Beautiful Bear Onsen Day

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Geo: 36.8451, 139.051

We slept for about six hours, and then it was time to head out for our day trip to Takaragawa onsen way out in Gunma prefecture. Assuming all went well, it would be about two hours by train plus a half hour bus ride. Of course things didn't go well. Lol.

We left at 7am to take the subway to Shinjuku station. Me, Chris, Eric and Beth weren't using our 7 day rail pass yet. So we needed to buy a ticket to Minakami. Then Billy, Mai and Michelle decided to run back to the house and grab their rail passes so they could activate theirs. Huge mistake splitting up. They barely made the right train in time. Ironically, we had plenty of time, even bought coffee and pastries, and missed the right train. Lol. We were waiting at the platform and suddenly Chris disappears just as our train pulls up. We searched and didn't see him. Then I saw him rushing onto the train. So we darted for the doors, too, but it was too late. They closed on us. I stared in shock at the doors that wouldn't open. Eric's brilliant instinct was to snap a hilarious photo of Chris' "wtf" face as the train took him away without us. We had the pocket WiFi which meant we had no way of contacting him, and we had no predefined meet up plan. I was praying he actually paid attention to me telling him where we were headed and what stations to switch trains at. Our group had splintered further.
Monica and Alex were also supposedly on the right train, though.

So, the three of us hopped the very next train to Omiya. Once there, we searched for Billy, Mai and Michelle. We somehow passed each other while searching but Chris suddenly jumped out at us by some sheer damned luck. Apparently back at Shinjuku station, someone ran into him and knocked the food bag he was carrying to the ground. Everything spilled out. As he was trying to grab everything, another train pulled up and the people rushing out kept knocking him around. We couldn't see him because he was on the ground. Luckily, he remembered which station to get off at, though. 😊 And by total luck we ran right into him.

In the process of trying to find the other three at Omiya, our train arrived. So we got on. The other three jumped on the wrong train, though. Unfortunately it was a Shinkansen bound for Nagano. 😞 And even though it passed through Takasaki on the way, it didn't stop there. So they had to make their way back on a different train.

At Takasaki we finally caught up with Monica and Alex, and the 7 of us made it to Minakami without issues.

We finally made it to Takaragawa onsen around 1240pm after taking a short bus ride from the train station. Not bad all things considered. Billy, Mai and Mi would be meeting us there an hour and a half later.

The onsen was so beautiful. We picked this one specifically because it was a rotemburo. Also one that likely wouldn't have an issue with mine and Chris' tattoos. We covered ours up with rock tape just in case but it didn't end up mattering. There were no signs forbidding tattoos like at other onsen, and actually hardly any staff to enforce any rules to begin with. We hung out in the mixed baths (yes, I took pictures against the rules but tried to avoid naked people). After an hour, we ate lunch up at the restaurant just as the other three finally arrived to the onsen. So they headed for the baths while we ate. My soup and Chris' curry were both very good! After that, Chris and I went back down to the baths for another hour. Took more pictures, too. :D

I think a lot of Americans are freaked out by the idea of being naked at onsen. Especially a mixed gender bath. I'm a nurse. Naked people are boring. I've seen it all. Beth and I did get followed by one very well endowed, friendly naked guy who wanted to help us take pictures. We were covered up so I was cool with it. Females are allowed to wear a "courtesy towel" in the baths at Takaragawa but the men are expected to go naked except for their little hand towel. Most guys seem to use the minagain, too.el to cover their junk when walking. Not that it covers much lol.

The onsen also has a couple bears in cages, which I think off puts some people. Near as I can tell from basic research, the bears were pretty tame in the area and used to even swim in the onsen with guests. Now that's not allowed. But the bears are too tame for the wild now so they're part of a conservation effort on the property.

Heading home to Tokyo was far easier than getting to the onsen. We were finally all together again, too. By the time we got back to Shinjuku we were all hungry again. So we easily found a ramen place. Its pretty neat. A lot of small places use a machine that you order your food off of. Then it prints out tickets that you give to the wait staff. I love the system. Its simpler because when you're done eating, you just leave. You also don't need to worry as much about the language barrier. :D Anyway, my ramen was gloriously chewy. I got some kinda black garlic oil in it. Along with beer and gyoza. After that, me, Chris, Eric and Beth went home to sleep while the others continued on for night time adventure.

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