FOR THE THIRD time in 15 hours, I lowered my body into a hot spring on the slopes of a volcanic peak. During my first dip, the previous day, the sun was glinting off the water; the second soak unfolded beneath a nearly full moon. This time, my pre-breakfast bath was shrouded in morning mist and steam.
The urge to spend almost every second immersed in water is impossible to resist at Kai Yufuin (hoshinoresorts.com; doubles from $187), a new ryokan resort on the island of Kyushu. Japan is known for its hot springs, or onsen, many of which have adjoining bathhouses or inns and Kyushu is home to more than a third of them.
The volcanic landscapes that heat Kyushu's springs also give the region its citrus groves and a saw-toothed coastline flecked with emerald islets. But despite the natural beauty and seductively laid-back tempo, the island is often overlooked by visitors from overseas. On a recent trip from my home in Kyoto, not long after Japan began opening up to international tourism, I saw firsthand what awaits travelers-including a flashy new bullet train that helps shorten the trip between Fukuoka and Nagasaki, two of the island's main cities, to 80 minutes.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2023-Ausgabe von Travel+Leisure US.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2023-Ausgabe von Travel+Leisure US.
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The Luxury of Silence - Grieving a dissolved marriage, Nora Walsh seeks peace and compassion at a meditation retreat in California.
My decade-long marriage to a man I deeply love had dissolved, and I had come to the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, in the secluded hills of Marin County, north of San Francisco, to steady myself. Led by the author and meditation teacher Oren Jay Sofer, the seven-day silent retreat focused on the four brahmavihāra, or Buddhist virtues: loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
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