Onsen Hopping

Would like to start my blog with good news...apparently this is now the seventh day that no dolphins have been driven into the cove! Taiji is so wildly beautiful when it goes into this peaceful state. This place has  nature's power to become so much...if only....

Decided to spend time in the medicinal hot springs today. It is said that the Onsens of Kii-Katsuura are on  par with the Onsens of Shirahama which has built a booming tourist trade around their Onsens. I believe Eco-Tourism is what will help to save the dolphins in the end (Shirahama used to hunt dolphins too)...also tourism helped to save the Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda, which were on the verge of extinction, along with the  anti-poaching patrols put in place by Dian Fossey.  After lunch...walked over to the harbour to catch a boat to the Onsens. Last year while in Taiji, would take this same walking route often and again I wave to some of the local store owners as I pass by. My favourite are the three cute ladies who wave to me from  my favourite bakery.

Hopped off the boat at the hotel. This hotel is huge and has many hot springs to choose from. After I paid my ten dollar fee, was told that I could try all the hot springs if I wished; so, went straight to the most popular onsen...under a cave looking out onto the Pacific Ocean. The hotel is like a maze; had to walk about a mile before finding the second onsen...smaller and more private. After missing the boat back, I decided to try the onsen on the top floor overlooking the ocean...took the six minute escalator to the top of the hotel. The view from the onsen was breathtakingly awesome. Beauty products were scattered about for the women...shampoos, conditioners, body soaps, face soaps, foot creams, skin creams, etc. Of course, I wanted to try everything...need it! Except, was unable to read the Japanese labels. A girl laughed because I was soaping myself up with conditioner...thinking it was body soap...and washing my hair with face soap!

On leaving, I entered the elevator with a nice Japanese family. The young boy was beaming, hugging a stuffed dolphin doll. His eyes were shining....I know the look, a certain look of when you have fallen in love with an animal. Guessing that he had just come from the Taiji Whale Museum.

Believe this boy would be ecstatic if he could see dolphins swimming free in the wild!