day 159, Beppu

Caught the train back to Fukuoka, then onward to Beppu which took 4 and half hours altogether. Getting out of the train station I bump in to Saul, the aussie I met in Fukuoka a couple of days ago. He’s staying at the same hostel and he gives me directions there (as I forgot to get some) and I check in and try to work out what to do in Beppu. It’s a Onsen capital and has loads of them spread out, as well as hells which is just pools of boiling water that the Japanese, to make them more user friendly have tackied them up, giving each one a theme and sounded like a laugh. I couldn’t work out which onsen to head for, so the hostel lent me a bike and I plan to choose as I’m going along. Literally 2 minutes away is a area of seafront with a bit of beach, and I get off and just lie there reading my book (I picked up High Fidelity) and before I know it it’s dark and I’ve been laying there for 3 hours. I head back to the hostel to see if Saul is back, he’s not so go to the supermarket to buy some food and some milk and make myself a vegetable stir fry while watching some Japanese Baseball. Really tired so put Rise of the Planet of the Apes on dvd in, get my computer and half watch the film while booking busses to Tokyo and a hostel in Tokyo for when I arrive. Saul comes back and we plan tomorrow together, he heads to bed, I finish the film and follow him.