We spent 5 nights beautiful in Kyoto. We ate, drank, and did many things, but none as memorable as gettin the ol' clam out in public.
I'm talkin Onsen.
This was a solo mission for Victoria, as I hath been cast out by my beloved Japanesey into the cold harsh clothed world for being suspected Yakuza scum due to my wee tattoos that art as threatening as a cream pie.
Without further ado, I allow a guest post into my blog-bed:
Guest blogger Victoria reporting in. Your regular blogger Kerrie face is busy drinking a mystery can of alcohol from a Japanese vending machine after a rather traumatic day in Hiroshima.
After safely locking my Kerrie in our adorable little Kyoto apartment (room?) I went where few Western women have gone before. To have a bath... In public... Naked. Australians seems to have a taboo associated with nudity. But I have been surprised to discover other cultures are a lot more comfortable with getting their kit off in public. There was a the nudist beach in Croatia, the sauna in Sweden and now a Japanese onsen.
Unfortunately as Kerrie face is considered a member of the Yakuza (Japanense gang) due to her impressive collection of tattoos, I was on my own. Personally I don't think a heart shaped tattoo is considered that offensive but who am i to judge?
After removing my shoes and paying my 410 yen entrance fee (a cup of coffee in Australia, man do I miss Australian coffee... The options here are an American sized cup of milk from Starbucks, a vending machine coffee or overpriced drip coffee which is apparently a treat. Would you believe the best stuff here comes out of a vending machine? Anyway, I digress. Where was I?) Oh yes, public nudity. I went through the conveniently red coloured doorway (blue for boys ofcourse), and entered the dreaded locker room.
After a lot of very discreet glances around I confirmed that yes, this definitely was a bathhouse where I was expected to take my clothes off and I hadn't accidently walked into a public swimming pool where a bathing suit is definitely not optional. Some more very subtle glances confirmed that I was the only geijin (foreigner) there. Well, deep breath and here I go! Travelling is all about embracing local customs and experiencing everything a place has to offer after all.
So clothes have now been safely stored in a locker and no one has started pointing and laughing at me yet. Easy! I head into the bathing area and spot a fellow geijin. A quick look and understanding smile passes between us. Yes we are naked. Yes we are the odd ones out here. Yes I understand your unease but aren't we awesome and brave for doing this and won't this make a great story to tell back home? Some things transcend language.
Let me just say that we are dirty, unclean and need to take a lot more showers. When I saw the care and attention that went into washing and cleaning before even getting into the baths it made me feel like a filthy foreigner. I folded my long legs awkardly in front of mirror and perched on a pink plastic stool and processed to purify my own filthy foreigner body.
At last I was ready to enter the bath itself! But wait, what to do with my washer? Putting your washer in the water of a bath is the utmost offense. The water in the bath is considered clean while your washer is considered unclean and is not to touch the water under any circumstances. I suddnely had images of my pink and purple cat motif washer falling into the bath and having the entire bathhouse freeze with horror followed by the bath being emptied and the entire place being closed down before being scrubbed and cleaned. The custom seemed to be to wear your washer on your head, and not wanting to stand out anymore I firmly attached my own kitty washer to my head.
Ah the bath. Think of a hot tub. Now think of more hot tubs. Hot, hot tubs. Skin scorching, hot hot hot tubs. Ok so look, maybe the baths were a bit hot. And maybe I didn't stay in them that long. So yes, I spent the majority of my time washing and getting ready for the bath, rather than actually bathing. But cultural enriching experience and all of that right? And I felt clean, so so so clean.
END
There are no photos to this post. Obviously. So keep your eyes above the collar bone, and use your imagination.