Visions of Hell: Part II
A year later we have returned to hell… or so to speak. On a return trip to Beppu, we re-visited a popular area and well-known tourist attraction called “Jigoku Meguri,” otherwise known as the hells of Beppu. Last year, we visited the first six hells but enjoyed them, the food, and spa’s so much that we missed the last two before closing hours. Now we went back to complete our journey of these famous hells.
** Here is a little recap of information about the hells: The word “jigoku” takes its meaning, “burning hell,” from the ancient Buddhist sutras of the East. It is said that a visit to the eight phenomenal, natural hot spring sites will also conjure up images of the hellish depths of the “Inferno” as portrayed in the great medieval poem by Dante. Each jigoku is distinctive, with billowing steam, spewing hot clay mud, gushing high temperature hot water, & rich with iron oxide. The hells are too hot to be diluted into an onsen, as the temps range from 50 to 99.5 °C (122 to 210 °F)!! Some of the hells also have a natural smell of sulfur. **
Our seventh visit to hell: Chinoike Jigoku (Blood-Pond Hell), is blood red because of red clay which contains iron oxide.
Our eighth and final visit to hell: Tatsumaki Jigoku (Waterspout Hell), is one of the largest geysers in Japan. The word “geyser” means a hot spring spouting out boiling water and steam in intervals. It is also known for having one of the shortest resting periods between spouts among the geysers in the world!
Well, that concludes our trip to the eight deadly hells of Beppu! Hope you enjoyed seeing these wonders through our eyes and hopefully someday you’ll get a chance to see them yourself- they’re truly spectacular!
Lindsay View All →
Our roots will forever be from here, America, born and raised. Yet, life requires us to move more frequently than we care to count. Whether living stateside or abroad, you can always find us traveling somewhere. We scout out places that you only think you can dream of one day seeing and we seek out those that aren’t found in guidebooks. We then bring them to life here in our travel memos, so hopefully, one day you too can visit them or at least be able to live vicariously through us. This blog isn’t just about crossing off places from a bucket list. It’s about absorbing and learning how other cultures grow and fit into the same world that we do. Life is short and the world is big. Enjoy and get out there!
American Roots. Traveling Boots. 