Yesterday we made our way by car up the coast into Chubu Prefecture
to the city of Kanazawa and the countryside north of it for our trip to
an onsen (hot spring) resort. Hana wanted to treat her parents to an
onsen weekend given that they don't often make such trips on their own. We also wanted to go to an onsen as it has been quite some time since
we've done that - in fact, this is something that I've never done as I
am just not comfortable with the concept of a public bath. I love hot
springs but I need to be wearing a bathing suit. Hundreds of years of
puritanism are hard to ignore!
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| Stopping at a "service change" on the trip to Kanazawa |
The drive up to the onsen took only about one hour but my Japanese family had a hilarious (at least to a Canadian) tendency to treat this drive like it was a major excursion. One hour won't even take you halfway from Regina to Saskatoon. The perception of distance for the Japanese is quite different from that of the typical North American. Trips that we would consider short are definitely long for them. I can't imagine how my in-laws would fare on the 5+ hour trip from Regina to Winnipeg or the even longer 8+ hour trip from Regina to Edmonton. That would be an interesting experience if I ever get the chance to take them on such a trip. I don't think that my father-in-law would be a happy camper.
The onsen area that we visited has been in existence for at least the past 200 years. Thus, it would have started operations during the late Edo Period in the early 1800's. The resort that we stayed at definitely has seen better days. We booked in online from Canada based on price and positive recommendations but the actual product was somewhat sketchy. The hotel definitely needed some renovation work - it was certainly clean but extremely dated. A total retrofit of all wood surfaces in the joint would be a good start. Regardless of this criticism, the kaiseki meal provided with the room as well as the hot spring baths themselves were rather good.
Hana and her parents went to the public baths while I opted for a more private version of this. It was an incredible experience - hot spring water, volcanic rocks, and an incredible view overlooking a mountain river and forest while it snowed. It was quite cold outside but the water was so hot that it did not matter and the snow fell straight down. It was definitely a beautiful scene - much more natural than the 'pool-like' hot springs that I've been to in Canada. I'll definitely go back and do this again if and when I get the chance.
On the drive home we passed very close to the northern coast of Honshu and got to see the Sea of Japan in all of its winter fury. What a grey and rough sea it was! All I could think of was that episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza pretends to be a marine biologist in order to save a whale and impress a girl: "The sea was angry that day my friends...like an old man ordering soup at a deli!" Regardless of this silly thought, the sea was quite beautiful in its rough and tumble extremes - extremely cold that is...
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| "The sea was angry that day my friends..." |
On the way back to Toyama in the city of Kanazawa there is the Japan Automotive Museum. I had never heard of this institution but, as I am a bit of a car buff, I wanted to check it out. It was definitely not disappointing. The museum is huge - 3 floors containing hundreds of vintage automobiles from all over the world.
Scott Sutherland -- you would have been able to spend an
entire day at this place. Just the BMW display would have kept your attention
for hours. Luckily my old '93 Mitsubishi Colt was NOT on display. All I
could think was "...you know you're getting old when a car you once
owned is now in a museum!"
Tomorrow we head back to Tokyo for our last few days in Japan. It is hard to believe that three weeks of vacation is quickly coming to a close. Despite the fact that it is totally cliched, time certainly does fly when you are having fun.
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