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Bathe in Beer in Japan

October 11, 2007 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments

A recent report from our Osaka embed suggested that visiting a hot spring--and acquainting yourself with a dozen naked Japanese strangers--is the way to get ahead in Japan. But we're going to raise the bar higher. Don't go to just any hot spring: make it one filled with beer.

From now until December 31 the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun hot springs amusement park and spa resort in Hakone, a short distance from Tokyo, has a beer bath installation. Now the bath itself isn't filled with beer, but rather with heated amber-colored water and white foam, infused with the aroma of hops and barley. But three times a day staff pour beer into the bath and over the lucky customers who happen to be bathing at the time. The extra good news? The beer bath moisturizes and cleanses the skin.

If you're a tee-totaller, don't worry, the spa also offers tea and coffee baths. But the beer bath concept will probably be of interest to the politicians traveling to Japan's Lake Toya for the 2008 G8 Summit--though perhaps the Russian delegation might prefer a vodka bath.

Related Stories:
· Hakone Kowakien Yunessun [Official Site]
· Sloshed in Beer, Japanese Style [AFP]
· Osaka in 60 Seconds [Jaunted]
· Japan's Lake Toya Entices Politicians [Jaunted]

[Photo: AFP]

HOWTO: Take a Bath on a Plane

September 26, 2007 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments

You wouldn't have thought it possible, would you? But Chinese passenger Jin Sheng figured out how to bathe himself in a toilet cubicle on a flight between Nanning and Chongqing this week.

Other passengers complained that the man, who turned out to be a first-time flier, was taking too long in the toilet; others noticed water escaping under the door. A flight attendant opened the door with a key and found the man half naked. When he'd discovered hot water in the lav, he'd decided to clean himself up for the first time in a week.

The airline was powerless to do anything as regulations don't prohibit passengers from taking a bath. And we think that after he'd skipped showers for a week, his fellow passengers were probably glad that he did, anyway.

Related Stories:
· Passenger Has Bath on Plane [Ananova]
· Real Places to Take a Bath [Jaunted]
· China Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: spcoon]

More Than a Bath in Bath

May 17, 2007 at 10:35 AM | 0 Comments


When is a bath more than a bath? That's easy. When it's:

the best preserved Roman religious spa from the ancient world.

That's the marketing tag on the Roman Baths in the English town of Bath, and that really does make it sound enticing. Here you can wander through the Roman temple, Sacred Spring and Roman bath house areas and see exhibits of artifacts from the original days of the bath. What's even better is you can listen to an audioguide recorded by the great travel writer Bill Bryson, which surely takes a witty stance on all things naked and bath-related.

If you want a dip yourself, you'll have to go to the nearby Thermae Bath Spa, where the water isn't quite such a murky green color.

[Photo: scot2342]

Related Stories:
· English Soaked About Bath's Baths [Jaunted]

Bad Blumau Not Bad At All

August 11, 2006 at 8:37 AM | 0 Comments


We are big fans of Friedensreich Hundertwasser's funky design style, whether the artistic result is jewelry, art or architecture. Combine that with the luxury of a thermal bathing experience and a resort with no two windows alike and we're in some kind of heaven. Even if it is an expensive kind of heaven.

The Rogner Bad Blumau spa resort in south-eastern Austria is really a one-of-a-kind. Windy corridors with crazily irregular tiles (and hazardous lumps and bumps on the paths that would never pass safety regulations elsewhere) lead to a relaxing collection of baths and in particular the Vulkania hot spring, bubbling under the motto of "No spring is hotter or more mineralized". The symbolic volcano at the end of the lake is a tad on the tacky side, but usually you'll be too relaxed to care.

You can either visit the bath resort on a day ticket or stay at the hotel, but remember in keeping with the "wellness" theme, the huge buffet breakfast will be full of organic foods and anyone looking for colorful cereals will be frowned at: Those sometimes serious Austrians probably won't crack a smile at a "Lucky Charms, bitte?" request.

Related stories:
World of Wellbeing [Globe & Mail]
English Soaked About Bath's Baths [Jaunted]