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By now, I had come to relish the whole onsen experience.
First, you entered the side of the onsen appropriate to your gender (These were usually indicated by either red or blue curtains). In the interest of fairness, the sides were rotated each day, so that a person could experience the onsen on both sides on different days.
Once inside, there were lockers, where you stripped off completely and then headed to a shower area to shower and soap/shampoo yourself first, until completely clean. Most folks there were extremely thorough in their bathing before stepping into the hot springs themselves.
In the onsen, all you had was a small hand towel, which was usually placed on your head, although a minority of people did use the hand towel as a modesty shield to cover their lower body as they walked around. In any case, no one paid you any attention, and everyone there appeared totally comfortable going from pool to pool completely undressed.
As for how long you spent in each pool, it was entirely up to you. I didn't spend all that much time in each one. The water temperature, colour, clarity, and even smell and taste of the pools varied, and some were supposed to be good for one ailment or another, but I just enjoyed a relaxing soak in each of the pools.
There were also steam rooms and sauna rooms.
In each onsen, there was always at least one icy cold pool as well. While Mrs yflyer avoided the cold pool on her visits to the ladies' section of the onsen, I found it to be an essential part of the experience to bite the bullet and fully immerse oneself in the cold pool at least once per visit, if not more often, as it really felt invigorating to do so, despite the freezing cold when you first entered. An unforgettable experience.
When you were done, you headed back to the showers, and bathed yourself once again, before exiting the onsen.
Whenever I left an onsen, I always felt relaxed, clean and comfortable...it was almost an addictive feeling, and after visiting different onsens on the trip, I came to look foward to using an onsen or public bath each day, especially if it was a cold day out in the snow (There were a few such days later in the trip).
While the best onsen experiences are probably in Hokkaido and Japan, there are Japanese-style spa resorts outside Japan, even in Singapore, where one can experience at least some of the pleasure of visiting a Japanese onsen There are several in Singapore, including my favourite, Yunomori Onsen and Spa located at Kallang Wave Mall near Singapore Sports Hub.
First, you entered the side of the onsen appropriate to your gender (These were usually indicated by either red or blue curtains). In the interest of fairness, the sides were rotated each day, so that a person could experience the onsen on both sides on different days.
Once inside, there were lockers, where you stripped off completely and then headed to a shower area to shower and soap/shampoo yourself first, until completely clean. Most folks there were extremely thorough in their bathing before stepping into the hot springs themselves.
In the onsen, all you had was a small hand towel, which was usually placed on your head, although a minority of people did use the hand towel as a modesty shield to cover their lower body as they walked around. In any case, no one paid you any attention, and everyone there appeared totally comfortable going from pool to pool completely undressed.
As for how long you spent in each pool, it was entirely up to you. I didn't spend all that much time in each one. The water temperature, colour, clarity, and even smell and taste of the pools varied, and some were supposed to be good for one ailment or another, but I just enjoyed a relaxing soak in each of the pools.
There were also steam rooms and sauna rooms.
In each onsen, there was always at least one icy cold pool as well. While Mrs yflyer avoided the cold pool on her visits to the ladies' section of the onsen, I found it to be an essential part of the experience to bite the bullet and fully immerse oneself in the cold pool at least once per visit, if not more often, as it really felt invigorating to do so, despite the freezing cold when you first entered. An unforgettable experience.
When you were done, you headed back to the showers, and bathed yourself once again, before exiting the onsen.
Whenever I left an onsen, I always felt relaxed, clean and comfortable...it was almost an addictive feeling, and after visiting different onsens on the trip, I came to look foward to using an onsen or public bath each day, especially if it was a cold day out in the snow (There were a few such days later in the trip).
While the best onsen experiences are probably in Hokkaido and Japan, there are Japanese-style spa resorts outside Japan, even in Singapore, where one can experience at least some of the pleasure of visiting a Japanese onsen There are several in Singapore, including my favourite, Yunomori Onsen and Spa located at Kallang Wave Mall near Singapore Sports Hub.
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