Zao Onsen – Crater lake and Rotemburo

I arrived at Yamagata-city totally exhausted. Despite the assistance from the tourist office I didn't manage to find the hotel recommend in my wise book, so i stumbled into the next not to stylish looking business hotel just outside Yamagata station to the left, which called itself plainly “bizinesu hoteru”.
Having slept quite well i took an early bus up to Sao Onsen, a renowned ski and hiking resort, where i would allow myself 2 days of relaxation. I stayed at “Minshuku Boku no uchi” (Tel. 023-694-9542, literally meaning “my home”, which turned out to be a great name to earn surprised reactions, when being asked where i stayed.)

Zao Onsen offers two main attractions for visitors during this season: The first one is Okama, a crater lake in midst of a reddish moonlike mountain scape. As I definitely have had enough of exhausting hikes i eased my way up there by taking the ropeway, so i only had more or less to follow the the chine to access a spectacular view. Just like at home, people here use to greet each other on mountains, and as during these days mountains were about as crowded as Tokyo subway is at rush hour, i soon felt like a supermarket cashier.
Put the view payed it all back! In fact the crater housing Okama lake, is only one of several craters. The sichle-shaped chine you walk around, while looking down to Okama, seams to be itself formed by volcanic activity.

Apropos energy from beneath the earth, Zao Onsen's other attraction is its hot springs (“Onsen” actually meaning hot spring, therefore Zao Onsen means nothing other than “Zao Spa”). The characteristic sulfuric smell welcomes you as soon as you get out of the bus up there, and you only stop to dislike it as soon as you slide into the hot water of a rotemburo (open air basin). Despite the long way up from the village-center (my legs still ached from the day before) i preferred the Dai-rotemburo, which might be the more basic one, but which offers the most natural beauty.
So there i really found much needed relaxation before returning to the hectic metropolis of Tokyo.