#CatTravels: Buried in Beppu and a fish pedicure in Yufuin

By Catherine Toth Fox • September 11, 2013 • #CatTravels, Food

Back to Beppu

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It was a full day, from being buried in black sand to getting our toes nibbled on by small fish. We hopped back on the city bus for the hour-long ride back to Beppu. Good thing we had an onsen back at the hotel. We needed it!

It was an unusual second day in Beppu.

I confess, I didn’t know much about the city or what it had to offer. I browsed the Internet and asked a couple of my Japanese friends about what to do and where to go — and I just had no idea.

I saw that there was a sand onsen — sounded nice! — near our hotel and decided that was a start. But I had no idea you would get buried in hot black sand for 15 minutes, listening to the lapping ocean at our feet and sweating profusely.

And I had heard about this town called Yufuin, about an hour from Beppu City, which had lots of ryokan, cafes, boutiques and onsens to visit. But that’s all I knew.

So I decided to just wing it.

We’d walk to the sand onsen, then head to Beppu Ropeway to see the city — which was halfway to Yufuin — then catch the bus to the small resort town at the base of Mount Yufu and figure it out as we went.

And like many spontaneous things you do while on vacation in a new city, the fun was in the surprises we found at every turn.

Follow my #CatTravels adventures in Europe and Japan on Twitter @thedailydish and Instagram @catherinetoth.

7 Comments

Reply David Jackson September 11, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Love this… except the buried in the sand thing. A little creepy.
Reply M September 11, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Hello Cat,
Beppu has a lot more things to do than I thought. More reasons to go back!
Reply Dennis September 11, 2013 at 11:07 pm
I love the thought of buried in hot sand. It might smooth out the wrinkles on my old body! Great blog!!!!!
Reply Glenn D September 12, 2013 at 4:19 am
Hello Cat,
Glad you made it to Yufuin. I think I mentioned Yufuin in the last entry. That town is quite quaint and a bit more laid back than the tourists-loaded Beppu. Those dead-skin eating fish are weird, yeah?
Reply Glenn D September 12, 2013 at 4:24 am
By the way, if you can find a Lawson during your trek, be sure to check out there sweets section. They are known for their roll cakes and giant cream puffs. When I heard that Lawson was coming to Waikiki, I REALLY looked forward to getting some of the desserts that Lawson (in Japan) had to offer. When I went to the ones in Waikiki, what a disappointment! They had nothing (well, they had ones made locally but not the same…). I mean, what’s a Lawson without their famous desserts.
Reply M September 12, 2013 at 6:59 am
We did the Dr. Fish in Tokyo and it was weird when you first put your feet in the water and the fish starts to attack. Then my wife puts her feet in and most of the fish starts attacking her feet. Shes ticklest, so she starts cracking up.
Reply Annoddah Dave September 12, 2013 at 4:08 pm
CAT: I swear the larger fish from your pix looks like a cichlid…i.e., tilapia! Did you check and see if they sold fish on a stick at that place? LOL