More Snow!!!

Today a Japanese friend, Tomoko, took me to Unzen to visit an onsen (hot spring) and do some sightseeing. It was absolutely freezing, and we weren't far out of Sasebo when we first noticed a dusting of snow on some of the mountains!! How exciting!!!

The scenery along the 3hr drive was absolutely spectacular! Driving through mountains and beside the ocean, I wished that my eyes could record everything I saw. As we got closer to Unzen, the snow was getting thicker, and the excitement turned to a little concern that the road up the mountain might be closed! But inspite of all the warnings beside the road, a nice police officer told us we were welcome to attempt the drive, and we made it up no worries. It was so beautiful!! The snow looked so pretty sitting on all the trees! And in places the snow was quite thick on the ground!!

And the onsen was awesome! Because its Monday and it was snowing, we were the only 2 at the women's onsen. You could move between three inside pools - cool, hot and really hot, looking out over a lake next to a snow-covered mountain! Stunning! You could also go outside on a balcony-type thing (very private tho) and sit in a hot bath, with the same view, and the cold wind blowing snow off the trees and at your head! Very fun!

Then Tomoko bought me a scrumptious Japanese-style lunch... they don't just give you the dish you ordered - you get all these cute little side dishes too - soup, salad, bread rolls and stuff. Before we returned to Sasebo, I had to make a baby little snowman in the beautiful yummy soft snow... oh the fun!!!