Osaka to Hiroshima should have been a 3hr train ride but an unexpectedly long (2hrs) layover in Himeji meant we didn't reach our hostel until 5pm. After a couple of drinks in an izakaya across the road we decided to buy some food and drink and spend the night chilling in the hostel. For a small place it was very social and after a drinks we got chatting to a bunch of different people. It was gone 2am by the time we finally hit the sack, waking up everyone in our dorm as we crashed around trying to find our stuff!

The next day, in spite of our hangovers, we dragged ourselves out of bed to explore the city. First up was Peace Park with its atom bomb museum, numerous memorials and destroyed buildings - preserved in their crumbling state as a reminder of the devastation caused when the atom bomb was dropped in 1945). It was really interesting to learn more about the story behind the attack, especially the reasons the USA finally dropped the bomb and Einsteins involvement in the development of the weapon. After a quick lunch at the hostel we took a tram across the city to Seikken Garden - a park modelled on West Lake in Hangzhou (somewhere Kate and I had stayed in China). It was a nice spot to walk around and there were carp and turtles to feed in the lake so it was a pretty relaxing place to spend a sunny afternoon. In the evening we cooked dinner at the hostel before waiting in the common room to see if anyone was going to turn up for our pub crawl - we attempted to organise one by putting a poster up on the noticeboard the previous morning. Sadly no one showed...either people hadn't seen the notice or they just had no interest...massive fail! We decided to head out to a few bars anyway but despite drinking some strong Shochu (japanese wine similar to sake) it seemed to be one of those nights we weren't going to get drunk so after a few drinks we returned home...sober and wiser!

The next day we moved across town to be near the train station (the following day we had an early train journey). After picking up some supplies we took a train and ferry to Miyajima. A small island across the bay, its traditional housing, cobbled streets and tiny population make it seemed almost untouched by modern civilisation despite it being overrun with day-trippers from the mainland. Miyajima is famous for it's 'floating' torii gate Itsukushima and Buddhist temples (of course) but we were pretty templed out by now and happy just to spend a few hours wandering around the village and waterfront. Like Nara there were also deer freely roaming the streets - these ones even posed for group photos! We headed back to the mainland around mid afternoon and in the evening went to another conveyor belt sushi restaurant. It was Sunday and fairly late so the belt was almost empty, meaning we had to order directly from the chef. The food was ok but not a patch on the spinny spinny in Kyoto!

Early the following morning we got a train to Beppu, a small Coastal town known for it's hot springs and onsens. When we arrived it was pouring with rain but thankfully the Ryokan - a traditional Japanese guesthouse - we'd booked was easy enough to find so we only got half soaked! It was 11am and we were early so naturally there was no chance of us checking into our room (the Japanese love a rule!) but we were able to stow our bags before heading out. After a quick ramen at a very 'local' place (no English menu, we had to point at the display outside!), we jumped on a bus to Kanazawa Hells - an area in the hills with a high concentration of natural springs.

By the time we stepped off the bus the rain had relented and steam could be seen coming through pipes in the floor and drains. After getting slightly lost we made our way up the hill, following a yellow brick road (no really) to the 7 main Hells - springs too hot for bathing. After visiting two Hells we realised how touristy they'd been made. Each Hell had an entrance fee and the spring itself was completely marginalised by attractions that were more showy but seemingly unrelated. The first one we went to had a tacky red devil statue next to the spring and a crocodile farm attached - apparently the springs create ideal conditions for their breeding! The second had a mini zoo, including an elephant, a huge hippo you could feed, llamas and flamingoes, while the spring was tucked away at the back. After the second one we'd decided we'd spent enough time looking at hot water and animals and went to a traditional onsen nearby.

After my last experience I still wasn't quite sure what the deal was - and this time there were other people in the baths - but I nonetheless decided to adopt the same approach of 'clothes off, questions later'. It's quite difficult looking casual and like its the most natural thing in the world, when you're sitting butt-naked on an upturned bucket washing and showering as people watch from the baths...but I think I just about pulled it off! After showering, I sat for a few minutes in each of the baths - there were 3 or 4, each a different temperature - before heading to the outside bath to sit under a hot spring waterfall. After about half an hour I was relaxed and sufficiently liberated (and a bit bored) so got dressed and waited for Kate to finish her bathing.

Next up was a traditional mud-bath onsen a short bus ride away. According to the brochure this was a communal onsen so we weren't entirely sure what to expect...except that we'd surely be able to wear our swimsuits this time round! Or not...When we got there the 'spa' certainly had more of a traditional (or run-down!) feel and although the old lady behind reception spoke no english we gathered that swimsuits were most definitely NOT allowed. And it also didn't seem to be communal! So once again Kate and I went our separate ways to get naked with some locals!

Situated in an old stone building, the first pool had a set of steps to the side leading down to some dark, mysterious chamber and a skeletal old man (I wasn't sure if he was dead or alive!) floating, spread-eagled in the water. I decided to move swiftly on! The second pool was outside. The water was warm and milky coloured - presumably from the mud - and on one side there was a middle-aged guy hunched over, smoking a cigarette and eyeing me suspiciously. Still, it was a step up from the last room so I stayed a few minutes! Soon the smoking man got up and walked through a curtained doorway nearby. Curious to see what else was going on I followed him and as I stepped through the curtain I could see a natural mud pool surrounded by rocks. There was a young guy in the water, covered in mud and clinging to a wooden beam so I guessed this was the real mud pool and waded carefully in. The bath floor was covered in white mud so I started rubbing it all over me under the assumption that's what I was supposed to be doing!

After a couple of minutes two young japanese guys got into the pool and started chatting to me. Their english was limited to "where are you from?", "England? Ahhh, Beckham!", and "Do you like girls?" - an odd question to ask someone you've just met but perhaps understandable in the circumstances! Weird manly bond established, we watched as 3 japanese girls and Kate emerged from nowhere wrapped in towels, hurried past and went through another curtained doorway. My new naked chums started to get out of the pool, beckoning me to follow them. As we walked through the curtain I could hear the girls chatting and realised this must be the communal area. The entrances for men and women were separate and the first few metres of each side sheltered, with a fence running down the middle. The further you went into the pool though, the fence tapered off and it was easy to see into the other side - so naturally my naked chums and a couple of seedy old men had positioned themselves at the far end of the male side in prime perving position! Fortunately Kate was wise to this and stayed neck deep in the water. The mud here was thick and sludgy and presumably better for the skin than the other pool, but after a few minutes we decided it was all a bit too weird and headed back inside to rinse off and get dressed. Back at the Ryokan we finally checked in and then went for dinner at a local pasta restaurant, Jolly Pasta. After dinner we returned to the Ryokan to use their private two-person Onsen...very much communal and completely perv-free (well,almost)!

The next day we got up early to eat a traditional Japanese breakfast in the Ryokan. It was an odd assortment of smoked fish, egg (which we had to cook ourselves over a little bunsen flame!), tofu, pickles, rice and soup and while it was good to try it, it was a little hard to stomach first thing in the morning. After checking out we headed back to the station and took a train to the port city of Fukuoka. Naturally we weren't allowed to check in so went to the pub across the road for lunch. A couple of hours later we came back to check in, put on some laundry and then went back to the pub for happy hour cocktails! Suitably tipsy we strolled back to the hostel to cook dinner and sat on the roof terrace drinking a bottle of wine.

Despite heavy rain, we were up and out fairly early the following morning. While Kate went shopping, I took a wander around the port area to try to find a famous ramen street (Fukuoka is known for its ramen). I found a boatrace betting shop and a fish market but sadly no ramen! Later that afternoon I went to meet Kate at Hard Rock Cafe where we had a quick late lunch before heading into the baseball stadium next door to watch Fukuoka Hawks play the Hokkaido Fighters . It was a decent game but by the 7th innings we decided 4hrs at the baseball was enough for us and left early. On the way home we found a specialist ramen restaurant called Ichirin and stopped there for some chow. A different eating experience to normal restaurants, here you have to buy a food ticket from the vending machine at the entrance, before being seated at an individual booth facing the kitchen. There you fill out a little form to specify how you want your ramen cooked - how spicy, strength of broth taste, hardness of noodles, with/without spring onion, extra meat, etc - before ringing a bell and passing the form through a little window to the chef. Within minutes, out comes your personalised ramen...and very tasty it was too!