Iwaobetsu Onsen Rotenburo

Iwaobetsu onsen is a free, open air, and mixed hot spring.
It is located right next to Iwaobetsu onsen ryokan but does not belong to this. At the end of the parking lot is a little trail leading down to the pools. The first pool is the biggest and most open. The second pool is smaller but is also located right next to the trail. In case of both pools, there are no dressing rooms or places to put one's clothes, and since the pools are located right by the trails, this hot spring may not be the best choise for shy people.

Coming back from Kamuiwakka Yu-no-taki on route 93 take the first little road on your left after coming down the hill. Follow this road to the end, and you will arrive at Iwaobetsu onsen ryokan.

I had just said goodbye to the girl I met at Kamuiwakka Yu-no-taki and turned down the road leading to Iwaobetsu onsen. Everyone had been going to Kamuiwakka Yu-no-taki, so the road to Iwaobetsu onsen seemed very quiet. The road was not long, and I soon arrived at Iwaobetsu onsen.

I soon found the free water holes. The first seemed quite open, and there was already a lot of people in it, so I decided to go further down the trail and check the area out before getting in. A little ways down the trail was another water hole. There was already a man and a woman in the water hole, but although it was small, it seemed big enough for 3 people. I decided to get in, and stripped down. As I got in, I got the impression that the man and woman did not appreciate me getting in the hot spring. They probably thought I just wanted to get in so I could look at the naked woman. The woman was not exactly young, and looking at her would not exactly exite me. However the hot water hole did. I think they soon found that out, because after talking a little with them, they became very friendly.

It was very nice sitting in the hot water hole with the company of two nice people enjoying the scenery. The water was nice and warm too, and was floating from a hole in a little rock just by the pool. Looking closer at the rock I could see that it was shaped like a standing bear, and the water seemed to flow from it's 3rd leg. After all, this was the Shiretoko peninsula, the place where there are still wild bears on Hokkaido.

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