Ryokans

Arrived in　Sapporo... two entries for now that I wrote on the train ride over here.　　I　am going insane with this keyboard at the inet cafe (no inet at the hostel) so hopefully this doesn:t look like gibberish. Keyboards I used last time I was here weren:t nearly this crazed.

Thought I'd write a bit about these Ryokan places since I finally got a few pictures up. Essentially they're Japanese bed and breakfasts. When stepping inside you have to remove your shoes and put on supplied slippers that you use for walking around. In the case of Kangetsu which has an outside lobby you also have outdoor slippers you can use after taking a bath. Each of the rooms have a small entrance way for you to take your slippers off before stepping on the tatamai floor that comprise your actual room. It's pretty fragile so you can't just be walking around on them with shoes or other hard surfaces. Usually inside is a small cushion to sit on, a Japanese futon to sleep on, low table, and a really cheap / small TV. The toilet room is shared, usually with both western and eastern styles. The way the baths work is you wash off beforehand then relax in either an outdoor or indoor pool, before rinsing again. They supply a Yukata, a light robe sort of like a Kimono but not gender specific. Overall a very cool experience. Ryokans can be very cheap or very expensive but very comfortable places to stay.

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