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| Meeting mascot "Takimaru" on the way to dinner buffet |
We ended our Hokkaido summer adventure with a 2 night stay at Dai-Ichi Takimotokan. This large hotel complex in the Noboribetsu area of Hokkaido features an incredible hot spring playground. Similar to Yubaba's bathhouse in "Spirited Away", the resort is a bustling amusement park to hot springs, food and relaxation. Adults and children wander the halls in the hotel yukatas - on their way to the baths, the buffet or the shops.
I had booked the half-board buffet package which gave us unlimited buffet breakfast and dinner. You can also choose other food options such as kaiseki meals brought to your room and there is also a ramen joint and pub on the premises.
There is a variety of rooms to choose from but most of them are Japanese-style - sleeping on futons on a tatami floor. There are also more modern rooms with western-style beds in the renovated wing. The most luxurious rooms would have their own private onsens which can get very cost-prohibitive in Japan.
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| Our basic room |
Firstly, dinner buffet! It's a shame I am now allergic to crab as there was unlimited snow crab legs. Luckily, I'm not allergic to ikura (salmon roe) and it was all-you-can-eat. Cue scooping copious amounts of ikura on top of my rice bowl. The food selection was excellent - a mixture of Japanese, Western and Asian food.
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| 1st bowl of roe donburi |
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| 2nd bowl of roe donburi |
After far too much food, we wandered round the complex shops before visiting the hot springs.
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| The indoor shopping complex with a gaudy musical demon club |
The genders are divided but each area has a plethora of indoor and outdoor pools to choose from, at varying temperatures. The indoor pools have huge windows overlooking the Hell Valley area - a steaming valley full of geysers. There was an acupressure river walkway - suitably dented to hit the reflexology points on your feet as you walked through. There were waterfall jets which you could use to massage tight spots on your body such as your shoulders or back. The outdoor pools were my favorite - the hot spring water was milky white which protected your modesty. Yes, you have to be completely naked in Japanese bath houses which is not so difficult with strangers! Bathing in the warm mineral-rich water in the cool night air while resting your eyes on the manicured Japanese gardens is truly a blissful treat.
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| Hell Valley - where the hot spring water comes from |
The rest of the vacation was purposely spent not doing much - just alternately eating, relaxing and bathing. Who's up for going to a different hot spring resort every year? Next up, I have my eyes set on Okinawa...
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