Stay at a ryokan in Japan

“Before dinner, I had time to walk over and take a dip in the onsen. In Japan, nudity is not really a thing. To enter the onsen, you first have to take a thorough shower, which is done sitting down. Once you are clean, you proceed to the water. [...] And onsens are scalding hot. When I say scalding, I mean it. I was able to dip a foot in for about 5 seconds, and then I felt like I was going to emerge with burns. A few other Japanese were in the room with me, and they agreed. We ran some cold water and it eventually was tolerable. And beyond tolerable, it was amazing. I stayed around 20 minutes, and when I could take no more, I dried off and returned to my room to await attendant, who was going to fetch me for dinner.”

“I am staying at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese boarding house. That means I have tatami mats on the floor, low seating and a futon on the floor. It also means traditional eating, if you choose. I didn’t feel it was the right thing to stay here and not have at least one traditional meal, so my first breakfast is a selection of small serves of things I can’t identify. It comes with an explanation / instruction sheet and was not as scary as I thought it would be. Some of it was even very tasty. Sleeping on the floor is not comfortable, nor is it uncomfortable. It is probably really good for my back, regardless of what my back might think about that. The hardest part is getting up off the floor again. But I slept well enough.”