In the last entry I explained that in Japanese, "jigoku" means "hell". So, some might suspect the meaning of the "Jigoku Tour". It's one of the tourist attractions in Beppu City. We couldn't visit all of them and saw only half of them, but there were a variety of hot springs.
Firstly, I have to write about the rod poking from the fringe of the pond in the picture in the last entry. It's not a fishing rod, of course. The water of the pond is rich in sulphur and moreover the temperature is about 90 degrees centigrade. It's partially boiling in the pond. Ordinary creatures can't live in the pond. To tell the truth, a bag is hung from the tip of the rod, which contains several eggs. The staff members of jigoku were cooking boiled eggs and these eggs were sold there. The tourists could enjoy the sulphur-flavored boiled eggs.
Next, I'll show you a picture below, which depicts a steam foot bath though I'm not confident in clearly describing this peculiar bath. You open the lid with two hinges and put your legs in the hole and put the cover on your legs, which was laid on the stone panel in the picture. Your legs will be steamed from the heat of the earth and it is very comfortable.
(Vocabulary)
poke out of/from sth 〈物が〉 ＜…＞からはみ出て［突き出て］いる, のぞいている
poke through sth ＜…＞の中から突き出ている
A few flowers poked through the snow. 数本の花が雪の中から顔をのぞかせていた．
fringe (集団内などの) 傍流, 非主流; (場所の) 周辺部
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