Today has been onsen onsen onsen! I got up and used the onsen in the hostel - just like a big naturally hot bath. Then I headed to the "foreign tourist information centre" to get my all day bus pass (managed to get a student one for 700 yen). Caught the bus to have a sand bath - they give you a yukata (a thin dressing gown type thing which my hostel gives you free of charge to keep!) you lie down and they literally pile hot black s...

I have just got to my hostel in Beppu which is full of onsen or hot springs to you and me. I am apologising straight away for lack of punctuation but for some reason the keys on the keyboard do not correspond to what appears on screen! This hostel is luuurvely - it has its own onsen and I am in a 4 bed dorm as opposed to an 8 bed and it is also quiet outside for a change! I must be the only person to ever come to japan and experience delay ...