City of steam
It was overcast and muggy. We had a short, easy ride from Yufuin to the coastal city of Beppu -- uphill about 5 miles, through Yufuin Tukahara Heights and around Mount Tsurumi, then all downhill. A spoke on Rick's front wheel broke near the top of the climb, but his bike was still rideable.
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Beppu has many hot springs, and there is steam rising everywhere the water flows -- indoor and outdoor baths, and drainage culverts under the streets, and above-ground vent pipes on the sidewalks, and the famous jigoku (hell) ponds, the eight main hot springs, which eject boiling water, steam or hot mud. The city is a plumber's dream, Rick commented. All together, Beppu's hot springs yield more than 100,000 kiloliters of natural hot water daily. Much of it is piped to spas in Beppu and other towns. |
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