温泉 (Onsen) - Hot Springs

Today I went to a japanese Onsen. These are the japanese equivalent to a Finnish sauna. But instead of sweating inside a dry wooden box you sit in hot water, often outdoors.
According to the Atsugi Help Site for Foreigners, 七沢温泉 (Nanasawa Onsen) is one of the hottest springs arround. Perfect for a hazy saturday afternoon :-). Also it is said to be one of the most alkaline springs arround, which is supposed to be good for your skin...


As the dresscode inside an onsen is identical to the dresscode in a Finnish Sauna, I only took a picture from the entrance of the onsen, but the Website of 七沢荘 (Nanasawa Shou, the name of the inn, Japanese only) has some unpopulated (and blurry) pictures of the inside.

From Atsugi it is only 25 Minutes by bus to get to Nanasawa. It is surprising how quickly the surroundings change. Atsugi is a medium sized city with around 300.000 people, lots of buildings and lots of concrete. Nanasawa onsen is located deep in the countryside. That means it is very quiet and there is a lot of nature. As it is autumn right now, I saw a lot beautifully deeply red colored trees, mixed with trees that are still green:



Sitting in a hot spring is very relaxing, but also very straining. I like it a lot :-).