So we finally made it to Japan! Managed to get a flight here from Shanghai to Osaka last week but the site has been under maintenance for the past few days so sorry for the delay in posting the blog.

Anyway, we're lovin Japan so far, the first hostel we stayed at in Osaka was small but really traditional with beds on the floor and pebble corridors. Spent the first full day in Osaka looking around the castle then checked out the Osaka night scene from above at the Floating Garden Obsevatory.

Spent the next day wandering round Kyoto but our time there was limited since we'd spent 4 hours that morning searching for accomodation. Osaka is pretty busy this time of year because the trees are all coming into blossom and people come from miles around to see them in bloom. So this meant that we had to do endless amounts of internet searching and calling hostels trying to find a bed for the night. We finally came across a Capsule Hotel on the outskirts of Osaka complete with free health spa.

We were slightly unsure of how to go about using the communal baths but after watching how the locals went about things we stripped off and jumped in...yes we were naked in the bath together, but when in Japan...

The following morning (Sunday) we got the Shinkansen, aka "Bullet Train" to Kyushu to see the natural hot springs in Beppu (i've never heard of it either). The current hostel where we are staying has it's own "Onsen" (a bath filled with natural spring water heated underground) but we ventured out in the evening rain to visit a locally renowned Onsen. We were told it's famous for it's hot water but we weren't told that it's hot enough to melt the skin off your back! More nakedness and a super hot soak and it was back to the hostel for drinking games until the early hours of this morning.

So that brings us to today. A morning soak in the hostels' Onsen (naked,obviously; and with a lot of singing) then we got the bus to another Onsen up in the hills above Beppu. This one had a variety of baths ranging from hot to very hot with some indoors and one outdoor. So the nakedness continued for the majority of the afternoon until we were all fairly well cooked.

Tonight's plan is to head to a Kareoke bar for a few drinks then we're off to Hiroshima in the morning (hopefully!)

Keep the messages coming and dont forget our other site if you want to see the rest of our pics... www.magicalmule.com/dave

back soon, the boys

x x x