Ryoan-ji &an iridescent blue bath

Today, the sun shone so bright. J and I, after our biking high from yesterday decided to bike from our hostel (near Kyoto Station) to Ryoan-Ji Temple. In the blistering sun, slightly uphill for the entire time...it took a 40 minutes.

We had planned to get on the road early. You know, be at the temple by 0830. yeah, right. So we wake up at 7. Well, my alarm went off at 7. I turned it off on the first ring even though I never do that. I just couldn`t bear to wake up our bunk mates again. Last night, I was restless. After our adventuresome onsening, I couldn't fall asleep. J couldn't either, although I didn't know that at the time. We think our awakeness must have been the effects of the erie blue bath from last nights onsen.

Onsen`s are a typical Japanese public bath house. They are amazing!　A tradition here, people stop by after work. Usually they stay open until 11pm. J and I love them. I mean really love them. It`s like spending hours playing the the bath. I haven`t done that since I was 6!

So, last night, we ventured to an onsen near our hostel for a late night dip. The blue bath was very new to us.

When seated in it, my skin looked a wild glowing blue. You know the blue of sea glass before it becomes sea glass, or those beautiful old bottles you can find dusty on the shelves of old antique stores. This bath matched that color exactly. Now, I am adventure-some where onsens are concerned. I want to try everything. Like a kid in a candy store. Only naked with no desire to put anything in my mouth. So, after warming in the natural outdoor hot spring, and testing out the super hot bath with special jets for your ankles, i just walk over to this big blue bath and plopped (as elegantly as an inexperienced westerner can be) into it.

From my seat, I've got jets on my lower back easing the memories of my bad posture and the accumulation of walking all day with a shoulder bag...and jets on my feet. What could be better, right? J however has this sceptical look on her face. She thinks there could be something sketchy about this bath, and although she is a wild card, in this instance she slides in across from me with evident reserve. An old woman sits to my left. After a few moments Jules gets out. Later, she says that her body felt cool but a bit too hot, an odd sensation for sure. *laughter*. I, of course, stayed in for a while.

After bath hopping--from boiling brown tea water, to the seat where water streams onto your head in a single circular stream, to the sauna, to the cooler jet tub, then back to the outdoor mineral spring-- we decide that we have gotten our 370 yen worth (~3$). Last stop the cold bath. Now for all of you experienced onsen-ers out there, you know that a cold bath is not a cool bath but rather like sticking your ass in a mountain stream. So, J, loving anything cold, is already in the cold bath as I slowly enter. Together we chit chat with the woman next to us and then, suddenly, I feel as though I am inhaling menthol. Not just a little, like chewing peppermint Eclipse gum, but more like sniffing an entire bowl of straight wintergreen oil.

I look at J, she looks at me...and I say,

"Do you feel like you are breathing Menthol".

She starts giggling like she has just unexpectedly taken some wild exotic drug. Then, I start giggling. The room is spinning. I swear I am starting a hallucinogenic trip. She looks to me,

"Ti, is the room spinning?"

I look to her, "Wobbling".

We both start giggling again, this time with this look in our eyes reading: this could be bad. With wild excitement in our eyes, and partnered encouragement we pull ourselves out of the bath, onto the edge. We are so hunched over, we are nearly siting on the floor. J looks to me and says laughing:

"This will pass. I can tell it is starting to pass."

Optimistic, I think to myself. Her eyes are still fluttery. But then sure enough it starts to pass. I ease my way over to my plastic stool and tube and shower warm water onto my face. Jules starts asking a woman next to her questions with her hands. She is the sweet woman who earlier reminded J, kindly, not to let her hair touch the water. I hear J say "blue bath", "blue water". The woman gestures wildly. J indicates dizziness with her hands(I love her courage). The woman then says "don't cool too fast."

We still don't know exactly what happened. All I know is that it was a wild ending to such a great adventuresome day. Oh. A great day.

So, to get back on track here...when I laid down in bed, my body was so relaxed. I was tired from the hours and hours on my low rider bicycle with the basket on the front, and all the fresh air in my hair. The smells of gardenias permeated my memories. Luscious green. Japanese bonsais trimmed to a mint. The softness of slipper trodden and well weathered wood temple floors on my feet palms. A clean calm mind. Green tea soft serve ice cream for lunch. A little girl wearing an a frame dress with a ruffle on the bottom, patten leather shoes, and a hop in her wee bitty step. I was her. So giddy and free. All day playing under clouds and cared for places. Places with incredibly long street names!

Waking up at 7 was early. It was really 7:15 before i pulled myself out of bed. and J was up by 7:30. But my, we like slow mornings; we are on vacation right? We ate a quaint little English breakfast of toast with Japanese eggs and sausage. It was 9 before we got our bikes.

The uphill ride in the sun brought sweat to our faces. We still smiled with giddy pleasure, but my face had to breath coolness. The sweat awoke my allergy to sunblock. Itchy. Itchy.

But, oh how gorgeous Royan-ji is. A pond, with meandering rock gardens that change faces, and a temple with a little stream just out of reach. The stream pooled calling us in with our minds. Depth was tactile. The leaves fluttered, the trees on the mountainside breathe. We reveled!

I love Japan.