Explore Japan | Beppu, Harajiri Falls
Day 2: Beppu and Oita
The Easter bunny found us at our Air B&B all the way in Yufu. He even hid Easter eggs around the house! After we packed up and bit farewell to our amazing private onsen (hot spring) we headed to Oita for a special breakfast at Kona’s Coffee. The kids enjoyed their pancakes hidden under the mound of whipped cream. The hubs and I sampled a few items from the menu, including the guacamole which came with sweet chili tasting nacho cheese chips. I don’t think I will be able to eat guacamole without them now.
After breakfast we set off for Beppu to the Beppu Jigoku Meguri Hells Tour. It is a self guided tour of seven jigoku (hells) which are natural hot springs that date back thousands of years. Long ago the area was thought to be cursed because of the gas explosions, bubbling mud and intense steam from the hot springs. The area became know as a place of hells (jigoku). Each one has a special theme. We made it to five of the seven due to our own time constraints. The jigoku are pretty close together despite what the maps look like. You can easily walk to most of them from the initial pin. They have a bus that can take you to the furthest location. There is also ample parking to drive to each cluster.
There are a lot of cherry trees around the hells. I can image it would absolutely gorgeous during sakura season.
After a quick snack stop we hit the road heading south to Harajiri Falls and the surrounding tulip fields. This was a gorgeous stop. The waterfalls are in a horseshoe shape. There are stairs that lead down to the base of the falls and plenty of spots to grab some amazing shots. There is also a suspension bridge that goes across the valley for an interesting vantage point. During April there are several tulip fields planted in a variety of colors. Thankfully the rain held off so we could explore! I think we could have spent at least half a day here. We had to settle for about an hour before we headed to our next stop.
