved or not.) After he took a few sips from what looked like a teacup, they cheered.

Of course, our hotel (旅館：ryokan) had its own onsen, but it is part of the village experience to hop in with the locals. The baths were divided between men and women, and further by hot and scalding water. You can imagine the foreigners were mostly in the hot bath, and the older Japanese men were camped in the scalding bath. One with the scalding onsen? Ask me in forty years if I still live here.