Hot soaks of the Himalaya

Mountainous dress code. Bliss?

2011-12-14T03:49:00.003+07:00

Chilime hot spring by RP

Low walls
On the road to Tibet (northeast of Kathmandu) lies Kodari which is the last village before crossing the bridge to China. Note that the persons on the other side of the river are nearly 3 hours ahead of the Nepali, forcing them to get up and get to work in the pitch dark.

Anyway, Kodari is basically a 2 km long village with houses and buildings along the road and squeezed between the road and the river. The hot springs themselves are far from a delite. More like a hot shower in a damp and dark room. Then again, they are easily accessible and during the winter Nepali flock here to take the waters.

Travelingo.org has an extensive guide on this hot spring:

'The signposted hot springs are at the northern end of the village, down steps towards the river. A hot tub it's not: the water splashes out of pipes into a concrete pool and is used strictly for washing'.

Yusuf Abdol Hamid has an extensive write up on Tatopani, published by ECS Nepal. One observation:

'Separated by a low concrete partition are the male and female showers, where sprightly colored lion heads spout the spring water between their fanged teeth. A word of caution: despite Nepal’s conservative trappings, it’s not uncommon to witness gratuitous displays of female nudity, mostly amongst the older women who occasionally stray inadvertantly into the male showers'.

Below is a picture to the article, welcoming?

Closeby to Kodari is the Last Resort, an action laden resort for the not so faint-hearted. But a great place to stay.

Exaggerating
Directly north of Kathmandu up and along the Trisuli river lies the district of Rasuwa and towns such as Dhunche and Syabrubesi, gateways to the Langtang national park and Gosaikunda, a holy mountain lake.

Lately treks (Tamang Heritage Trail) are also heading westwards and are incorporating a hot spring Chilime, though it's also referred to as Tatopani (hot water). Possibly the biggest in Nepal?
I visited there back in 2001, it's a full days walk up the mountain side. From current pictures I deduce that at least the springs themselves have not changed.

'In Tatopani hot springs await you. The thermal baths are known for their health-giving properties for a variety of illnesses. Local people stay here for one week and longer. Please wear Nepali style bathing suits (ankle-length skirts for women, shorts for me'

is what Franziskadoswald adds. Do note that Nepali style bathing suits are pretty much non-existent, so much for the advice.

Local bathing customs? Photo published by Travel to Care

A Carpetbagger's Tale has her own experience:

'Changing into boxers and t-shirts, we gathered our towels and flip flops and walked to the hot spring. The three square-shaped pools were each filled with murky, brownish water, and a thin sheen of what looked like oil coated the water like skin. We got in. For an hour, we sat in the hot water, enjoying the warmth and steam. In the pool next to ours, a dozen women were lounging, wearing red sarongs that bared their shoulders but covered them to their knees. On their heads, they'd wrapped up their hair in plastic bags. Some of the women were Buddhist nuns, and their closely shaved hair and red bathing robes seemed out of place in the steam. The men in our pool and the pool to the other side had hairstyles that we've seen on some of the saddhus - a close crop with a tuft of hair at the crown in the back. They have a piece of string tied under their armpit like a shoulder bag with no bag and another tied around their waist. After a while, two very old Tamang women approached the pools. Dressed in their traditional long wrap dress, woolen tunic, top hat, and fabric belts, they took their time de-layering. Although our guide book had warned us to dress modestly at the pools, it seemed like maybe it wasn't as big of a deal as they had thought. These two very old, very wrinkled women were completely topless, and they wrapped their impossibly long braids around their heads like a crown before they walked into the water and stood under the fountains'.

Back in the nineties, there were no guesthouses, just a couple of huts to overnight in and hardly any other facilities. That seems to have changed, luckily. It was (and probably still is) quite out of the way and attracts mostly Nepali soakers.

'Early morning, at the height of 2500 meters, in december, it is cool but hot springs are very hot. The next trekking trip at Tatopani, with yoga and hot bath will be in March 2009'.

Eric Lon and Chilime hot spring. Note the (un)dress code.

Another recent experience by Niraj Karki and published by ECS Nepal sings the charms of Chilime Tatopani:

'When we went there that fine rainy day in August, it was absolutely empty – we had a whole lodge to ourselves for which we (group of four) paid 300 rupees. The local alcohol made from fermented millet was 30 rupees for a bottle and we had the hot spring all to ourselves. I am in no way exaggerating when I say that Tatopani has been till now one of the best experiences of my life. In fact, I cannot do it justice, which is why I will not describe the sensation. It is a personal experience for everyone. I will describe the setting, and leave your mind to imagine and for yourself to discover. Imagine if you can the feeling of finding an oasis in the desert after a hard day in the sun. It’s like that reaching this place after a hike in the cold rain - the feeling of being in hot spring in a light drizzle of rain - your body placed in the melt of two extremes - the coolness of the falling rain meeting the warmth of the burning hot water, amidst a quiet, calm, tranquil surrounding bathed in a sea of mist'.

Not all hallelujah. Rameshwar Khadka reports on a visit by the Eco Himal team to Chilime. He notes:

'The Hot spring Management Committee is responsible for managing the hot spring in Tatopani. The committee charges rupees 10 for each Nepali and rupees 50 for each foreigners to take bath in the hot spring. TRPAP constructed two pools and taps to manage the hot water. The tap for natural spring water and public toilet were also constructed. However, they are not functioning well. The team made enquiry about the natural spring water tap. The local people replied that there is a dispute in using the water in the locality. Similarly the public toilet was very dirty and it was not functioning well as there was no water supply'.

Awesome
At the foot of the trek to Chilime lies a lesser known hot springs. Syabrubesi (Wikipedia contends it's Syafru-besi), one of the main towns in the area, has it's own hot spring, nearby the river. More scientific info has been published on this hot spring.

'Bathing in the hot springs - Syabrubesi'

Source

The Syabrubesi tourist information adds awesome surroundings as a component of this hot spring as well as listing that the bi-carbonate sulfate spring waters are hotter than 40 degree centigrade.

Then in Langtang near Landslide Lodge (slash hotel) is another hot spring, relatively unknown. It's not so far from Syabrubesi, though the spring itself is apparently located on the other side of the Langtang river and as such unreachable to tourists. Sources describe this as

'a small hot spring on the opposite river bank at 1810 meter'.

Then there is most probably a hot spring half a days walk north of Syabrubesi into the restricted area of Rasuwagadi. Unfortunately my only proof of this is a map with a Tatopani due north. Possibly it could well be the hot spring of Syabrubesi itself.

Resourcing Nepal and Eastern Nepal

2011-11-30T02:02:00.003+07:00

Nepal possess many, many hot springs. So many, that most are still unknown, let alone out there on the internet.

Some of the best sources as of November 2011 are:

'Getting into Hot Water' on colorfulnepal.com. It mentions roughly a dozen hot springs, mostly the more well known.

Visitnepal.com mentions
'more than 50 hot springs exist in Nepal'
and lists about a dozen hot springs. the list is most probably a copy of the list included in 'Geology for Technical Students' by Rajan Kumar Dahal, a course publication for nepali students. Unfortunately only two pages are dedicated to hot springs and not much real information is provided.

ECS Nepal has a feature on hot springs in Nepal. Entitled 'Tectonic Gifts Hot Springs of the Himalaya', authored by P. Kauba, it's of March earlier this year and gives an enthusiastic call for all readers to soak.

Ranjit (2000) is one of the few true scientific overviews. It mentions 28 hot springs with more characteristics on nearly 20 of these.

With quite a bit of info on hot spring, the e-book 'Water and Culture' by Shaphalya (2003) provides some great points on hot spring culture in Nepal.

There is other printed material available, I know. Before the so-called Maoist revolt there were a number of tourist magazines and I know that there were various articles focusing on lesser well-known hot springs, but Nepal is not really wired and especially back then.

From the Himalayan Times 3 April 2011 a photo by Krishnamani Baral:

'Local women taking a dip in the hot springs at Tatopani Kunda in SardiKhola‚ Kaski on Sunday‚ April 3‚ 2011. The hot springs are believed to have a healing effect on ailments including constipation‚ joint pains and skin diseases'.

Eastern Nepal
Not many hot springs are known in eastern Nepal. Safe to say there are none near the Everest. However both references above mention Hotiyana (or Hatiya?), Sankhuwasaba district, but nothing more is known.

Then there is the mention of a hot spring at the start of the Nepal/India border river the Mechi:

'"Mechi is said to come from Min Chu Ung Kyong, meaning either "big river," or "hot spring." The name hot spring might sound unlikely, but in Antu, where Mechi starts, it is said that a long time ago people would indeed come to enjoy the hotspring, not only for pleasure but also for curing. The river forms border between Nepal and India and has played an important role in the history of Ilam." '

But that's about all for eastern Nepal. Look at the sidebar for more info on Nepal's hot springs.

Notes:
Ranjit, M. (2000) Geothermal energy update of Nepal. Proceedings World Geothermal Congress 2000. pp. 387-395. International Geothermal Association, Bochum, Germany.
Shiphalya, A (2003) Water & Culture. Jalasrot Vikas Sanrot, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Soaks in the desert [updated]

2011-11-13T17:02:00.002+07:00

Active volcano

Having blogged on most of the Himal hot soaks one can take a look at the wider area beyond the Himal area. As stated before deeper into China there are little hot springs still in natural state. Nor are the sites non-commercial. North of the Himal lies another huge administrative area, the autonomous region of Xinjiang Uyghur.
Zhang Wei Zhou (2002) puts the number of hot springs in Xinjiang at nearly 80. He also notes

'the utilization of geothermal resources in Xinjiang remains in a pretty low level at this moment. Only a little of them has been developed for medical treating and bathing use'.

He ends by stating the problems needed to solve for geothermal development, the last of which states:

'there is no any active volcano in Xinjiang'.

A nice problem to solve.

Standards
Capital of the province is the city of Ürümqi. Shimougou is one of the city's districts:

'There is famous hot spring there with a temperature of 28-30 centigrade, containing kalium, natrium, magnesium, nitre, radon, zinc, etc. it is effective to arthritis and skin disease. It is also can be drunk as mineral water. In 1982, a hot-spring hospital was built here and some Japanese medical treatment equipment was introduced into here. Some tourists come here for recuperation'. (source)

Otherwise known as Guanghui it features an

'standard international indoor swimming pool'.

And is sometimes known as Water mill Gully.

Another major attraction of Ürümqi is the Swan Lake. Near the Swan Lake of Bayinburuke (Mongolia for rich springs) is the hot spring of Aerxia (Arxian). It is reputed to have healing powers. Angela Yeo has just the one photo of presumably the hot spring of Swan Lake, as well as others from the same area.

wiwei has been to Arxian.

1, 2, 3, ...
To the west of Ürümqi lies Tacheng prefecture. There are 4 hot springs in Tacheng, most notably that of Shawan. One of the grade 2a tourist areas of the region there is this description of Shawan:

'There are dozens of hot springs, which are dominated by three hot springs at the foot of Laojun Temple, namely No.1 Spring, No.2 Spring and No.3 Spring, also one “Eyes Spring” with flux of 0.5 liter per second, which can cure eye disease'.

Other than that there are two hot springs in Wusu (Wuzu). A link provides photo's entitled Wusu hot spring as well as extensive other info on Wusu.

In Ingouhe hot spring is mentioned in a World Bank document:

'Located in Shawan county cures sikness slowerilv among the local people'.

Fuhai county has a hot spring 'gully' named Alashan; more cryptical info can be found here.

Further away
In Kashgar prefecture on the western border of China lies the Tashkurgan Tajik autonomous county. Shufu is a hot spring that receives at least 1 favourable mention:

'... despite its modest exterior, the main building housed a large clean pool and several bath tubs that were continously fed by hot water from the spring nearby'.

Near Tagarma is another hot spring (or possibly the same?) which receives extensive photo coverage on Flickr by Daniela Cameroni in a set of photo's entitled 'Tashkorgan hot spring'. Or Tashkurgan ...

The Bortala Mongolian autonomous prefecture contains the hot spring of Bozhou Bogeda in Wenquan county. Tot hier This is a national class 2a scenic area. Others describe the hot spring as magical.

Southern Xinjiang consists mostly of Bayingolin autonomous prefecture. Here plans are of exploiting / upgrading the local hot spring of Usu. Or were (link disappeared Nov. 2011).

Doubts
Unfortunately mostly the hot soaks of Xinjiang remain quite unknown. No doubt there are many more with little or no info on the web. That said many on the web fail to go beyond some small scale descriptions with little photographic and / or actual experience.

Song Huang (2010) has a recent publication which briefly touches on hot springs in Xinjiang. He lists a number of hot springs requiring protection. Not included above are Tianshan Shenmu (?), Fish-eye, Beullaclacris, Wushi, Jinhegou, Yining Huolongdong and Huocheng Huolongdong.

Together not quite 80 ...

Swedish connection
Finally a word on Wucaiwan hot spring.

Fred Chiang:

'五彩灣溫泉 (hot spring)

五彩灣其實沒啥看頭，重點就是這池號稱中國唯一的古海溫泉'

Wucaiwan is located in Jimsar county, Changji Hui autonomous prefecture. It's main claim to fame is the naming of a geological formation. A MSc thesis by Weijun Li (2010) draws comparisons between a Swedish bathing town and possible development of Wucaiwan. An interesting read.

The picture above is part of a $400 million investment drive, only 10 years ago. Apparently it still attracts only 100 soakers a day which means someone is losing money or the amounts thrown at the spa facilities were slightly overstated. Included in the report are equally bleak pictures with virtually no-one existent.

Overall the report lacks depth (easy MSc?) and recommends linking the resort more to the overall tourist infrastructure.

Notes
Song Huang (2010) Geological heritages in Xinjiang,China: Its featues and protection. Journal of Geographical Sciences, vol.20, no. 3, 357 - 374. Journal of Geographical Sciences, Springer.
Weijun Li (2010) The planning of hot spring travel region. MSc thesis, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden.
Zhang Wei Zhou (2002) The basic characteristics of geothermal resources in Xinjiang, China. Geological Survey Institute of Xinjiang.

As locals do

2011-10-18T00:46:00.005+07:00

While discussing hot springs in Kyrgyzstan it's easy to confuse this with political affairs. And certainly the humanitarian state of this country is in dire straits. My sympathy goes out to all those fleeing bigotry and hatred.

Bigger picture
But I still would like to concentrate on hot springs as in geothermality. In this blog most of my postings have been highlighting the naturalness of the hot springs or the naturality of the soaking experience itself. However in Kyrgystan the opposite is also well-known. Soviet times saw grander schemes to develop naturally occurring thermal water into workers paradises, the sanatoriums. Since the collapse of the workers pie-in-the-sky these places have been neglected and in some cases are turning into ruins.

What to think of this (geographic unclear) sanatorium experience?

'I am sitting in the outdoor hot spring pool of the Sanatorium At The End Of The Universe. The tiles are chipped and the water is murky. But, I’ve been assured by my local friend, “don’t worry, the water is changed at least once a week. Anyway, the U.S. military guys came down and did tests. They said the water was fine, but men shouldn’t soak for more than 15 minutes.” What about women, I ask. She shrugs. So I soak a little longer'.

Despite the chipped tiles, this internet reference clearly establishes that the Kyrgyz like soaking. From things the Kyrgyz love:

'Hot Spring Baths – This seems to be a universally healthy thing around the world. What you use it to treat depends on the chemical make-up of each individual spring. The hot springs we went to, Bar Bulak (lit. trans. Fire Spring), had a high sulfur and iron content and according to the sign posted on the wall of the spa it can be used to treat, “Problems of the Skin and the Digestion, Also Useful for Treating Women’s Problems”.
It actually was quite stimulating and our skin was very healthy for the following month. But you have to be careful about which spring you bathe in. Near Kara Kol, one of the more popular springs has Radon in the water'.

Chipping in, a great blog entry by Cult of Hotness has some interesting experiences. Near the Issyk Kul lake:

'My most memorable treatment was HOT MUD. Enter the mud room – tiled from floor to ceiling and slightly dilapidated. Two concrete beds, one elderly shower and a man in Wellington boots holding a hose. My friend was there to translate. A woman was already cocooned on the other bed. As I was the only English speaker for miles around, this also seemed to draw a crowd, so while I stripped, a couple of onlookers gathered. Naked, I lie on a plastic covered ‘bed’ while the man in the boots points what looks like a gas hose at my feet and hot mud spurts out. I forgot about my sunburned feet. I screamed. The mud stopped, the man looked perplexed. I mentally kick myself as now he and the ‘crowd’ think all English speakers are divas. My friend reminds me of my sunburn and admonished me to ‘just bear it’. I do, through gritted teeth. That mud is HOT. I was wrapped cocoon style and left for an eternity before being unwrapped by the man in the boots. I am ordered into the shower, which is tepid as hot water is only available twice a day. I was then hosed from behind by the man in the boots using the hose he used to wash down the beds and the floor. My friend suggested I was receiving special treatment for being ‘foreign’ and ‘a novelty.’ Reading this back to myself, I realize it might sound strange to the reader, but there was truly nothing untoward going on here. Nudity is no big deal in the health spa. The man in boots was really trying to be helpful – and just as well, that mud really sticks to your back!! I have to say, after my round of treatments, my skin felt wonderfully soft and supple. So all in all, a big thumbs up for the hot mud'.

Indeed, according to this document (pdf link) Kyrgyzstan is home to more than 50 thermal springs as well as the environs of the Issyk Kul being a source of

'curative mud'.

So what more specific information is available on the net?

For the insane?
Sanatoria are located in:

Jalalabad, also known as Kochkor-Ata:
'While in Osh I made a daytrip to Jalalabad where they had a thermal hot spring with sanatorium. I say had as most of the buildings where in ruins and the only hot spring water I saw came from a tap where you had to pay for drinking it'.

'Djalal-Abad is famous for its spas. There is a legend that the water from the Hozret-Ayub-Paigambar spa cured lepers. According to the legend there was a grave, a mosque and the khan's palace near the spa. The Djalal Abad sanatoria, “Kurort”, is based on one of the spas on one of the hills overlooking the town – the waters are salty, but people from a wide area to collect bottles of it. Near the entrance to the Kurort (the health resort) is a cafe with a fine view over the town – the "Ikram-Ajy" Panorama, at a height of 1000 meters , with a complex that consists of a “national crafts hall”, souvenir shop and an entertainment hall –from here you can appreciate how green the city is, as the trees rise above the low-rise building. The spas are also the source for several different brands of mineral water'. (source)

Ak Suu. There are some photo's of the slowly deteriorating sanatorium as well as other photo's here. Then's there is this:
'For those with too little time to visit Altyn Arashan this is an opportunity to bathe in natural hot springs. The waters are said to have healing properties curing everything from insomnia to rheumatism. Al-Suu's sanatorium 7 km from Karakol is set in a pretty gorge and has numerous relaxing bathhouses. Local people come here at weekends to wallow in the waters, chat and ramble through the gorge. The village of Ak Suu close has plenty of attractive wooden cottages, a Orthodox church and shops where you can stock up on traditional post-bath bread, fish, vodka and beer.It is located on the north slope of Terskey Ala-Too chain in a narrow gorge in Ak-Suu river valley at an altitude of 1950m above sea level in a distance of 16 km from Karakol town. It works all year. The curative spring water wells have been known since the ancient times. A bath and 2 rooms were built in 1896. Since 1957 the sanatorium works as children hospital. The climate of resort is highland. A non-polluted air, ultraviolet rays create appropriate conditions for climate therapy. In the winter the temperature extends to -17C, in the summer the temperature is 20-25C. The general curative factor is mineral water, nitrogen thermal water (till 60C) sulfate-chloride-sodium water with weak mineralization, consists of silicon, acidy fluorine, free sulfur-hydrogen and small quantity of radon.The sanatorium takes in some patients with child cerebal paralysis, consequences og meningitis, myletis, polymyletis, neuritis, cranium-brain traumas, skin ailments supporting-motion system and etc. In the summer time there are 3 pavilions, in the winter -1. The capacity is 250 positions. The term of treatment for mothers with children from 1 to 3 years old is 45 days, children from 4 to 14 years old – 60 days. In the 3 story building there are massage and procedure room sport hall, physiotherapy room, bath department, swimming pool, playing rooms, chambers, kitchen, library, school. The bathes curative exercises mechanic therapy massage and etc. are applied for treatment'.

Issyk Ata, also known as Dzuuku or as its translation of warm father (source)! This combines a sanatorium with the existence of public baths. Immediately the web entries are a lot more positive.
'Don't know if it is because of the altitude (nearly1800 meters) but I was feeling little strange there in Issyk Ata. This hot spring water spot situated at less than 2 hours from Bishkek was not only smelling the sulfur of its bathes but also something like a soviet perfume. Ok maybe I was sad because not so many chaikhanas up there!'.
An other visitor says that though what's on offer are somewhat rudimentary facilities, it does have good views. There's a big waterfall nearby.

The pool, photo by Photo from Bishkek. An entry on Issyk Ata.

'Not far up the valley is the Djety Orguz sanatoria built in and the sight of the first meeting between Presidents Akayev and Yelsin in 1991 after the abortive coup in Moscow'. (source)
This reference also claims that there are more than 50 hot springs in Kyrgyzstan though only lists 4 ...

Bar Bulak:
'Really its not that bad. Its only the iron in the water. The springs are said to be very useful to the health. We can actually see some improvement in the quality of our skin'.
Possibly this is a reference to the same sanatorium as others under names such as Issyk Kul. The lake of Issyk Kul is quite unique as ice never forms.
'It is fed by springs including many hot springs and snow melt-off'.
This according to wikipedia.
There's a mention of Kadji Sai where pipes bring in mineral water from hot springs.
There's Manjaly-Ata (source).
This link brings one to a photo of Dzhilysu hot spring, Terskey Alatau, Kyrgyzstan, though no other mention.
A Russian site link to a hot spring possibly called Chundzha.

As nature intends
But then there is the soakers paradise of Altyn Arashan, also known as Teplokluenchka, Golden Spa, Ak Suu and/or Karakol. Teplokluenchka is actually Russian for hot springs; since, the village name has been referred to Ak Suu. However in reality there is no village and Ak Suu is used as reference to the sanatorium referred to above.

Altyn Arashan is by far the most photographed (photo of 'heaven') and experiences-shared hot spring in Kyrgyzstan.

'The Altyn Arashan ("Golden Spa") valley leads up from the Ak Suu valley, just South of the village of Teplokluenchka, to a Spartan "hot spring" complex. The road is not an easy one, very steep in places. (source)

More info can be found here. Though experiences elsewhere in Kyrgyzstan seem more attuned to the suited, both the following experience and the photo show that there's more than the eye meets when soaking in Altyn. It's also referred to as old style the kind of style I just might like ...

'Luckily, our worn out and beat selves were welcomed by terrific scenery and a hot spring! It is a sort of old-style natural hot spring with a bathing pool reminiscent of older Japanese spas'.

'We didn't do as the locals did however and run nude from the cabins to the chilly mountain stream about 10 meters away for an icy dip followed by a return to the hot spring. We don't have any pictures of that!'

Photo entitled

'Natural hot spring bath'.

On virtualtourist (by Tipper) with report:

'But healthy people get even healther'.

Nearby is a structure which most say resembles a space pod, others a cave. Hot water is piped in and two persons fit in the pod (source). A photo of such can be seen on the blog Gone to Asia:

Not far away is also a half cave like structure for soaking purposes (see below).

'Hot spring in Altyn Arashan 001'.

By Amyortega05.

Northern boundary?

2011-10-15T13:06:00.006+07:00

The leftovers
With blogs listing details on the hot springs of both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, it's only natural to expect their neighbours, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, to also be highlighted. Because there aren't that many hot springs this single blog post will cover all three countries.

Soaking in Uzbekistan - no way!
Starting off with Uzbekistan is the most simplest as I have yet to find out whether or not there are hot springs in this country.

Big country, little soaks
To the north of Uzbekistan lies the immense country of Kazakhstan. Here a few hot springs can be found in the mountains bordering Kyrgyzstan and China. However knowing that there are hot springs does not mean that they can be highlighted. Take for instance the hot spring located near Chimkent (Shymkent). Just the one mention:

'hot spring health spas'.

Elsewhere, there is more info on two close to each other located hot springs, Alma Arasan and Zharkent-Arasan.
Alma-Arasan:

'There are 51 groundwater springs, many of which are used for spa therapy purposes. The Alma- Arasan hot spring water is similar in its chemical composition to French mineral waters of the Pyre-nean type (Aix les Bains, etc.)
...
The temperature of major springs constitutes 35-37 degrees centigrade. With regard to water content, temperature and radioactivity the water is similar to Tshaltubo Springs [famous hot spring in Georgia, the country]. The springs have a good influence on people who suffer from rheumatism, metabolic disease, diseases of peripheral system and blood vessels, as well as on the diseases of women and on the people who were poisoned with copper, lead and other metals. Every year Arasan-Kapal Resort accepts around 2000 patients'.

Other info on Alma concern it's establishment in 1886.

On Zharkent which, by the way, was established in 1967:

'The main medicinal factors are: nitric, chloride-sulphate, sodium water (36C) which contains fluorine, organic substances used for bath and shower'.(source)

Kapal (not (?) to be confused with Kapal-Arasan) possesses a mineral spring with a temperature of 25-28C, not quite soakable?

Aktau, lying on the Caspian sea on youtube with this description:

'A small warm bubbling hot spring, a little ways off-the-path from the road between Karagiye Depression (-132 meters below sea level, 3rd lowest spot on Earth) and Aktau city in Mangystau Province, Republic of Kazakhstan'.

Wikitravel mentions the existence of Radon hot springs ("facilities are very primitive") in the Aktau travel guide with nearby mud baths, possibly the same as above?.

An odd experience is revealed by Jennie Vader on a visit to a banya slash hot spring near Turkestan:

'... and I went to a banya in the middle of the steppe about 30 minutes from Turkestan. The banya is a dome-like structure (called the egg) built over a natural, underground hot spring. We all went into this huge egg and then into our own room which consisted of 2 shower heads and an old bathtub. Basically, you seal up your room and the hot water runs constantly, steaming everything up. You shower like usual and sit in the bathtub of really hot water'.

There are also mentions made of the following hot springs in Kazakhstan: Tamshaly, Ayak-Kalkan (hot spring 180 km from Almaty, in the village of Baseit), a so-called Mountain Thermal Water Resort.

A flickr photo reference to a hot spring in their Kazakhstan set. Have my doubts though.

More recently kazworld.info mentions Dobyn:

'Experts say the hot springs at Dobyn village are enriched with minerals and contain small amounts of nitrogen. The waters contain silica and trace elements of radon, providing the thermal springs with unique medical and healing qualities'.

It goes on to mention how the wellness industry in Kazakhstan is shaping up. Twenty three health centres have been established since 2000, with 13 under construction, among them a Premium Spa Resort (though the website of the company has no info on this possibility). Two-hundred thousand visits were reported in 2011.

Going underground
Turkmenistan features an extra ordinary hot spring. Referred to as Kow Ata (Kov Ata, Kovata, Kowata or Bakharden) this a subterranean hot spring. One needs to climb down sets of stairs to get to the thermal waters 60m below ground level.

'The underground lake is formed by a hot spring in a cave 60 m below the ground and stretches over several kilometres. Only the first 70 metres are accessible and sufficiently lit and provide the occasion for a dip in the 36°C water'.
(source).

A great photo can be found on flickr (but not posted). An experience:

'Kowata is an underground hot spring where they took all the trainees swimming a week ago. It is about 45 minutes from the capital and about 5 kilometers from the border with Iran. You descend down about seven flights of slippery steps with wobbly hand rails, wishing you were wearing metal cleats. As you descend the dimly lit corridor, the air grows hotter and more humid, and eventually carries the smell of eggs from the sulfurous waters of the lake. The water is lovely to swim in; about 82 degrees Fahrenheit, it is like being in a bath. The depth of the water wasn’t clear, but nobody’s feet touched the bottom. However, there were many jutting rocks and ledges where you could rest. We spent about two hours swimming before learning that a half-hour was advised, probably for the same reason that excessive time in a hot tub should be avoided. Still, the water is supposed to be medicinal for your skin, and I have not seen any ill effects. When I told my family in Herrick-Gala that I swam, however, they were extremely apologetic because they don’t know how to swim'.

Not always are experiences in such a positive light.

'We drove for a couple of hours out into the middle of nowhere. The engineer led us to a cave and we went inside. Once our eyes adjusted to the dark we saw a large pool of water. There was a single electric lamp on one side of the cave which didn't do much to cut through the gloomy darkness. Bats hung from the ceiling above and the air was thick with steam and the heavy smell of sulphur.
My colleague and I stripped down to our bathing suits and jumped in. The water was bathtub temperature and very murky. I held my breath and let myself sink down as far as I dared but I couldn't touch the bottom.
Strangely the engineer refused to join us but preferred instead to hang out at the cave's entrance and smoke.
The water temperature was pleasant but the sulphurous smell became overbearing after a while and the atmosphere was just plain creepy. My colleague and I climbed out, dried off and put our clothes back on in silence.
We exited the cave and were climbing back into the car when a rickety, rusted-out old bus pulled up and a dozen locals piled out. They were dressed in colorful, ratty garments and were a pretty ragtag bunch.
"Who are they?" I asked our guide.
"Oh them."
And then he told me that this particular hot spring is famous throughout the country. That its warm sulphur waters supposedly have healing properties and that people with otherwise incurable skin diseases were bussed in to bathe here in as a last resort for a cure...
It took weeks before I was convinced that I hadn't contracted leprosy...'.

Photo by flydime:

'The Bakharden Underground lake Kow Ata is an unusual natural site in the biggest cave of the Kopetdag mountains, located about 107 km south-west of Ashgabat. The Turkmen name Kov-Ata means "father of caves". At a first glance, this underground area looks like a magnificent auditorium : the overall length of the cave is 230 m, its height goes up to 20 m, and its width is at some points 57 m (http://www.odyssei.com/travel-tips/4627.html)'.

Wrapping up, in Turkmenistan there is just one mention of another hot spring, Koytendag:

'the, unique hydrogen sulphate hot spring, "Gainar Baba"'.

Soaking with the Mosuo

2011-06-24T15:52:00.005+07:00

The Mosuo and bathing

Lijiang is probably one of China's biggest tourist Mecca's but if not for the Ninglang Yi automonous county it would hardly be worth a mention in this blog. However that's not the case.

Located at a distance of no less than 8 hours, Ninglang county, surrounding the Lugu (Luguhu) lake, is a bit isolated and as such has become home to the Mosuo people (an officially not recognized minority) who might just well be this region's biggest drawcard. The backdrop not being sufficient enough, tourists from all over China come to witness the culture where to be woman is king:

'In an effort to promote Lugu Lake as an interesting tourist spot, the Chinese government advertised the area as "the Woman's Kingdom", a fully matriarchal society, and implied that the women are sexually loose, taking male partners often, and at will. Books with promiscuous covers and amateur paintings with naked and scantily clad women are sold in every shop. Locals are forced to wear "traditional costumes" with the threat of ¥20 per day fines for non-compliance'.

While intrigued by this kind of different culture, one might ask why come all the way here to bear witness to this? Surely a book such as that of by Yang Namche Namu and Christine Mathieu (2) is enough to understand the culture, though it also describes the beauty of the countryside.

But no. Answers to this inexplicable reason to visit Lugu Lake and the surrounding Mosuo heartland are more complex.

At the heart of the argument are distinctions about superiority apparently. Matriarchal is backward, patrimonial is modern. That's how Dru C. Gladney (1) sums up the mainstream view in the book 'Dislocating China: Muslims, Minorities and other Subaltern Subjects', while giving examples of the exoticizing and eroticizing of minorities in modern China (see other entries on Yunnan), which are additional motives for seeking out Mosuo culture.

These motives, I have to admit, are not exclusive to China. See portrayal of Nat. Geo. which have no problems with near naked Ni-Vanuatu for instance, but all white-skinned unclothed persons are neatly blurred. See also my own posting on this subject in Soaking in Southeast Asia: Cliffhanger.

Though much is made of the difference between Mosuo and Chinese culture in Namu and Mathieu's book, notable is the mention of Mosuo enjoying hot springs au-naturel and how this is being prevented by the (Chinese?) authorities (2). More on this development in historical context:

'During the Cultural Revolution, local officials thought this practice [bathing naked] was uncivilized and they added walls to separate men and women. Over time, however, the Mosuo began taking down the walls until the point that they hardly existed. When the area was open for tourism in the 90s, the government forcibly separated male and female bathers. Eventually, the area was reopened for communal bathing after the government realized its value to the local Mosuo people'.

Possibly to exemplify the contrast between the culture's, more has been made of the naked soaking than in reality existed; i.e. a supposed superiority of the Mosuo over Han Chinese due to the former's inability to distinguish between the clothed and unclothed human form without erotizication.

That said, the cultural differences still add to the Lugu lake area attractions:

'In addition the Mosuo of all ages engage in naked bathing at the Waru hot spring, seeing the body as simply a part of the normal pattern of things. For many Chinese, such visits permit a view of fascinating customs found in a beautiful part of the country ...'(3)

Or as in this publication:

'In early 1988, I saw a young man from Sichuan anguishing in the courtyard of the local government; his expensive camera with a telephoto zoom lens had been forfeited when, from behind a towering rock, he photograped the naked bathers in a roofless hot spring in northern Yongning' (4).

Mosuo's soaks
After extensive web search, I still have to proceed beyond the one hot spring, which the above mentioned authors (2) situate near Yongning village. It is often referred to as Wenquan, however Wenquan is just Chinese for hot spring. More commonly it is named after the nearby village of Yongning or Waru (3), I'll stick to the latter. Besides positioning the soak 10 km north of Yongning Tourchina adds:

'Now this place is equipped with proper facilities for people wanting to soak and relax in this comfortable hot spring'.

As opposed to before when ...?

This cached reference describes the (perceived?) past:

'So at any time of the night or day, up to hundreds of naked men and women can be seen bathing together. They play together and have fun. Mosuo people have a very relaxed attitude towards the naked human body and they do not regard nudity as a taboo'.

'A group of Mosuo women and tourists bathing in the famous hot springs of Yongning, Yunnan province, China. August 2007'.

By Sara Gouveia.

A current firsthand experience by a long-distance rider:

'Had the place all to myself, and soaked for over an hour. The water felt warm, but not hot, smelled heavily of minerals, and actually fizzed like soda pop. ... After the soak I kept riding to see if there was anything up ahead. There was another hot springs – Lao (old) Hot Springs – a few kilometers up the road. Later someone back at Lige said that was the “better” hot springs because the water was hotter, but it sounded pretty crowded'.

So maybe two hot spring sites?

Dane-en-chine has a blog entry in which he describes as much the way there and mentions two hot springs locations near to each other:

'In the hot spring village (Mosuo name is Agua and Chinese name is Wen Chuan) there are 2 bathes. We had a look at both. We don’t like the oldest too much ruined.
The new one where we went has a collective basin share in two parts one for women one for men, just separated by an enormous wooden beam,. It's open air so it is very pleasant.
When we ask to go to the collective bath the owner is surprised and refuses by saying to us "lao bai xin" what wants to say "common people" what in his eyes we are not!
The local people come here to take your bath; they use a lot of soap so the water is too soapy. There are private rooms with bath smaller and cleaner.
We began by the common and finish by the private. No massage just hot bath this water is good for the skin'.

Oddly they include a picture of bathing naked locals with a clothed westerner!

In the Footsteps of Dr. Rock from 2005 adds:

'There is now a "resort" here where pools have been built for tourists. There will probably be other pools built by the time you read this'.

And now for the bad news from 2009:

'Construction of an airport near China's last matriarchal society in the southwestern Yunnan Province has started, authorities said yesterday'.

Innocence ends?

Well, probably one of the very few pictures of men soaking naked in China! Again Yongning hot spring. Look at this link to a photo (sfw) when the soakers still had a view. So decorum meant dividing the pool and put a wall up.

Notes:
(1) Gladney, D.C. (2004) Dislocating China: Muslims, Minorities and other Subattern Subjects. Published by Hirst and Co, London, United Kingdom
(2) Namu, Y.E. & Mathieu, C. (2003) Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World. U.S.A.
(3) Arlt, W. G. & X. Honggang Tourism Development and Cultural Interpretation in Ghanzi, China. In: Ryan C, & G. Humin (Eds.) (2009) Tourism in China: Destination, Cultures and Communities. Routledge, New York, U.S.A.
(4) Shih, C-k (2010) Quest for Harmony: the Moso Traditions of Sexual Union and Family Life. Stanford University Press, Stanford, U.S.A.

Minority bathing rights

2011-06-23T15:00:00.004+07:00

Looking into other regions of Yunnan with hot springs, there remains the prefectures to the south (Pu'er, Xishuanbanna, Lincang) and southeast (Honghe and Wenshan).

Mountain Mussels
Though there is scientific credence given to Pu'er prefecture having 17 (known) hot springs, the only hot spring mentioned is Manzhongtian hot spring which lies to the south(east?) of Pu'er prefecture's capital of Simao.

Further afield, to the west, is the county of Menglian which is home to Mengmazhen (Mengma or Mountain Mussel[!]) hot spring (source) with temperatures varying from 26-54℃ (source). A picture here.

A painting by He Kun, native of Puer , entitled 'Hot Spring 3' (source).

Then there is a mention of Lancang Lahu Spa by Deja Vu and Jinggu county has a hot spring in Fengshan village (source) which doubles up with a local temple as the village's attractions (source). A picture can be found here. So that's at least four soaking sites.

BBQ
Lincang prefecture is home to Yuhengchang Hot Spring hotel (tripadvisor). Yunnanadventure also mentions Lincang Garden Hot Spring hotel.

Elsewhere there is mention made of Fengqing county being geothermal rich. A Chinese language website refers to Zhenkang county hot spring where you can 'barbeque' yourself, i.e. make your own sauna. Here's another Chinese language link.

Maolan, Yun county, has at least one hot spring (source), this website mentions a temperature of 68℃. According to the same source Shuangjiang county also has a hot spring with temperatures from 52-58℃. Looks nice. Then there's a photo on panaramio of Yunxian hot spring as well as Chinese language photoblog.

Another Yunxian hot spring. Reference adds:

'Just boiled eggs dipped in chili powder to eat'.

Most beautiful
Xishuangbanna is reputed to have more than 50 hot springs (source). In the prefecture's capital of Jinghong is Dai Nam (source, see also their photo's), Nanni (source) or Gasa (sandy street) hot spring (source) which is a large resort and is supposedly very clean and

'.. there’s an assortment of steaming hot pools you can soak in, each one with its own special fragrance (coffee, tea, rose petals, coconut milk, etc)' (source).

It's going with the times, as can be witnessed by the availability of Dr. Fish treatment. It's even considered as 1 of China's most beautiful places. The accompanying info is mostly gibberish, though it does mention that the hot spring is 5 km from Jinghong.

Minority
The autonomous prefecture (AP) of Honghe is famous for it's rice terraces (which have been bestowed World Heritage status) and are located in Yuanyang county. This centrally located county is believed to have 5 hot springs (source); here at least a mention is made of

'To Rie Shiu Tan (??), 2.5hrs walk, an hot spring where you can cook yourself up!!'

Still, there are other more well-known hot springs in Honghe. Mile county is home to Mile Hot Spring hotel. Tripadvisor alone has 50 reviews on this accommodation:

'It is a vast modern complex. The hot springs were only partially open when we were there, however they still let all the 'day trippers' in which meant they was a heaving mass of people. We didn't see any westerners there (which is a plus point!)'.

Buckchucko liked the stay and besides many photo's includes a little more on what to expect:

'In the middle of nowhere stands ultra modern buildings, a 495 acre man made ecological lake preserve filled with clean clear spring water. Their showcase piece is the Huquan Resort and Spa smack dab in the middle of this preserve. Lagoons, sandy beach fronts, natural hot springs, and water activities showcase this resort complex. The resort is “set” in water so from your room it is as if you are virtually living in the lake. This 5 star complex is about as lavish as it gets'.

The acclaimed Hotspring Tours site adds this:

'Minority “fans” usually spend one or two nights in Mile when they head for Yuanyang to witness Hani Terraced Fields. Huquan Hotel is their favorite place to stay in since natural spring spa is available inside. Mile boasts rich geothermal resources. Its Huquan Hotel enjoys the highest popularity in Honghe (Red River) Prefecture for spring spas. It is a good place for recreation and relaxation'.

Eyebrow raising?
But none seem to match the fame or notoriety of Mengla hot spring, Jinping county. It's just how you look at it. Fame in the sense of the great amounts of links to this hot spring, notoriety as the local Dai people seem less concerned with adhering to the latest fashion whims.

Though some credence is given to the existence to
' "masseuse rocks" that knead muscles as you simply lie there',
it seems that most references are more interested in the supposedly outlandish habit of the locals, with special emphasis on the females. Thus it even makes China's Top 10 hot springs! Hotspring Tours advocates a trip here thus:
'Men and women enjoying Naked Bath is a traditional custom of Dai people living in Jinping County, which makes Mengla Hotspring known to the outside world. Dai youth there take Naked Bath together while chitchatting in huddles. Sometimes they just immerse themselves in the pond, quite similar with swimming fish, a peculiar spotlighted view'.
Peculiar? Chitchatting in huddles? Naked bath together? No, I'm more interested in how they immerse themselves. This reference though avoids the hash:
'Yunnan, the indispensible China destination. Where karst towers draped in snarls of jungle jut out of tropical forests to stand as monuments lording over scenes from another planet. Awe-inspiring and oft photographed to be sure, Yunnan’s got something for hot springs lovers too: the Jinping Mengla Hot Spring.
Issuing from the caves at 50-60 degrees centigrade, waters flush with curative elements run over colorful rocks. Visitors will find a host of curative natural effects, from bubbling waters to "masseuse rocks" that knead muscles as you simply lie there.
Immediate surroundings are well worth the time to explore too. The lush forests conceal ravines, waterfalls, mirror-like lakes and karst landforms under their canopies.
Accommodations can be found in the nearby town of Gejiu, 7 kilometers away. You'll find the four-star Century Plaza Gejiu ... comfortable, though the befuddled staff might leave you with a raised eyebrow or two'.
Like the way they finish that segment.

This Chinese website mentions that the hot spring has temperatures from 50-60°C and is indeed famous for skinny dipping (ethnically of course) locals. And another Chinese language website describes it as
'paradise on earth: men and women bathing together',
though it also has this, not so often heard mantra:
'These hot springs are open, no fences, no tickets'.
It comes complete with many a picture, including one of hungry male photographers!

Just an example of mainstream (dim, but clear!) view of non-mainstream soakers:
'Here, a pool of men and women bathing together, without proof, without any obstructions apart. Bathed in the embrace of nature, like a naughty child fish prowling the pool, young men and women or small groups, side bath while engaged in small talk, or soft to the mental and physical immersion in water. Occasionally, the branch support folk songs accompanied by "rushing" sound of spring, a long time This is Dai among young men and women sing folk songs in a pool of love songs. It is said that the local guy a girl falling in love Dai spa night to "wash duck bath" practices'
Building bodies
Located nearly 40 km from Honghe's capital of Gejiu is Yashadi hot spring. And though the scenery is beautiful and the waters hot (90°C),

'It merges tour, recreation and body-building into one whole'.

Despite this it is also praised for it's many karaoke bars (source).

Matt Hartzell:

'DSCN6968
scenery and multicolored pools at the hot springs in Gejiu, Yunnan, China'.

Wuzhe hot spring is another Honghe AP hot spring, located in Luxi county. This link provides 2 pictures. Apparently it's up for sale on this site:

'Wuzhe hot spring scenic spot was constructed in 1998. It occupies hot springs at 78°C at outlet, annaul hydraulic discharge 220,000 cubic meters. Because it contains many types of microelements and mineral compositions, it is appropriate for bathing'.

Less well known is Meihua hot spring which translates as plum hot spring. This website has some photo's which is in the west of Honghe (source). The same link also recommends Xiao Qin Tian hot spring (in the northeast) and Xiao Zhai (or Small Village) hot spring.

Same same
Wenshan prefecture in the southeast of Yunnan gains less soaking attention apparently. Yunnanadventure.com does mention the Baishapo (White Sand Slope) hot spring, Guangnan county. Part of their description:

'Besides the bathing pools with separate sections for men and women, there is also a new-built swimming pool in the open air which can be used by nearly one thousand people at the same time'.

Gap stopping

2011-06-22T20:01:00.008+07:00

Simplistic

On the way from the tourist hub of Dali to the even bigger tourist hub of Lijiang, lies the hot spring of Er Yuan. Though the SeeYunnan web site says it's

'simple and inexpensive',

it looks quite far from simple.

There is this extensive review of the Er Yuan Hot Springs hotel which has comments such as:

'The Er Yuan Hot Spring Hotel had well cleaned and well swept grounds which provided for a pleasant ambiance'.

Image source.

Hotspring Tours adds this description:

'Dali Geothermal State is located 2 kilometers northeast of Er’yuan county seat and adjacent to Cibi Lake. It’s about 50 kilometers from Dali Old Town. Er’yuan is known as hometown of hot springs in Dali. It’s said that Jianwen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty once enjoyed hot spring bath here. Most of the hot springs in Er’yuan County exhibits water temperature from 70 to 90 degrees Celsius, and contain potassium, calcium, magnesium, ferrum and other minerals. Bathing and “steamed” in such springs is believed to help cure some diseases, for which Er’yuan geothermal state is regarded as “a natural therapy hospital”. Covering nearly 1,000 Mu (Chinese acre), it has been the largest open-air hot spring bath spot in Asia'.

There are even claims that Er Yuan hot springs are the largest in Asia.

Crusty
Further away in Dali AP there is the hot spring located not far out of town of Xiaguan also known under it's commercial name of Phoenix (Fenghuang) Hot Spring Resort.

'The Resort is characterized by natural hot spring development. Dali hot spring comes from 3800 meters deep below the earth's crust, therefore, the water quality is very high'.

Damnation
On the other side of Yunnan, in the northeast, lies the Western Grand Canyon hot springs in Shuifu county of Zhaotong prefecture.
Eyes on China adds:

'There is a wonderful spring hidden under the beautiful canyon at the depth of 2380 meters. It was discovered by the Surveying Party of Yunnan province while they were drilling a well. Evaluated by the national-grade experts, the high temperature (85℃ ) , the high pressure and large amount (more than 8000 cubic meters every day) are the No.1 in the country. The hot spring is rich in partial-silici acid, sulfur, technetium, lithium, selenium, selenium-radon, copper and strontium, etc, which are beneficial for human health'.

On her journey she comes aware that by now the hot springs will have gone underwater as a dam is being built just downstream.

The mundane

2011-06-21T15:35:00.012+07:00

Hou Yi's wife

The mountainous province of Yunnan is home to not only a diverse selection of minorities it is also home to many hot springs. In this blog entry I will be focusing on the regions with less hot springs to the South and West of the province's capital, Kunming.

Starting off by going south east, Yuxi prefecture, contains another high amount of hot springs.

Dayinjie (Hongta district), a 15 minute drive from Yuxi city, is reputed to be the home of many a hot spring. Chris Horton writes:

'The nicest of these is Moon Lake, comprised of a series of 12 pools with different herbs, mineral salts, and liquors to soak away a day'.

Note that there is also accommodation in Dayin(jie) called Moon Lake Hot Spring Hostel (tripadvisor).

'Moon Lake Spa is a traditional Japanese-style hot spring resort, a blend of the most traditional spa culture and the most fashionable casual concept, promote health, recreation and ecological balance, the nature of the clear sky and hot springs leisurely leisure appropriate to bring every visitor, for the love of life and health of people has created an oasis in a bustling city' (source).

Probably the most prosaic description includes this:

'As the saying goes: Chang-e Xiafan only look for home on earth, Hou Yi's wife up on why the palace of heaven - to the Chinese Restaurant Tam!'

?, well I bet it makes more sense in Chinese (I hope).

Elsewhere in Dayinjie is the hot spring of Yingyuetan (tripadvisor). This should not be confused with the Yingyue hot spring of Chongqing. And Bailong (hot?) spring (tripadvisor). It's listed under geysers / hot springs, so ...

Anyway this person went to a hot spring near Yuxi (but no name) and mentions:

'Yesterday, most of us decided to visit a local hot spring."Having never been to a hot spring in China, I was excited about relaxing in a mountain pool, getting a massage, and generally spending the afternoon in a stupor.Our "hot spring" was not that sort of place. Instead, we found an odd mix of a public pool and an amusement park. We began the afternoon with "bump bump boats," basically floating bumper cars. These only cost us about $1 USD and fell into the category of awesome, dangerous activities that cannot be found in the US (see my earlier post on the Great Wall slide)'.

Lakeside
The Zaojie (or Zhaojia) hot springs (Jiangchuan county) see little internet reference though Angsana hotels:

'Zaojie Hot Spring is situated at the foot of Lijia Hill in Jiangchuan County. A unique group of hot springs can be found along the banks of Fuxian Lake and Xingyun Lake, with closely packed spring openings stretching from one point to another in the village. There are springs with double openings and small pools with just a single opening. The strongest flow of water is concentrated at a point with six openings. It is certainly not an exaggeration to say that a spring opening can be found around every corner in the village. The water, which is of a carbonate composition, is clear and refreshing, and ideal for both drinking and bathing. Water temperatures generally range from 20℃ to 30℃. The difference in temperature between the two springs that are furthest apart is as large as 9℃. It is believed that drinking from the pool and bathing in it regularly is an effective way of relieving rheumatism'.

Tootoo news continues:

'The Xingyun Lake [also known as Nebula lake] has many hot springs, such as the Luozhipu [or Luosipu] Hot-spring located in Zhaojiawan on the east, and the Haixicun Hot-spring and Shuangjing Hot-spring on the west. From north to south, 5 springs lie in a line. A peculiar thing is that the temperature of these springs is increasing from the north one to the south one, with a total difference of 8 to 9 C. These hot springs are ideal bathing places as well as rest and recuperate resorts along the Xingyun Lake'.

In the same county is also the Fish Spring (tripadvisor) as well as a reference to Shenyu hot spring:

'The village is called Xujiatou Village and it is bestowed with rich hot-spring resources. In the village there is a stone-paved road on both of which houses from late Qing Dynasty are lined. Among the springs scattered in the village there is one called Shenyu Spring'.

This link though explains Shenyu means divine fish and fish live in the spring probably meaning that this is not a hot spring. The link does add:

'In the area, there are also sewage fish and toilet fish, which makes up amazing fish culture'.

In fact yunnanadventure.com adds :

'The water of the Shenyu Spring remains between 28 ℃ to 30 ℃ round the year. Now there are 300 black carps in the spring'.

So a warm spring. No soaking by the way.

Hot and warm
Another purportedly not so hot spring is to be found in Tonghai county, the Warm Water Pond. The same source also has a reference to the Hot Water Pond of Chengjiang county. Chengjiang also has hot springs in Haikouxiang, the hot water cave of Luchong and the hot water river of Jiucun (source). Though I believe these would be located near the above mentioned Xingyun lake, Mansfield and Walters [1] mention Jiucun village on Fuxian lake as having 'attractive' hot springs.

The aforementioned chinakunming.travel also adds the existence of a hot spring in Meiyun Lao’ao Village (Yimen County).

Wana hot spring is located in Yuanjiang county, apparently development is needed).

Perrier
Eshan county as far as this blog knows has three hot springs. The lesser known is that of Dalongtan (source). The other lesser known hot spring is Baoquan (source).

Tainzi hot spring

More well known is Tianzi (Tianziyuan) hot spring which is a rather large bathing facility with a connected hotel (tripadvisor).

'The spring is rich in geothermal water resources and the temperature is between 39 – 43 ℃ around the year. The water is abundant in calcium, magnesium, zinc, strontium, and oxygen, which is supposed to be good for health and keeping good looks with medical effects' (source).

The eastern most county, Huaning, has the famous hot spring of Xiangbi (or Elephant Trunk Mountain) hot spring which is 8 km from from Huaning county:

'Xiangbi Hot-spring was developed in East Han Dynasty which was about 2,000 years ago. The water temperature remains between 39℃ to 41℃. The water quality is of high level that can be used for bathing as well as drinking. According to a state appraisal, there are 24 microelements in the water that are essential to human body. Three of the elements, namely metasilicate, strontium and lithium, reach the national standard on drinkable natural spring water. The water also has therapy function' (source).

Angsana.com adds quite a bit including this:

'Its beauty has inspired a poem that goes like this: “Great springs of the universe do not be arrogant, as waters in Wenzhao concede to Huaning'.

Ostensibly it compares quality wise to Perrier! The springs have a large indoor pool (source).

Elsewhere in Huaning, is Tobacco hot spring (tripadvisor).

Notes
[1] Mansfield, S. and M. Walters (2007) China: Yunnan province. Bradt Travel Guides, Bucks, United Kingdom.

Way Forward

2011-06-20T11:51:00.003+07:00

Developing Yunnan

In all, it's said that there are 654 centers of hot springs within Yunnan. The provincial government tourism website, Seeyunnan, purports there to be 700. The Yunnan Provincial Tourism Adminstration has actually set up a site with descriptions of eighteen hot springs, all over Yunnan.

Yunnan has a considerable reputation for being a hot spring destination. For instance Tengchong county, Baoshan is marketed as the hot spring home of China. Another aspect in the marketing of Yunnan's hot springs are the fact that they often frequented on a daily basis by locals, though often referred to as minorities. They have been using the springs since time immemorial and have included the soaks in their traditions. What's more they tend to take the waters with little or no shame, a fact which enthralls the hordes of tour groups, rendering this part of the tradition as something of the past. But the legends continue.

Embracing tourism not only negatively influences the privacy of the soakers, many a hot spring fall prey to developers who see money in turning nature into concrete (?). Much destruction has already taken place. On a more positive note the local government seeks to introduce standards for hot spring facilities:

'China Yunnan Tengchong Volcano Atami Tourism Development and Management Corporation, Dianchi Spring Spa, Kunming Spring Soul Garden Spa & Resort , and Kunming Junhao Spa have passed the assessment of the Yunnan Spa and Hot Spring Rating Assessment Committee and have all been awarded five-crown certificates and plates — becoming the first enterprises that have passed the assessment both in Yunnan and in China.
In 2008 Yunnan province published China's first comprehensive set of local hot spring standards, including the Standard for Tourist Hot Spring Sign Usage, Hot Spring Tourism Service Specifications, Hot Spring Tourism Operators Grading and Evaluation, and Spa Operators Grading and Evaluation.
The committee evaluated the business facilities and services, facilities and equipment maintenance, cleaning and service quality, and the management of the four hot spring enterprises'.

Though no doubt well intended, the outcome means that the nominees go upmarket and if not already excluding the locals, they'll become sterile nothings for the well-heeled noveau-riche. Yes, they will be stylish, peaceful and attentive, but isn't the journey there as much if not more important? And what if the like minded are also sterile loving, upward mobilites? Does one seek a mirror of one self?

Around the capital
Well, as you can see in the sidebar menu Hot Soaks of the Himalaya has carved the Yunnan province into bite sizes, each entry representing an administrative division. With exception of this entry. This blog entry will include much of the hot springs surrounding Yunnan's provincial capital of Kunming.

Deja vu has a nice entry on Kunming and it's surrounding hot springs (2010 edition), listing no less than 18 hot springs, some though will require a better part of a week to visit. let's focus a little more nearby.

Kunming, Yunnan's provincial capital, is known for it's eternal spring. There are quite a few hot spring hotels located in and around Kunming.
These are (mostly referenced by tripadvisor):

Dianchi Garden Hotel Spa, Kunming (virtual tourist); nearly 300 rooms; Hotspring Tours:
'Quasi silicate hot spring is available with its water being piped from 1,100 meters under ground'.

Tianyi Hot Spring Hotel, Kunming (tripadvisor),
Yisite Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor),
Yunhai Lantianyu Hot Spring (tripadvisor),
Yunwu Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor),
Eshan Hot Spring hotel, Kunming (tripadvisor)
Fude Hot Spring Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor),
Golden Pond Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor),
Dali Dongyuan Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor),
Haigeng Yishan Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor),
Yangzonghai Brilliant Spa, 37 km from Kunming (website and short description); Hotspring Tours:
'For those who pursue more comfortable and elegant hot-spring bathing, the recommended one is Brilliant Spa in Yangzong Lake, where one could choose to stay in any of the 26 different spas featured as aroma, forest, therapy and lake view. The spas here are totally natural sulfur hot springs, with water temperature being between 68℃ and 72℃ to make it wholesome. Here, spas of different sizes are equipped with convenient facilities and the price is reasonable. The best hot-spring bathing and intriguing sceneries would be enjoyed in Brilliant Spa Resort'.
Xizhu Spa Country Estate (info); as well the entry on Hotspring Tours; 15 km northwest of the city.

Most of these have been added in the last 2 years, so expect a lot of swanky buildings, little of substance on the soaks though ...

Anning
Nearby Anning, 21 km southwest of Kunming, is noted as it has 11 hot springs to invest in. Surprisingly in the past, LP has advised travelers to give this place a miss (source). Geology.com has a short overview of the characteristics of Anning's hot springs, very informative stuff:

'The welltemperature curves can be grouped into four types,i.e.,the temperature-increasing type,the constant-temperature type,the suddenly increasing-decreasing type and the temperature-increasing-temperature-decreasing type'.

An overview of some of the hot springs of Anning:

Jinfang (Golden) Forest Hot Spring is by far the best known, which is listed in China's Top 10 of hot springs. One first hand described visit:
'Although the hot springs at Senlin are shared, there are enough of them (around 20) to allow for relaxing privacy. Other visitors are generally polite. They also don’t want to share a hot spring that’s occupied. On the other hand, they may be repulsed by the prospect of sharing bathwater with a waiguoren, the all-purpose word for anyone non-Chinese'.

Kunming Hot Spring View Garden Hotel,
Jingran Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor),
Bolan Holiday Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor) and
Spring Soul Garden Spa & Resort.

A nice tale from a group of westerners to Anning includes

'Befitting the theme of our trip, every time our group entered a spring, the incumbent Chinese family immediately departed. We didn’t mind. After our trying day, it took 4 hours of physical and spiritual cleansing before we were ready to part from the heavenly warmth of those hot springs. The experience was worth every penny and every wrinkled finger and toe. ...
All in all, one of the most exciting weekends of my life.

-Joel'.

And that's how soaking should be.

China's outback?

2011-06-19T13:04:00.007+07:00

Welcome

East of Baoshan lies Dehong AP, a prefecture with mostly minority inhabitants in a corner with Burma.

The city of Luxi (or Mang(xi), Dehong's prefectural seat) is mentioned as having the Daijingxiang Hot Spring Hotel which is located in Fapa (tripadvisor and looks very posh) as well as the Fapa Hot Spring Village (tripadvisor).

Eight kms from Luxi is Pago Mans Hot Spring resort:

' ... a group of hot springs, water temperature around 46 ℃, flow stability, clear spring water, water does not contain harmful elements. Get-together in 1956 during the Sino-Burmese border between China and Myanmar Prime Minister and the guests have to welcome home. In recent years, new resorts, equipment, more complete' (source).

Elsewhere in Mang/Luxi is the more rustic Luxi Shudong hot spring (source). At a distance of 25 km is the Bamboo River hot spring (source).

Fame
Odd, a Luxi hot spring located further away in the direction of Ruili county is mentioned as

'China's five famous nude bathing customs (中国五大著名裸浴风俗)' (source).

Another website lists this spring in its China's most famous nude bathing, surprisingly with very a photo of very conservatively dressed ladies!

Unfortunately the name is not so translatable, it could well be the "Collapse of the Dragon". It's pretty well-known. It is a hot spring that once was beside a banyan tree but is now partially under it. One can enter these holes and bath under the tree as well as the adjacent pond. This Chinese language website also has a couple of photo's (though no mention of soaking couture). Reference is given to it being in Mangbang which rings a bell. This blog mentions Meichan hot spring, Mangbang, Zhefangzhen. A look at a map puts Zhefang between Riuli and Luxi / Mang close to the Burmese border. Looks very idyllic (below).

A great photo shoot, this is regarded as China's top 5 skinny dips?

Molified

Others mention the above hot spring as Longchi, but all web searches link through to a hot spring in Sichuan. Some mention even Moli as in Moli Tropical Rainforest Eco-tourism Area. Then again not so sure. Possibly a totally different hot spring. From this website:

'Moli Tropical Rain Forest Area is a national 4A scenic area, and was constructed by Taiwanese businessman Zhan Maosheng. It is located in Moli Valley in the northwest of Wanrui Bridge and is about 21 kilometers away from the downtown Ruili. The entire area is in a small basin with an altitude of 940 meters.
It covers an area of about 7 square kilometers. It is pleasant and sunny there with a tropical rainforest climate. By taking advantage of the existing natural landscape, forest resources and hot spring energy, builders has created a comprehensive ecological tourism area integrating functions of holidays, scientific research, rehabilitation, leisure and entertainment'.

So now we are in Ruili county. Close by to the collapsed dragon (or Zhefang) is Law Pa hot spring. This website shows a big cement pool with (if I read the translation correctly) a men and a women's pool. This website mentions a joint venture and presents a photographic overview of the not so enticing surroundings.

Riuli county also counts the Bada Hot Spring Hotel (tripadvisor) as well as Yurui Hot Spring hotel (tripadvisor) and despite the photo of a slab of concrete the Chinese commentaries pick up on the villa's with hot springs.

Other counties

In Yangjiang county is the Fenghuang Hot Spring Resort (tripadvisor). Another hot spring in Yangjiang is Mangyun hot spring (source).

Lianghe county has the Longwo hot spring (Panaramio). More fame is given to big boiling pot (Dagunguo):

'The most magnificent view of the "hot sea" is the boiling pool with a temperature of 97℃. So it is called "the Big Boiling Pot" by the local people. It is above 3 meters in diameter and 1.5 meters deep. There are dozens of big springs of vapor with a temperature of 94℃ at the mouths of the springs, where you can steam food. There was a legend that once upon a time, an ox drank salty water of spring and dropped into it owing to its carefulness. When the shepherd boy turned back with villagers, the ox has already become beef. The two Chinese characters "热海" (Hot Sea) were carved on the stone standing 30 meters away from "the big boiling pot". There are some bathrooms and steam beds for people to take a steam bath or receive medical treatment'. (source)

Though I have doubts whether it really is located in Lianghe (rather in Tengchong, Baoshan), let's just list it twice ....

Concentrations

2011-06-19T12:30:00.019+07:00

Baoshan lies in the south-east of Yunnan. A majority of Yunnan's hot springs are to found in this city prefecture.

Hot Spring Culture

Most of these hot springs are to be found in the volcanic region of Tengchong county.

'Over 80 vapor springs and hot springs are scattered around the volcanoes, making this the second largest vapor field in China. The famous Yihong Hot Lake is one of the biggest hot spring lakes in China, covering a total area of 10 square kilometers. The most magnificent Dagunguo (boiling pan) Hot Spring, 6.12 meters in diameter and 1.5 meters deep, has a water temperature of 96.6 degrees centigrade, and resembles a pan of boiling water, sending steam high into the sky. The Hamazui Fountain, with a water temperature of 95.5 degrees centigrade, looks like two frogs spraying out hot spring water. Pearl Spring is a pool of water with hundreds of spray holes in the bottom sending out pearl-like strings of hot bubbling water.
Other spectacular sights include Huaitaijing, Gumingquan, Xiaogunguo and Yanjingquan springs and waterfalls. Hot springs in the adjacent Longling County are also popular with visitors because of their medicinal effects on the human body'. (Source).

Others mention that there are 24 springs of over 45℃.

Tengchong however is swiftly becoming part of China tourism trail thanks in part to the new airport. To confirm this, there is even a celebration called the Volcano Hot Spring Cultural Tourism Festival of Tengchong. However it seems to be another spectacular show with little or nothing to do with hot springs nor with soaking culture.

And though viewing the waters from a distance seems to be the number 1 activity, soaking in Tengchong is mentioned to be reasonably priced. See this photo of hot spring bathing in Tengchong.

With over 80 hot springs, naming the hot springs can be fun. Brian Powers has photographic documentation on the Cherry Blossoms hot spring. Canyonlovers adds

'This is one of the best trips from TengChong for the nature lover and hiker has rustic accommodations and good food available. This canyon is located in the Gaolingshan Mountain nature reserve "and has many pink wild cherry blossoms everywhere in the valley…falls gushing from the steeps of the mountainside swiftly drop down like flying dragons …the drips splash in all directions like pearls…". What beautiful local language. The reader can go and judge for themselves if it is all true. Cherry Blossom Valley is about 20km east of TengChong 20km along a cobble stone road'.

Tengchong town possesses a number of hot spring hotels, among them Beauty Pool Hot Spring Hotel, Tengchong (tripadvisor) as well as the Atami Wellness House.

Last year it was announced that Banyan Tree Holdings would help Tengchong move upmarket and it is foreseen that it will open three luxury hotels as well as a spa center (source). Date of opening 2014 according to company website.

Bathing River
Zaotang He (Zao Tang or Bath river) is a lesser known hot spring but therefore not to be overlooked. Located north-west of Baoshan (county?), it is to be found in Baihualing Nature Reserve in the Gaoligong mountains. Chen Liang, along time fan writes in the China Daily:

'When I first visited Zaotang He in the summer of 1996, it involved trekking a steep trail for three hours down into the valley before I could enjoy my dip - and a near four-hour climb back up the mountain afterward.
It's better now. The trail has been widened and paved with stone, while the hot spring itself is a chain of three circular pools built on the riverbed. Hot spring water bubbles out of the riverbed while cold water is channeled in to adjust the temperature for bathing'.

Another website explained that as many people bath in this stream, it was thus named Zaotang.

A beauty of a picture, surely it should rate as one of China's most beautiful and undisturbed hot springs

Jewel in the crown
Bang Na Zhang (or Banglazhang) is located 10 km from the Longling county headquarters. What makes it stand out is that this hot spring has as many as 100 separate springs with some great variation, often with varying colours and temperatures. Take for instance Yinyuanquan:

'The two springs of Yinyangquan, only 30 cm away from each other, exhibit sharp difference of water temperature, with one being 90°C and the other one 10°C'.

This link goes to a Chinese language website announcing the opening of new (drab looking) public pools of Banglazhang (free for county registered inhabitants), where locals can possibly maintain their age old habit of bathing naked (source). Commercially there is a better looking place (see below).

Longling Banglazhang Spa, the "most shining crown jewel" (source).

Shidian county boasts Shipiao (stone dipper) hot spring (source (Chinese)). It is a "hot spring hotel", included on tripadvisor. A description:

'Shipiao Hotspring is on the far opposite of Songshan, the main battlefield in West Yunnan during the War against Japanese invaders (World War Two). It's situated in sub-tropical ravine and is endowed with picturesque landscapes, verdant vegetation and pleasing environment. Being carbonated, Shipiao hot spring exhibits satisfactory efficacy for health care and effective therapy for some diseases, for which tens of thousands of visitors travel here for vacation each year'.

Delineation?

2011-06-16T16:02:00.003+07:00

Fringe culture

While highlighting the hotter soaks of the Himalaya one will always come up to the fringe of what should or shouldn't be included. On the one hand I am very much inclusive, on the other hand it's by no means my intention to provide background to all of Asia's hot springs.

Gansu province north west of the Tibetan plateau forms one such fringe. It being on the cross roads to the steppes to the north, the Gobi to the west and China proper to the east. With this information it's quite difficult to discern what would belong to a hot soak of the Himal and what not.

Besides the ultimate soak is a soak in natural scenery irrespective of geography, administrative division and social culture: a good soak may well be in the middle of a desert or a city for instance.

Gansu
Gansu province is probably a less visited province and as such less well-known. However it contains a highly diverse geography as well as rich culture.

Not really famous for it's hot springs, there are though quite a few, some still untouched by 'progress'.

That said the Tianyuan Hot Spring Hotel in the province's capital of Lanzhou is not one of them. Looking like anything but a natural soak, the reviews on tripadvisor are not too bad. However the existence of a hot spring does not seem to the reason why reviewers add their opinion of this hotel.

Tianshui environs
Another city, Tianshui, is noted for the many hot springs around the city (source), while Chinatravel describes the area as having

'abundant geothermic hot springs'.

Among the hot springs near Tianshui are Mapao (just the single source), Maiji, Qingshui (references for both, see Chinatravel, above), Jieting, Baisha (source) and Wushan. As ever it could just be a single hot spring with many different names.

Jieting (or Maijishan) hot spring are referred to as having 19 kinds of chemical trace elements and the

'first choice for treatment, leisure and holiday'.

There are some photo's of a not so appealing Wushan hot spring.

Warm spring
North of Tianshui is the prefecture of Pingliang. Jianchuan is the place to take the waters here. However it may be disputed whether or not the soaks here are hot. The site reveals that the spring at the source of the Liuhu is only 17 degrees, which in winter can be regarded as tepid, otherwise that's nice and cool. The info continues and refers to Zuo Zongtang adding an inscription near the springs entitled 'Nuanquan', warm spring. Chinatravel adds:

'The surroundings is gracious, beautiful, convenient, and informative. The hot spring is explored in 1971, with a constant temperature 38.2℃ all around the year. It has 13 active microelements. Having bath in hot spring can keep the human body clean and moist, and has health-care functions including accelerate blood circulation, practice the cardiac muscle, protect the heart, help digestion, get rid of fatigue, heal cardiac vein and skin diseases'.

Unfortunatly the web search also revealed mentions of unveiled greed:

'There are about 1,190 million cubic meters of underground water and a hot spring 10 km to the west whose temperature is between 30 to 36 degrees centigrade; both of them are just waiting for exploitation'.

To freak or not
In Gannan autonomous prefecture, a tremendously mountainous area wedged into Qinghai province one can find the hot spring of Zhajiang (or Jiang Zha) located in Luqu county. Also referred to by the name of the nearby Buddhist monastery of Langmu.

Langmu hot springs, blogged by Nswink13:

'There were two hot springs. We weren't going to get in because we didn't have our bathing suites, but we allowed our bras and underwear to suffice. This was the only photo we took since most of the women in the water were totally naked.

Sitting in these hot springs are supposed to be really good for your skin. It was neat to sit right by the mountain where the water flowed out from. It was so hot I was sweating. It felt like a scorching bathtub. We had been in a hot spring in Yanshou earlier on in the vacation; however, after experiencing this one, I am pretty sure that one was fake. They were more like hot tubs'.

The poorly reachable hot springs (this Chinese website mentions more than 40) has saved it from both heavy development as well as social mainstreaming. Hattie25 describes a visit to the place and was 'surprised':

'As we stepped into the females’, the wet warm airflow embraced us immediately. Lots of naked local Tibetan females with their children were sitting down the bottom of square pool silently, water could only immerge an adult’s instep, My godness! This is the famous hot spring of local’s legend? Really freaks me out!'.

That's what traveling is all about, finding and experiencing new things (well what's new about this?) without being biased.

'Jiang Zha hot spring, you dare to in?'

(source)

Anyway is you can observe the hot springs are rustic and cut into a cliff face. And one not need to be schocked as there are also other soaking places. Gotomessland.com mentions (with photographic evidence) that the indoor pools are not quite clean.

Restore Function
Nearby, in Dingxi prefecture Tongwei hot spring is known as Gansu's province's sacred spring. Elsewhere it is mentioned that:

'The hot spring water is natural mineral water with abundant fluorine, silicon and radon. The spring water can promote one's appetite and supply the necessary microelements in the human body.
It can also help cure one's chronic gastritis and enteritis, improve the metabolic process in human body and prevent premature senility. Therefore, the spring water is also called "youth mineral water"'.

Not bad? Source translated:

'Long went to the location on the Shinsen --- Tongwei, about 2.5 hours away, all the way to enjoy the beautiful rural scenery, the fresh feeling of nature, while the hot springs to relax tired mind and body. Shinsen is comfortable in the bath to enjoy, you can make the skin shiny and smooth, fit and healthy. When the temperature is 34-36 ℃, the nervous system has a significant sedative effect,37-39 ℃, the increase in gastric secretion, gastric motility to enhance, accelerate blood circulation. 42-44 ℃ when the strong sweating, excretion of metabolites, co-ordinating body to restore function, absorption of various trace elements beneficial to humans'.

Heads and Toes

2011-06-14T10:15:00.005+07:00

Qinghai

The high altitude plateau of Tibet falls under a number of different administrative divisions, the major two being Tibet Autonomous Region on the one hand, the other Qinghai province.

The province of Qinghai is named after it's large saltwater lake and under the name of Amdo has been part of China since mid-eighteenth century. However other than the area's on it's northwestern border, the main population and thus culture exists of Tibetan.

Consisting of mostly high plains and mountains it also has some hot springs, though in researching these, I believe many have remained unmentioned whereas others are known by a variety of names. This source mentions no less than 200 hot springs exist ..., so I might be missing quite a few.

The province having less restrictions on foreign travelers, one would believe that there is more information available. But that's not always the case.

Sweet!
Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, has some hot springs. This blog entry mentions a hot spring below a building which resulted in a

'fun night'.

Though I have not be able to pinpoint the building (A hotel? The Qihai Holiday Dynasty has a 'bath service'). Elsewhere is the mention of the oddly named Syrup Beach hot spring, located in Huangzhong county. The whole description is gibberish:

'This is known in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Beach hot syrup, after the domestic advanced scientific means to analyze the water quality, beach hot syrup was informed that the body must contain a large number of lithium, magnesium, strontium, chromium, manganese, boron, silicate and other trace without Su - , a high medicinal value, internal to the stomach have a good health, outside the bath on ringworm, scabies, urticaria, arthritis has become a good curative effect, so people it called "Shinsen syrup." '

The often used standard syrupy soak slide (source).

A real royal soak
Note should be made of the massive tragedy which struck here in the beginning of April 2010 when an earthquake had it's epicenter in the county of Yushu, which lies in the prefecture with the same name.
In light of the geological movement it's unclear whether or not the Yushu Princess Wen Cheng hot spring is still flowing; quite often hot springs can simply disappear. This hot spring is reckoned by this site to be one of the 10 beautiful places in Qinghai province. This link describes in a matter of fact manner a visit to a hot spring in Yushu which due to lack of evidence I'll conclude is the same as that of the Princess ...

Closer to Yushu town is Batang hot spring, Batang translates as "hot water ditch" (source). Though only an hour from Yushu, the hot springs are another 2-3 hour walk up the mountain (to 3900 m), or with a motorcycle:

'How do all five of us get to the hot springs with one motorcycle? Well, you ride piggyback. One guide with two passengers on back drives the motorcycle ahead. The other two hike. The motorcycle is left on the trail for the two hikers behind while the first group continues to hike. Then the following two pick up the bike and drive it ahead and then leaves the bike'.

In the end it's a very rustic place where Tibetans come and camp out in the summer. Jonas describes it as follows:

'After bypassing yet another angry dog, you start to see strange water seepages along the trail, and suddenly a hot springs pool appears below a khata-draped boulder. Then another. But this is only the start; you walk down to the riverside meadows and cross the torrent on steppingstones, then climb a low hillside. And here you find not only more hot-springs pools, but a miniature geothermal wonderland, replete with mini-geysers, bubbling springs and pools and strange mosses and technicolor soil. You strip and enter the water; perfect temperature. It starts to snow. The pool is shallow; you tuck as much of your body underwater and sigh happily; you can feel yourself relaxing. Life is good'.

Racy

In Hainan prefecture, Guide county lies the hot spring of Zhacang. Often referred to be it's county name, Zhacang is probably the most referred to hot spring of Qinghai or hot spring visited by Tibetans. The main reason for this is what mainstream China seems to find as scandalous behavior, soaking half naked. There are quite a few photo's on internet. Just photo google Guide + hot spring.

An example of the less racier, from Guide hot spring entry on daditrip.com (Chinese).

Besides the proof in a scientific document, there is Life photo of the natural springs. Beware though, the following is in the make:

'Building a comprehensive health center in Zhacang hot spring of Guide County, which is mainly gymnastic and medicated bath, and which integrates food, accommodation, amusement into a whole'.

Zanabazar
Elsewhere in the county are the hot springs of Qunaihai and Xinjie (1), though the sources mention the existence of 11 hot springs in this county alone ....

A hot spring is said to be 60 km southwest of Gongh, Hainan prefecture.

'near the town of Wenquan'

which seems to be an understatement as Wenquan translates as hot springs. The same source which focuses on the life of Zanabazar, the first living Buddha of Mongolia describes a meeting between Zanabazar and the then Dalai Lama near Hoang-Ho Hot Springs, which the source speculates are the same hot springs.

Possibly located in Hainan prefecture is the hot spring of Chiga. Legerton and Rawson (2) describe in no less than 15 pages a visit to these hot springs and the soaking culture.

'Chiga hot springs were nothing more than sweltering geothermal mineral water collected into a series of six natural pools at the opening of a steep clay canyon'.

The complete story (as well as other reports in the book) are fascinating. Locals, be they Tibetan, Chinese or Uighur bathe for months on end to relieve ailments.

From the Tibet Qinghai photo sharing forum.Could it be Chiga? By Melvynyeo:

'This is the local hot spring. Man and woman naked together in the same spring. They don't seem to mind us taking photos'.

The Laughing Soak?

Maduo county, Golog prefecture possess 1 hot spring, which unfortunately goes unnamed. This site also provides a photo overview of the county with a surprising photo of the hot spring.

Then in Huangnan prefecture, Tongren is described as a 'gem' :

'We enter a sacred cave, candlelit and filled with medicinal water. It is packed with Tibetan women from a nearby campground, having an evening soak. The heat, moisture and company in the cave are incredibly soothing.
To our delight, the women serenade us with Tibetan folk songs. Peels of laughter erupt when one particularly bold woman stood up and—bare-chested—mimicked a dance to accompany the popular song, "Our Merit Increases" (Bsod nams yar 'gro lags). On departing, we are treated to a parody of the traditional departing gesture: presenting a white silk scarf, or khata'.

The copyrighted photo by Julia Calfree:

'Tibetan women bathing in hot spring grotto for medicinal purposes outside Tongren'

Elsewhere there is another photoblog (to approach chinese minority: men and women on together bathe) of the same hot spring (I think) with an exceedingly difficult to follow narrative (but decidedly positive). Can you make head or toes of the following?

'In these hot springs,one of them can not only cure many diseases, but also men and women with hot spring bath. Laughter is just that - a naked young woman is the Tibetan laughed at me and doing up her hair. She sat rock on the side, legs extended in the hot wind around the water vapor, wry-necked in doing her long hair. There are also two next to her and her age similar to the Tibetan woman, while Bath side laugh at me. the scene reminds me of a piece of classical Western art. Tug oil paintings so remarkable that many people praised, keep it in time, and I now it is the reality.The hotspring gives auspicious happiness, pure and kind-hearted people of the Spa, not only washed the dirt and disease. it is also a particular tibetan custom'.

Then in Tongren county there is the hot spring of Qukuhu:

'There are peculiar landforms here. It is Qukuhu Medical Hot Spring at the north of the park with the temperature between 45-65ºC. The spring water can cure skin disease and rheumatic arthritis. There is another medical spring that is compound natural mineral water and called holy water by people'.

Freezing winter

In Haixi prefecture is the hot spring of Nachitai otherwise known as Kunlun. Listed as an attraction of Golmud there is significant info available on this hot spring. This description is more concise:

'We will see a holy spring called Kunlun Holy Spring that just stand by the way. The spring gushes all the year even in the freezing winter. It is said to have a marvelous curative effect on people'.

Notes:
(1) Mianping, Z. (1997) An Introduction to Saline Lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands.
(2) Legerton, C and J. Rawson (2009) Prayers on the plateau. From: Invisible China: A journey through ethnic borderlands. pp. 161-176. Chicago Press Review, Chicago, United States of America.

Of Tsachu's

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Introduction to Tsachu's

The reclusive Kingdom of Bhutan is well-known for it's pursuit of happiness, would this include taking time out for soaking in hot springs?
Kencho Wangdi in a thoroughly informative article states the following:

'Japanese love it [soaking in hot springs], if not for its medicinal value, for its warmth and therapeutic comfort. Visitors believe the thermal springs are great for relieving stress and tension too.
Traditional medicine doctors (Dungtshos) in Thimphu [Bhutan's capital], though, say that it is not good for people with high blood pressure, eye and dizziness disease, and with heart ailments.
Gasa tshachhu’s [tsachu or tshacchu are Bhutanese for hot spring] historical records are sketchy at best as it is for numerous other tshachhus in the country. Dungtsho Yeshey Dorji of the institute of traditional medicine services says that the country’s ancient traditional medicine doctors discovered the medicinal values of the tshachhus and spread the discovery. Because of their curative powers tshachhus were held sacred by the Bhutanese, many believing them to have been touched by divine hands. It is said that Bhutanese warriors wounded in battles sought tshachhus to soak in and applied the warm mud as salve for wounds. Sometimes they traveled for weeks to bathe their wounds in the water. Traditional medicine doctors have long since been prescribing the healing waters for their patients.
Observers also speculate if with modernisation tshachhus would retain their magic for long. In the west hot springs lost out to modern medications which held out the promise for rapid cures of many chronic diseases, which seemed more attractive than several weeks of bathing and other water-related treatments. Physicians were also not all convinced of their medicinal value mainly because no scientific proof existed.
But for elderly Bhutanese like Ap Lhap Tshering, 81, from Lhuentse, a regular visitor to Gasa tshachhu, the magic will never wane. "It's nature's way of healing people."

The looks like a comprehensive answer. Bhutanese must love soaking.

In the article entitled 'The Healing Springs of Bhutan' ugina adds:

'During the winter months, many people walk to these hot spring spots or "Tsachus" as they are called. People believe that soaking in this water will cure illnesses, such as stomach ailments, headache, skin problems and the list goes on and on'.

The significance of hot springs and their opportunity to attract tourists has made the government to present a very recent (December 2010) brief overview on their tourism web site. In all they mention 5 hot springs, this site will do better ...

Lhaden in the hot springs, Gasa by John Wehrheim.

No tsachu, take a dhotsho. Or a menchu

A less well-known tradition is that of dhotsho, a hot stone bath. Stones are heated and then put in a bath tub, i.e. a great Bhutanese alternative to a natural soak.
digital shangrila describes it as follows:

'so amazing! there are probably some people who don't know what this is, so i will describe it..... a hole is cut in the ground and then the hole is cribbed with timbers. water from the stream is run into the bath which is by the fire, river rocks are put in the fire until they are glowing hot and then they are dropped in the wooden tub full of water until it is boiling hot. the minerals released from the rocks are incredibly healthy and the steam rising of the water is divine!'

'Muffy enjoying the hot stone bath at basecamp'.

Sourced from Muffydavis.com. Or alternatively Jeff's LP travel blog

And when not able to do either there are menchu's. Translated as medicinal water (or possibly mineral water with high mineral content), these are spring waters with curative powers. These are found all over the country and are best appreciated heated with hot stones, so as to make them bearable.
The Bhutan Times has an article on menchu's near the capital Thimphu:

'The Menchu Karp smells pungent and is believed to mainly cure tuberculosis, nausea, rheumatism and boost appetite.
“The menchu is so effective that people even tried channeling it down to villages using pipes but failed,” said another visitor, adding that the Menchu Karp is believed to be under the guidance of the local deity, Changmey Phodhup'.

More insight on the significance of menchu's from this description of Aja Chhu:

'There is also a spring water (Menchu) near Aja Chhu believed to have medicinal values. People frequent the place to bathe in the pungent smelling spring for medical purposes. It is believed to have a curative effect on 18 diseases such as tuberculosis, bodyache, ulcer and whooping cough. Located in the same vicinity is another stream called Awa Chhu. Legend has it that the stream that falls from the rocky cliff came into existence after Guru's walking stick was implanted in the rock. The stream falls on a rock basin forming a pool, where it is believed the Guru had taken bath. The pool accommodates nine people and a bath in the pool is believed to purify a person. All visitors sincerely take a dip in the pool which is also believed to be warm in winter and cool in summer'.

Aja Chhu is probably the most sacred of menchu's and Kuensel has a long article on this place.

A photo which was once on picasa, link seems to have disappeared.
A dhotso? Left the men are heating the stones, right the women are bathing.

So where are the soak sites?

Dur Tsachu (Bhumthang) is the highlight of 10 day trek traversing the Bhutanese portions of the Himalaya without it being too strenuous. The trek is actually named after the hot spring.
Despite this though there is little info on the hot springs themselves ... that is with the exception of Wikitravel:

'A one day trek from road head. The trek is arduous, but stunningly beautiful. Blue sheep, musk deer and Himalayan bear are common in the Duer Hot Spring area'.

A short story on the keeper of Dur hot spring (my ambition) by crankygerman:

'he will show you with a wry smile how to disrobe and make proper use of them'.

Another hot spring (known as Gasa Tsachu) is likewise known as it is en route on the more worn out trekking trails of Bhutan. It is (or was) actually the main destination of a 11 day trek.

This year however saw a washout occur when a nearby stream managed to undercut the bathing facilities as reported by Kuensel (12 July 2009):

'The healing waters of the country’s most famous hot spring now flow under the Mochu river, which has taken a new course after the May 26 flood that completely washed away the five soaking ponds and the VIP bathhouse built around the spring'.

Reports since though have reported that renovations are underway. BBS (September 16, 2009):

'With the monsoon season almost over the restoration work of Gasa Tsachu will be carried out very soon'.

Kuensel only last month reported on the shortcomings. the gist, maybe by 2012 visitable. An update on Soaking in Southeast Asia refers to a bidding war by Japanese and Italians....

Though there is the reality of the conditions of the Gasa tsachu and development in general on tripadvisor:

'Gasa Tshachu trek is no more an attraction after the hot spring was washed away by the flood this year. Now there is dirt track just four hours walk from Gasa and two hours from the hot spring site'.

The former refers to the new road which now makes the trek just 2-3 hours away from the roadhead. Bhutan Observer (29 May 2009):

'Passang, 55, a horseman from Zomina, said before the arrival of the road, he used to get Nu 400 for a horse to carry a person and his luggage from the road end at Tashithang to the tshachhu [Gasa hot spring]. But now, he gets only Nu 300 for a horse. He said the coming of the road would directly affect the livelihood of about 100 horsemen'.

On yanatravel.com a first hand account to the old site as reported by Phintsho Dorji:

'The hot springs have five ponds. Each is fed from the different springs and each treats a different ailment. Though there are bathrooms and shower rooms and a notice instructing the visitors, ‘Do not enter the pond before taking shower from this bath house’, people enter the ponds without taking bath and that too with their dirty clothes on'.

Some things never change or do they?

'In the past, visitors relieved themselves in the open and farmers brought domestic animals - pigs, horses and cows to the tshachhu for broken joints and other ailments. Animals are now banned from the tshachhu'.

That positive note from Kencho Wangdi in the Kuensel (14 January 2009). Overall Mr. Wangdi has a very informative article not only on Gasa but on hot springs in Bhutan in general (see also above fragment in the introduction). He also mentions:

'... Nye [hot spring] in Kurtoe, Chuphu in Punakha and Dunbang in Zhemgang. They are all difficult to reach and entail more than a day’s walk through the rugged terrain'.

Other than Chuphu there are no references on the internet other than this source. Possibly because of spelling?

Erik Skydive's picture on Gasa TsaChu as it was.

Error
Chuphu is much better known as Chubu. As stated above, it is located in Punakha, Chubu is often visited.
From recent photo's (by yasu kita) it is evidently a very rustic affair; a small cemented pool with a low corrugated iron roof over it. Already a decenium back local government mentioned that

'The Tshachhu, however, lacks proper pond and accommodation facilities'.

Does not look like much has changed since.
Looking further back in time this site comes with a plausible reason why the spring is sacred:

'Many great master visited this Landlocked country in different centuries. As well during 8th century, the great Ngingmapa Master Guru Padmasambhava (lotus born) visited Bhutan, subdued the evils and blessed whole corner of the valley where he also introduced Hot spring for the well being of the sentient [= responsive, perceptive] beings. So, with the strong believes, hundreds of people hiked to the particular places where they have hot spring to take bath, especially the victims of different sorts of diseases. And by taking bath in the hot spring, it can heals different kinds of diseases like Tuberculosis, sinus, body-ache etc'.

Sangey Tashey in a very recent blog mentions that due to a new road it's only a 2-3 hour walk.

Then

'Koma Tsachu (Punakha) is a vigorous two hour walk from the small community of Mitesgang. There are three bathing pools covered by simple rooves, and a four roomed building with solar lighting where sleeping bags and mats can be laid (there is no charge for staying in the building). Outside, there is ample room to pitch tents and rock overhangs to camp under(source)'.

Then there is an excellent report on a visit to Koma Taschu by Phuntsok Rabten published in the Bhutan Observer (26 April 2008).

'Nestled alongside the creek in this picturesque jungle were the three pools of the hot springs. Amongst the scattering of tents and makeshift camps were two public toilets, three outdoor running taps and a most decent guest house of five rooms and two attached bathrooms, facilitated with solar electricity and water supply. Here, the music of modern amenities played in rhythm with the wild beat of the jungle drums. Koma Tsachu sees revelers and visitors round the year. Spring-time sees the most influx while the student hordes invade the tsachu during holidays. There were about 30 people when we arrived'.

Kuensel reports (2006) on the bridge to Kheng Dungmang Tsachu (Zhemgang):

'“A new suspension bridge will be constructed next year,” he said. Meanwhile the travellers through the tsachu zam are advised to be careful while passing through this bridge. People as far as from Thimphu and Haa in the west and from Trashigang and Trash Yangtse in the east visit the Dunmang tsachu from November till march. The tsachu’s three ponds with water temperatures measuring between 42 degrees to 52 degrees, is believed to cure diseases like tuberculosis, and sinusitis besides healing aches and wounds. A village elder from Kheng Gongphu said that the temperature of the water had been decreasing over the years. “We used to boil eggs in the tsachu not long ago,” said Ap Sangay, 90. “In the absence of hospitals in the past, the tsachu was very indispensable for us.” Thousands of people visit the tsachu every year'.

Gelephu Tshachu seems less well-known. Kuensel reports today that renovations were on the horizon.

'It will be the first major renovation since the hot springs were opened to public in 1962'.

Possibly in reply to an earlier this year published report in the Bhutan Today. It mentions inadequate bathing facilities, a decrepit guesthouse and non-existent toilets.
The BBS even mentions conjunctivitis outbreak at this hot sprin:

'...the outbreak occurred after an old couple infected by conjunctivitis soaked in the Tshachu'.

Duethang in Ura, Bumthang is expected to be another better developed hot spring site.

Hopefully the above info is comprehensive enough ....

'Cassie in a hot stone bath
Cassie made a bhutanese mans day when he walked in front of the window'.

Photo by The.Adrians.Golf

Consuming

2010-12-01T14:27:00.004+07:00

'Hot Springs at Iturup Island'. By Julie Robinson

Heading south
Following through with the feature on Eastern Russia's soaks, the smaller sections of the puzzle yet to be pieced together need to be filled in.

The Kuril islands are a string of (volcanic) islands which bridge the distance between Kamchatka and Japan's northern Hokkaido island.

Northen Paramushir island, one of the Kuril's biggest islands is home to hot springs of Verkhneyuryevskiye (source) and there is also the mention of hot springs near Karpinsky volcano and near Ebeko (source).

Continuing south, one of the Kuril islands is the uninhabited Ushishir which according to Wikipedia translates from the Ainu language as hot spring, a nice name for an island. The island is part of an active volcanic caldera but other than the name possibly implying the existence of a hot soak there is no info forthcoming on actualities though it seems the springs are underwater sea water springs. See also the Global Volcanism Programme's entry on Ushishir.

Closeby Rasshua island has 'numerous' hot springs.

Urup island is attributed to have hot springs on the flanks of the volcano Tri Sestry (source).

The South Kurils

Iturup is the northern most island of the southern Kurils. A no name hot spring is situated 'above' the town of Kuril'sk (source). Or Kurilsk.
FoxySakh has a set of photo's of the island on flickr, but none of a real life soak.

A 1992 photo by Shepard Sherbell with the following caption:

'Man in Hot Spring in the Kuril Islands'.

Taken on Iturup.

Yankicha island features heavily on Kuril island cruises. It's hot spring seems too unique to miss. This site claims:

'Near the lip of the lagoon a srape in the beach fills with thermal waters; no natural hot spring bath can have a more spectacular setting',

a claim they attribute to Micheal Bright [1]. Others add:

'Yankicha is considered by many to be one of the most visually scenic islands in the Kurils. The ancient Ainu people used the thermal area of Yankicha for initiation rites that lasted three days and three nights, in which young men in ceremonial furs were bound together by ropes on wooden platforms over the boiling springs'. source

Men! Soaking, drinking beer and watching for birds. Photo by magic salmon. Caption:

'Russian Far East 14696
Birding from bath with Sergey and Mark, Yankicha, Kuril Is'.

A gallery of Yankicha photo's on smugmug by Crux42.

Interesting
South of Iturup and closest to Japan is the island of Kunashir. Wikipedia:

'Kunashir is formed by four volcanoes which were separate islands but have since joined together by low-lying areas with lakes and hot springs'.

Aaltjeaworldwiseexplorer adds that

'some of them natural, others contained in regular pools and a beach filled with hot black rocks, called “Black Beach” which is owned by the military'.

From damn intresting some biological significance:

'In a hot spring on the Russian volcanic island of Kunashir, there lives a particular type of microbe which consumes poisonous carbon monoxide as nourishment, and exhales hydrogen. The microbe is called C. hydrogenoformans, and researchers at the The Institute for Genomic Research recently finished analyzing its complete genome sequence.
One day, the carbon monoxide waste from other industries may be used to feed vats of these microbes, and the resulting hydrogen could be collected and used to power the fuel cells of tomorrow'.

Across the sea
Finally we cross over the Sea of Okhotsk at it's narrowest to the large island of Sakhalin. The wikitravel entry on Nogliki mentions Goryachie Kluchi:

'Goryachie Kluchi (Горячие Ключи) is a volcanic mountain mountain area, and a village, on a tough dirt road north of town, it has a hot spring to boot.'

And that seems to wrap up this blog entry.

Notes:
Bright, M. (2005) 1,001 Natural Wonders You Must See Before You Die. Barron's Educational Series, New York, U.S.A.

As East as Possible

2010-11-30T08:25:00.008+07:00

Kamchatka

At the very end of Siberia lies the highly volcanic actively peninsula of Kamchatka, jutting south towards the Kuril islands and Japan.
Sparsely populated, there are still many hot springs in their natural undisturbed habitat as well as a couple of enhanced soaks catering to the increasing numbers of tourists.

Probably the best web based source of hot spring info on Kamchatka is the web page of kamchatkatravers.ru. Besides the many references I will include below, it mentions that there are 124 hot springs mostly located on the eastern range. It has more extensive descriptions of about 20 hot springs complete with photo's.

Roughly coming to the same number is russiadiscovery.com:

'There are 274 mineral springs in Kamchatka, and more than half of them are hot'.

Another source of info on hot springs in Kamchatka is the website of the Geyser Hotel. Distinctive soak entries will be included.

Without infringing on the previous lists, the following will try to give a pretty complete picture of Kamchatka's hot springs. Unfortunately I have not been able to put the 30 mentioned soaks into pace some kind of system in the review, the list is more or less at random. Most though are located in the east close to the more populated parts of Kamchatka around the central valley and Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka's main city.

Valley gone?
One of Kamchatka's main tourist attractions is the Valley of Geysers which is claimed to be the second largest concentration of geysers in the world (source):

'For approximately 3.7 miles the narrow, winding Geysernaya steams, boils, erupts and smells. This single valley has more than 20 major geysers and dozens of smaller ones concentrated in just 1.5 square miles'.

It is unclear though whether these claims are still valid as earlier this century many geysers were covered during a mud slide. It's also not clear whether or not these geysers are soakable. Though presumably.

Access
Viluchinski (Viluchinsky or Rodnikoviye) hot spring is one of Kamchatka's most often referred to hot springs, possibly due it's 2 hour distance from Petropavlovsk, and the skiing possibilities nearby.

This site describe it as follows:

'Local headquarters [government] left the hot springs in their pristine state and built alongside several charming wooden changing rooms and outhouse. There are 2 not large pools with healing hot water. One pool is for 4-5 persons. The place is very cozy and picturesque'.

For some reality here is a description from a visitor:

'A guided tour of Vilyuchinsky thermal springs also known as Rodnikoviye springs leaves a long-lasting impression. In two hours after leaving the town the road runs up a steep pass, crosses a mountain plateau and smoothly goes down to the valley of the river Vilyuchi. The locals did their best to preserve this haunt untouched and not to cripple it with buildings and other civilization signs. There are two small shallow natural pools filled with real thermal water. The fact that the water is thermal is confirmed by the presence of thermofile fields floating on the surface (algae living in thermal water). A small pool for 4-5 persons is located on a volcano terrace right on a travertine cupola. The water in the pool is sulfate-chloride-hydracarbonate'.

Geyser Hotel's entry on Viluchinski. And Sannikov.org.

It's also well known for it's muddy qualities.

Nice taste

'Strategic meeting in Nalychevo Hot Spring'.

By Brruno

Nalychevo (Nalichevo) hot springs are

'the biggest thermal carbonic acid springs at Kamchatka' source.

The Geyser Hotel has an extensive entry on this hot spring complete with pictures of the pond like surroundings and the single bathing building.

The same reference also mentions Talivoye hot spring, 6 km from Nalychevo:

'... the water tastes nice'.

Krayevedcheskiye are also located nearby Nalychevo (source).

Sannikov.org has this on Goryachie hot springs which are located in the central part of Nalychevo valley:

'On your way from Nalychevsky Priyut you cross another interesting place "Bear's tundra" covering with low bushes cranberry, blueberry, crowberry - a paradise for "a boss" of Kamchatka's forests. While bathing you'll admire vast expanses of tundra and mountainous peaks, glacial landscapes, richness and diversity of flora and fauna. You'll see a magnificent view of many summit Zhupanovsky volcano looks like fairy castle'.

Goryacherechenskie (Goryacherechensky), Talovskie (Talovsky), Aagskie (Aagsky; cool to warm springs) and Kraevedcheskie (Kraevedchesky) hot springs are mentioned just once by Kamchatkatravers. All are not far from Nalychevo.

Popoular
Khodutka (Khodutkinskie) hot springs is another hot spring rumored to be popular with tourists (source). The Geyser Hotel's entry on Khodutka puts quite some effort into describing this spring. Apparently this is a lake like section of the river (a km long, 20m wide) where temperatures vary from 37-80 Celsius.

'Russian banya
... in the thermal hot waters of the Khodutka River (the largest wild hot springs in Kamchatka)'.

By freddiebernard.

Paratunka (Paratunskie) is synonymous for it's soaks. Located even closer to Petropavlovsk this website mentions

'There are several natural outlets of thermal hot waters in the valley of Paratunka Valley: Nizhne-Paratunkskie (Low) Hot Springs, Sredne-Paratunkskie (Middle) Hot Springs and Verkhne-Paratunkskie (Upper) Hot Springs'.

This site claims

'In this area are nearly 30 hot swimming pools fed by wells drilled to bring un the naturally hot and mineralized waters'.

The Moscow Times haste's to add that these are Soviet-style sanatoria, though other's in a more natural state. Then there's a Blue lagoon, Golubaya Laguna, to entertain all:

'At present it is one of the most popular touristic centres of Kamchatka among both its residents and visitors of the island'. source

It's therefore difficult to attribute descriptions to a particular Paratunka soak. Some are more developed than others. The upper springs are less developed and include a waterfall (source) with a soaking pool below. The local government website includes a number of links to resorts, mostly in Russian.

Not so popular

The village of Malki (Malky) is the name giver of the Malkinski (Malkinsky) hot spring. The springs located 5 km from the village are located further away than Paratunka along the Klyuchevka river (source). Russiadiscovery adds:

'The valley is 0.5 km wide, on its both sides there are volcanoes covered with stone birch forest. On big thermal platforms covered with pebbles, near a creek there are several groups of springs, thermal waters of which stream down into small reservoirs dug in pebble soil. Hundreds of people come here on weekends. There is a recreation center near the springs, on its territory there are cottages and a comfortable thermal pool'.

It must be said that these springs are more rustic but on the evidence of this photo they do seem to attract quite a few soakers. Sannikov.org adds:

'Often on weekends the are is packed with picnicking and camping Russians'.

The Geyser Hotel entry of Malkinski. A traveler must have appreciated the soak:

'Then we drove to the Malki hot springs to take a bath, and a second, and a third next morning'.

Also located close to the Kamchatka capital are the Zhirovskie (Zhirovski) hot springs which Kamchatkatravers describes as one of the most beautiful valleys of Kamchatka. There are two sets of springs, Nizhne-Zhirovski (lower springs, Geyser Hotel entry) and Verchne-Zhirovski (upper springs along mountain stream, Geyser Hotel entry).
Located nearby (presumed?) is the Apacha hot springs hotel.

Progress
Tumroks (Tumroksky) is a very off the map place (well, it's about half way up the peninsula) to which are very few references. Tichavsky though treks here and gives this description:

'The times when Tumroks hot springs resort was just a few huts are past now. New hotel style wooden builidngs with luxury rooms were built there in summer 2003 for rich tourists comming by helicopter. Most of the building are now owned by "WelcomeTour" travel agency. I didn't like the light color of these buildings, located in still total wilderness with no road around'.

'Hot springs pools at Tumroks. What a pleasure after our unpleasant trek!'

From Tichavsky's photo page.

There is this source on no less than 14 hot springs of Apapel which is near the town of Esso. Sputnik Mania has a photo.

Less
The Lesser valley of Geysers is another term for the hot spring (fields?) of Dachnye located in South Kamchatka (kamchatkatravers), 100 km west of Kamchatka's capital. A series of photo's can be observed from the kamchatintour website.

Kamchatkatravers has a very attractive description for the Verkhne Opalskie hot spring:

'Verkhne-Opalskie hot springs are located in the left bank part of the valley of the Levaya Opala river, on a small river that flows from the north-west slope of ancient Asacha volcano. The springs are located in the forest'.

The Karymskie (Karymsky) hot springs are located near Kamchatka's most active volcano with the same name. Again the most informative info available is from Kamchatkatravers. There's a personal experience:

'We concluded the day with a bath in a hot spring near the little stream. Next to the house was a wooden hut in which one could change clothes. In there one could get relief from millions of mosquitoes which lived at the swamp and which must have been pleased to hit on five humans to tired to care. In any case such a bath in such an environment is just wonderful. We watched the sun go down behind Karymsky as we relaxed to the max'.

Photo by Alexander Belousov. Caption:

'Alexander takes a rest in the Karymsky hot springs'.

Nearby are the hot springs of Academii Nauk (Akademii Nauk) which like Karymsky also refer to an active volcano. Again only referred to by Kamchatkatravers.

The Kharimchinski hot springs are also awarded by an entry on the website of Geyser Hotel. It's location though is unclear. Luckily panoramio now has an entry (see photo below).

Geyser Hotel also has references to 2 hot springs near the Bannaya river. These are Maliye Banniye (Geyser Hotel entry) and Bolshiye Banniye (entry).

Others receiving a descriptive addition in kamchatkatravers are Zheltorechenskie, Shaibinskie, Timovoskie, Oksinskie, Ksudachinskie, Golyginskie.

Photo's
For those of you requiring more photo graphic evidence the following are a number of links and captions to photo's from Iain Masterton:

'Group of babushkas enjoying a soak in natural hot spring baths at Ozerki near city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Kamchatka in Russian Far East' source.

'People soaking in natural hot spring with beer chilling on ice during winter in southern Kamchatka in Russian Far East'. source

(Most probably the upper Paratunka hot spring)

'Two people soaking in natural outdoor hot spring with mineral mud face masks in Kamchatka in Russian Far East'. source

'Woman bathing in natural outdoor hot spring bath during winter in Kamchatka in Russian Far East'. source

'Outdoor hot natural hot spring bath in deep snow at a countryside Dacha in Kamchatka in the Russian Far East'. source

No people?
The absence of inhabitants has been well read by geothermal energy investors. A very recent development has been the teaming up of Icelandic geothermal energy specialists and Russian investors to seek to power up the peninsula such that metallurgic facilities will be run on the earths heat.

barabanov2006's photographic memory of a recent heliski adventure

[updated October 2011]

Expanding

2010-11-12T09:46:00.006+07:00

Siberia is definitely a wide expanse of openness and what with the many hot springs situated in the area around the Baikal lake one would expect a couple of hundred hot springs to be located in Siberia. At least.
Wrong. After much research there only seem to be a few. Or at least there is so little info available on internet. Or there may be hot springs still waiting to be discovered.

Cold Fame

Superlatives assume Siberia to be very cold. And apparently no place on earth gets colder than Oymyakon (Wikipedia). Located 3 days drive from Yakutsk,

'Oymyakon boasts an average winter temperature of -45C, with a one-time world record low of -71.2C
...
Ironically, Oymyakon means “non-freezing water”, situated as it is to a nearby hot spring'. source

Even though this is ironic and might lead one to think that there can be no better way of illustrating the contrast by looking into more 'depth', alas the cold wins from the heat, at least in reporting on internet. Even such absurd news such as

'Nippy cows wear bras in Russia'

get a blog entry.

Possibly dinets.travel.ru refers to Oymyakon (Oimyakon) when focusing on orchids but mentions:

'Some rare and beautiful flowers, normally found only in Southern and Western Siberia, can be seen around hot springs in the uninhabited area between Suntar-Hayata and Verhoyansky Range. In this mountain chain, 3 times as long as Sierra Nevada, there are only two small villages and three mines. Hot springs do not freeze in winter, and I discovered a wintering population of brown dippers (Cinclus pallasi), diving in the water despite the frost'.

Possibly referring to the same, is the mention of Tjoply Kljuch (Tyoply Kljuch), which this Italian blogger refers to as having a 'fonte tiepida'. LP Thorn Tree also mentions:

'There's a small village called Tjoply Kljuch where there's a hot spring'.

Btw. Tyoply Kljuch is yet again mentioned by wikipedia as a 'warm spring' on the Sea of Japan coast, north of Vladivostok, south of the Amur, somewhere totally different.

Complicating things even more is this blog entry mentioning that the near by Oymyakon, Tomtor, has a hot spring by wideview.it:

'A stream that never freezes, because of hot springs. The vapour, coming out continuously, freezes instantly over the trees all around, creating very bizzarre shapes'.

Funny

The most western most hot springs of Siberia are located near the city of Tyumen. More published and probably seeing a lot more visitors. There is a hot spring located just 5 km's from the city and it

'is well developed to accept tourists. Accommodation, meals are readily available. The water is highly mineralized having temperature of 45 degrees Celsius and cures many unhealthy conditions'. source

There are a few soak experiences on internet such as the blogs by russiantale, englishrussia.com and this from Sergey Gershtein:

'There are hot natural springs that are said to be funny to visit in winter. It was funny indeed'.

He unfortunately fails to expand why they are funny. More photo's on panaramio.

The source above, roadtripsacrossrussia.com, describes there being another less developed hot spring 30 km from Tyumen, most probably a reference to Yalutorovsk. Yalutorovsk is 70 km from Tyumen (wikipedia).
An entry on virtualtourist describes Yalutorovsk as follows:

'In some dozen kilometers from Yalutorovsk there is a hot spring. It is just in the forest, so the correct destination I can't say. In any way if you ask residents, they will tell you I suppose. It was funny to sit in the hot water when the snow was everywhere around. If you're in the center of the spring you may light it up because there is gas. It is not dangerous :-)'.

'it is fired'.

by bugulma

Help

Moving eastwards, Krasnodar region has a few hot springs with not so much more info other than this:

'Mineral springs are of great interest and form the basis of health resorts in Goryachy Klyuch [the name means "hot spring"], Khadyzhensk, and Maikop and the Krasnodar Hydropathic Center. The mineral waters of Goryachy Klyuch and Maikop have a well-deserved reputation as table waters. The territory's hotel business is expanding. A favorable climate, warm seas, mineral and mud springs, and scenic mountain and coastal landscapes have combined to make Krasnodar Territory one of the most important tourist regions of Russia and the CIS'. source

On Goryachiy Klyuch wikipedia adds little, but the above is about all the info available on Krasnodars hot spring resorts. Wikitravel's entry is hardly more descriptive:

'Goryachie Kluchi is a volcanic mountain mountain area, and a village, on a tough dirt road north of town, it has a hot spring to boot'.

So where does this leave us?

With most of the Asian continent close or north of the Himal already featured, it seems the only place left is Russia's eastern frontier, Kamchatka. So look forward to an expansive entry on this including the Kuril islands.

Going Baikal

2010-11-04T20:07:00.005+07:00

Due North

Heading northward anywhere in Asia and you'll end up in Russia. And in Russia the hot soaks keep on coming; there's no better way to brave the chill and cold than enjoying a hot spring. I'll start off this journey by going north of Mongolia.

Often traveled, often used as a lay-over on the Trans-Sib, Trans-Mongolian, there's quite a bit of information on the internet about hot springs in the Baikal region. What's more the quality of information is better, less blog reports more tourist and/or other official info.

Getting acquainted with the area is not an issue. It starts off with this general introduction:

'Baikal area is still seismically active. There are 35 hot springs around the lake, mostly located in the north-east of Baikal and in Tunka valley'.

That's quite a lot for such an area. Even as this web entry claims:

'The Baikal basin nature is rich in medicinal mineral springs, there are more than 300 mineral springs-arshans on the territory of Buryatia. The word arshan means “holy water” in the Buryat language. In such a way the people highlight the medicinal force of the natural springs. According to the Buryat traditions, having come to the arshan it is necessary to pay tribute to the “holy water” and worship it. Each arshan has got a special place for sacrifice. The rite is started with fastening a band-zalaa to a tree with the request of giving health, t hen some milk is sprinkled about, some sweet things and coins are placed under the tree. Only after that the arshan is tasted and medical treatment is started'.

Saint Spring?
The mention of Arshan leads us to the first soak site of the Baikal region. Another link adds to our understanding:

'From a language of Buryat people the name of the settlement «Arshan» is translated as «Saint spring». This place was called so because of numerous natural mineral water springs appearing right from the ground'

According to wikitravel Arshan

'is a small hot spring resort located at the foot of the Sayan Mountains in Buryatia'.

Which means to the west of Irkutsk and the Baikal lake. The following is all derived from baikal-center.ru:

'Arshan is balneological, with a mountain climate, of a total capacity 895 bed places. It includes resorts "Sayany", "Arshan" and a camp for children, which is run all year round, "Edelweiss". The resort is situated in Tunkinskaya Valley at the foot of the Sayan Mountains, on the banks of the purest mountain river Kyngyrga, known for its cascade of gorgeous waterfalls.
...
The main natural medicinal properties of Arshan's waters are carbonate thermal waters of low mineralization and acidity that contain silicon, sulfate, hydrocarbon, magnesium, calcium and sulfide silt muds.
Visitors are offered to use a swimming pool, gyms, sauna, library with a reading room, club, dance and sports facilities (grounds), concert hall, caf, sports equipment rental services, playroom for children, restaurant, drug-store, parking lot, hairdresser and place for Terrainkur [?]'.

It continues to list why Arshan's water are curative:

'Cutaneous (skin) diseases and hypoderm, Diseases of the genitor-urinary system (except for female genital diseases), Diseases of the respiratory system, Diseases of the digestive apparatus, Diseases of the blood circulation system, Diseases of the endocrine system, eating and metabolic disorders'.

Then:

'To take warm mineral water baths one should agree upon with the resort administration. The only natural mineral spring outlet, so called eye spring, has been preserved at one place which is easy to find as it is situated in a sacred grove (with ribbons on trees). The eye spring contains iron, up to 600 mg/l'.

Closeby is another hot spring Nilova Pustyn. The information on internet is quite similar to the above with the same reference, baikal-center.ru. More info is available from baikaltravel.ru.

Griffins
Another hot spring in this locality is Shumak. Shumak the more remoter of the hot springs in this area is also more folksy, witness this legend:

'One such sacred spot is Shumak, a fairy-tale like collection of medicinal hot springs and shaman shrines nestled high in the Sayan Mountains to the south of Baikal. Shumak, as the legend goes, was a valley merchant who fell in love with a beautiful woman in the mountains. When he went back to claim his bride, he learned that she and her entire tribe had been wiped out by fever. Heartbroken, Shumak threw away the jewels he had carried as a wedding gift. As he did so, dozens of healing springs are said to have appeared where each of the jewels landed'.

Access info plus more:

'It is necessary to walk 70 km and get over the Shumak mountain pass which is exclusively difficult to access (2,932 m), on foot, on horseback or by helicopter. But the beauty of the mountain landscape, the air and the medicinal springs are worth of it. The thermal carbonaceous waters of Shumak are displayed on the surface in three groups looking as numerous griffins [=body of a lion + head/wings of an eagle according to wikipedia]'.

There is an actually visitor experience from Shumak:

'The springs themselves are a scattering of cottages built around the 80+ separate fountains. The Russians are very sure that each line exudes a separate mineral and comes from a unique source. There's probably a bit of truth to it. The big thing is to take a cup around to each spring and drink from each one to build up your health...It's amazing, people hike in with sick children etc...just to feed them this water..C'est La Vie. At most I'd expect 100 people to be in the valley at one time. We saw perhaps 40 during our stay. There is also one spring that is big enough to sit in..they actually built a house around it. It is NOT a hot spring...more of a lukewarm spring...I'd guess about 80 deg F'.

'The warm spring (NOT HOT)'.

From tjschmidty

On all 3 hot springs mentioned above, the Freiburg Technical University, Germany, has extensive geological info. See for instance their entries on Arshan /Shumak and Nilova Pustyn .

Muddy waters
The above mentioned Uni has put a lot of effort into geologically mapping the various hot springs in this region.
More of this effort can be found in and around the Baikal lake. The Zhemchug hot springs (geo. info) are not only known for their water but as well as for their mud.

'They are situated in the Tunka district on the right bank of the Irkut river. The medicinal hot springs and mud baths are popular with people'. (source)

Not everybody understands the mud:

'There was a place you could go which was basically a big hot tub, fed by water from the hot springs. It was nice, but the whole village was extremely muddy (the rain the previous night didn't help) and the mud came all the way up to the pool, which made for everything being a bit messy'.

Snakes
Little more background to Dawsha hot spring (geo. info) but there is more on Zmeinayay (Zmeiny or Snake spring; geo. info) There's a nice old-fashioned photo (at least I hope so) as well as what follows:

'The Zmeiny spring is one of the most popular thermal springs of Lake Baikal. The water of the spring runs both on the ground surface and under water. The spring is similar to famous Pyatigorsk springs by the composition of its water. It is rich in hydrogen sulfide, fluorine and sodium. Temperature of the water fluctuates between +28ºC (+82ºF) and +34ºC (+93ºF). The spring itself corresponds to two wooden blockhouses each is for four persons. The Zmeiny spring that means spring “of snakes” in Russian got its name because of a big population of grass snakes lived in this bay in former times'.

Kotelnikovsky hot spring (geo. info) is the hottest spring by the Baikal (source). The local (Severobaikalsk) tourist site uses this to attract visitors:

'Kotelnikovsky Cape hot springs are situated 70 km from the city [?], western coast of the lake, multiple outlets of hot mineral water, (one can dig a bathtub in any place of the pebble and shingle beach which will get filled with hot water pretty soon). Part of its territory is a resort area with cottages, inside and outside pools'.

Another photo is obtainable from Iain Masterton.

Free speech
Then there is Goryachinsk (geo. info) which someone on LP's Thorn Tree describes as

'hospital like sanatorium'.

Closer to the city of Ulan Ude this web site describes getting to the hot spring:

'If you follow the first path, it’ll take you under pine trees, along a stream, until two pretty wooden sheds built on the special stream. In the center of the shed is a fountain of Hot Springs. Along the stream are benches where people sit and dip their feet in the mixed hot and cold waters. It’s supposed to purify, bring health and happiness! What it surely brings is people together, they meet on the benches and talk about where they come from, where it’s best to buy fish in the village…'.

Dzelinda hot springs:

'Dzelinda hot springs are located 92 km. to the east from Severobaikalsk. They have train and automobile connection with the town. Here a tourist can find pools with hot water, a bar, a small hotel, sauna. Not far from the location they are building a resort area for railroad employees for 50 visits a day'. (source).

There are some photo's on picasa taken by north. He is also the only person mentioning Kurkala hot springs; again via a photographic record.

Seemingly more popular is the hot spring of Goudzhekit. One soaker (WHEN I WAS TWENTY I LIVED IN RUSSIA FOR A YEAR) discovered and experienced the following:

'... two pools: one pleasantly hot, like a hot tub, and the other painfully hot'.

A similar experience befell this visitor which also includes photo's.
More photo's are available via Darren and Jo, as well as aforementioned north.

Khakussy hot spring is another popular place. LP thorn tree states it's a holiday camp. More info:

'Khakusy is a name for a bay, hot springs and a resort. The hot springs are located in a picturesque miniature valley 1 km. away from the shore. "Akushi" means hot from the Evenk language. The water temperature at the outlet is 47 C over. The cottages of the resort which belongs to the Nizhneangarsk medical service are spread around the valley'.

'The hot springs'.

From genadi.is-a-chef.net

Further more
On another less known hot spring, Khoito-gol :

'It is in the middle part of the Khoito-gol river (the Oka district). The sources spout from under the boulders on the bank of the stream. The water temperature is 29-30˚C. There are about a dozen of springs with baths by them. The springs are hydrocarbon-sodium-calcium, they have been known since ancient times with the Mongolians and the Tuvinians. The waters are used to treat rheumatic and nervous diseases'. (source)

Other hot springs mentioned are Kuchigersky, Chivyrkuisky, Allinsky and the Garginsky (source) while this link adds more on the prior with Seyuisky and Umheisky .

To top it all off there is this from wanderingmaineiac:

'... Xakysa seemed to be a resort town, it was pretty much deserted and we were the only ones there. But the purpose of the trip was another soak in the hot springs. Here they had a hot bath separated by gender, and the captain of the boat decided to go in his birthday suit which is what is normally done, but the squeamish Americans all went in bathing suits. There were 3 outdoor pools that ranged in temperatures, and we found one that was like a warm back. Just perfect. And ended up soaking there for the next couple of hours'.

No idea where Xakysa is located other than on the lake ...

Latecomers to the party:

'Solnechnoye [near Severobaikal], a spot with some natural hot springs – I’m not sure what exactly I’d been expecting, but something a little more natural than the hot tub with a pipe running, supposedly, from the hot spring, I suppose…'(source)

Hoyto-Gol, a picture on panoramio.

Guerilla's, voyeurs, tolls and Tatta!

2010-11-01T08:36:00.006+07:00

Some of the last pieces of the Himal (or remainder of Asia?) jigsaw puzzle remain, a larger piece is Pakistan. Not really high on any soakers to-visit agenda but nonetheless it has a couple of hot springs. However, besides the existence of hot springs one seems to miss a soaking culture, not like higher up or on the other side of the mountains ...

Compiled web-based information concerning hot springs in Pakistan, be they in the north or anywhere else in the country is non-existent with one exception. This is not at all surprising considering the infancy in which other countries compile their own data as well as a lack of a soaking culture. The Pakistani exception is the report on geothermal sources by Zaigham (2005). But even this publication fails to come with any estimate concerning the amount of hot springs in Pakistan. In the following, I'll add a number of names of possible soaks which can't be verified.

Soaking crocs
Away from the Himal, Manghopir hot spring is a sort of a anonymity. From wikipedia:

'Manghopir is a rural area of Karachi [Pakistan's largest city located at the Indian ocean], named after Sufi Pir Haji Syed Sakhi Sultan. The area has the oldest Sufi shrines in the city, hot sulphur springs that are believed to have curative powers, and many crocodiles - believed locally to be the sacred disciples of Pir Mangho. Balochs often call this place as ‘Mangi’ or Garm-aap / Sard-aap (due to the presence of the hot & cold springs)'.

There are actually a couple of entries on Wikipedia concerning this place. This entry adds:

'There are hot and cold springs about a kilometer from the shrine. Warm water passing through the sulphur rocks is said to contain some medicinal qualities. Many people with skin diseases regularly come from long distances to have a bath to cure them. There are separate swimming pools and shower rooms for men and women. Scientific analysis has shown that this warm water is naturally saturated with carbon dioxide, besides containing some sulpher & other skin friendly nourishments, which are no doubt suitable for many skin-diseased patients'.

Most striking though are the many crocs lying around this swampy hot spring.

'More than 200 crocodiles live at the shelter in Manghopir, said Sajjad Sheedi, the caretaker of the pond. He added that the current Mor Sahib has been the chief of all crocodiles in the pond for almost 70 years.
“The descendant of the Mor Sahib usually becomes the chief crocodile. But when a crocodile is able to kill the Mor Sahib, he is nominated in his stead,” Sajjad Sheedi added.
The crocodile pond is around 400 feet (120 metres) long and 200 feet (61 metres) wide. It is nourished by an underground stream, and provides shelter to crocodiles that range between six and seven feet in length'.

Other info on the management of these crocs can be found on this website.

Not so far from Karachi is the hot spring of Kargaz [1].

Guerrilla
In Balochistan province (the area between the Indian ocean and Afghanistan) is the hot spring of Bugti. Little information on this very remote hot spring other than this derived from a picture on life.com:

'A Bugti guerrilla waits his turn to bathe in a hot spring at the Bugti tribe headquarters camp in the mountains near the city of Dera Bugti in the Balochistan province of Pakistan on January 23, 2006'.

Balti
Taking note of the above we now shift our attention to the north, towards the Himal and there is nothing beyond the Gilgit-Baltistan Territory, a piece of pakistan which fits inbetween the Pamir / Wakhan corridor, Kashmir and China.

Choutron (Chu Tran, Basho valley, Chutung) contains a hot spring which can be described as follows:

'The name literally means "hot water" in the local Balti tongue. In Chutran, there is a medicinal hot springs. Over the decades, the spa has become popular with the local people, who are even coming from beyond Hunza (15 hours by road) to soak in the 40-plus degree Celsius water. Nestled at the base of the northeast side of the Haramosh Range, Chutron is partially shaded and thereby relatively cool. Its scalloped terraced wheat fields are intercrossed by footpaths and stone field boundaries, all of which conspire to provide beautifully pastoral views and retains a primitive charm, seemingly stuck in in the 19th century'. source

On Flickr the following picture with accompanying explanation.

"Chu" means water and "tran" means hot in the local language, Balti. Chutran is about 2 1/2 hours from Shigar or a little over 3 hours from Skardu. There is a government resthouse there with an outhouse which has a bath with the hotspring water running through. There are also other similar baths for the locals. Apparently, there is another hot spring 3 hours further away, which is supposed to be too hot to bathe in'.
By Zain Mankani.

The Karakoram highway is the major highway heading up the mountains and yonder into China's Xinjiang and Tibet. It is also the source of many a link with some even mentioning hot springs.
Near Raikot (Rakhiot) bridge are a number of hot springs (source). Possibly referring to the same:

'Tato (alternatively Tatta, meaning 'warm') is the name of a small village in the Rakhiot Valley (2300 m) which is named after a hot spring nearby'.

Other valleys in the north of Pakistan contain their own hot springs such as Bisil (Arandu valley, Baltistan). What follows may lead you to think that foreigners don't like smelling sulphur:

'Bisil also has a hot spring, with the small pool emitting strong smells of sulfur. Locals rarely see foreigners and are quite welcoming'.(source)

Elsewhere there are hot springs in Dowo Kraming (Khaplu), quite close to the border with China. Near the Wakhan is the hot spring of Darkut (source) in the Yasin valley and Pechuz (source).
Possibly not so far away is the hot spring of Immit:

'... bathe in the hot waters of spring to "cure their physical ailments". Separate rooms have been built for men and women'.(source)

Screening voyeurs
An often internet mentioned hot spring is the hot spring of Chitral (otherwise known as Garam Chasma, which is actually located 30 kms from Chitral). Here are a number of those internet finds:

'East of the main road near the town is a famous hot spring. The hot water comes from the hills. Near the residential area, a small steaming stream branch off to enter bathrooms and swimming pool (constructed by Chitral Scouts) before it joins the main course again. There are quite a few legends (or facts) famous about the hot spring. As per Mohyuddin, the water of hot sparing is a cure to Gouts and numbers of other skin diseases. I only revelled into the hot water to freshen up. It was very comforting'.source

'Swimming Pool full of hot water from Garam Chashma'.

Photo by NitroCario

'The very basic Hotel Innjigaan (s/d Rs 80/120), east of the bazaar, has a big pool full of hot spring water to soothe your bones. Voyeurs are screened out so women in bathing costumes should feel quite safe'. source

'This un-spoilt enchanting valley of orchards, verdant fields and snow clad peaks is renowned for its boiling sulphur springs which are famous for healing effect on skin diseases, gout, rheumatism and chronic headaches. For the convenience of tourists “humans” (baths) have been constructed near the springs. Foreign tourists are requested to pay a toll tax of Rs.5.00 per person'. source

There's even a website blog dedicated to this place with some stories and many pictures but none of the hot springs. The websites entry phrasing:

' "Garam Chasma" means hot springs in Chitral. The hot springs are located at about 30-40 km distance from Chitral town and you can visit the place with a jeep drive. The hot springs are rich in sulphur content and are believed to have healing powers. There are places to take bath in the water of these springs'.

Other hot springs mentioned [1] in this region are Murtazabad, Mushkin, Budelas, Sassi and Dassu.

Tatta?
The aforemention Tatta is an often recurring name for a hot spring in the Himal and as elsewhere the name leads to some confusion. There is a Tattapani near Kotli in Azad Jammu Kaskmir Territory.

'Tatta Pani is famous for its sulpher water springs. During winter season a large number of people visit this place daily to have hot water bath for the cure of skin & rheumatic ailments'. source

'When we finally reach Choutron, we dipped our feet into the hot springs for as long as we could stand'.

By thinkbigadventures.com

Note:

[1] Nayyer Alam Zaigham (2005) Geothermal Energy Resources of Pakistan [pdf]. Proceedings World Geothermal Congress 2005, Antalya, Turkey.

World's top 5?

2010-10-26T08:13:00.007+07:00

Inner Mongolia (or Nei Mongol) is another huge Automonous Region of China. The relatively sparsely region borders Mongolia. Hot springs though are very popular.
In the regions capital Hohhot one can stay at the Water Moon Hotspring hotel, tripadvisor states, though I'm not totally certain whether or not that really is the case.

World famous Wiener
Chinatravel states:

'There are many hot springs in Inner Mongolia, including the world famous five'.

The hot spring named Wiener Creek is just one of those 5. The aforementioned website adds: '

Located in the middle of Xilu Wei Nahan Daxinganling mountains mountains in the Wiener River mineral field, there are seven springs arranged in the context of more than ten square meters, and some very clear and clean spring water, some were white, some brown-yellow, water temperature were 2 ° ~ 6 ° C, the water quality with world-famous French spa Vichy comparable. They generate strong in much of ancient Tertiary volcanic activity, was Mongolia, Oroqen, Ewenki called “Shen Shui.” Have been developed using universal spring, spring stomach, acid springs, the heart of spring (above 4 springs for drinking spring), the first spring, ear, nose spring, seven medicinal springs bathing spring, about 40 tons per day and night flow can be bath treatment for 45 thousand people used to drink. Mineral water contains more than 230 kinds of minerals, on dozens of chronic diseases have a significant effect'.

Natgeo
The UNESCO designated Hexigten National Geopark contains the Reshuitang thermal spring, another of the top mentioned 'world famous five area' as well as a number of other geological phenomena. Reshuitang is located 30 km north of Jingpeng. More on Reshui can be found here including this last sentence:

'At present, there have been 10 hot spring sanatoriums. This hot spring town which is beside the mountain and water has beautiful scenes'.

More fame
On Ning hot spring, another of those famous 5 there is nothing additional mentioned.

On the hot spring of Liangcheng located near Daihai Lake, Liangcheng county

'Located in the mountains of central Inner Mongolia, Han Liangcheng Daihai very hot, because legend of Emperor Kangxi, when the patrol side spring mount thirst in this plane, also known as “spring plow horse,” Temple has been built Yongxiang, aristocrats, celebrities Ascot and the monk Lama bathing resort of convalescence. Underground water is a sodium bicarbonate-based weak mineralization of water, water temperature 37 ° ~ 38 ° C, rich in lithium, zinc, strontium, radium, metasilicate, selenium, iron, magnesium, sulfur and other chemical elements and minerals substances, rheumatism, rheumatoid, skin diseases, low back pain, dry skin and other diseases have a significant effect'. source

And a top ski
Arxan (Aershan) is the most often mentioned hot spring in Inner Mongolia. Better known for it's ski area (see Ten Best Places for Skiing in China), it is apparently also home to a hot spring museum. I'm not totally sure if this is what a museum means:

'The museum will feature different sites including the Arxan hot springs, volcanoes, as well as bizarre lakes and stones.
The museum locates outside Arxan city, a Chinese frontier town southwest to Daxinganling Region, the city boasts the largest and best-kept volcano basalt physiognomy and the world's largest hot springs used for drinking and bathing.

One of the area's most spectacular sites is a concentration of 48 hot springs that are classified into three different types and four different temperature levels'.(source)

Another aspect that makes Arxan hot springs famous are that it is the largest group of radon hot springs in China (source).

Arxan seems a great place to do nothing:

'AereShan is a famous Mongolian hot Springs area. There is a hot spring for every body organ. The area is all beautiful mountains. We went for a drive into the mountains and wow. Wild flowers. Rivers. Mountains. There is not much to see in the town, so this is an area to relax, use the hot springs, and learn the history'.

That description seems quite compelling. Whether or not this will remain is possible not the case. A recent news article suggested that Aershan will be the focus of Sino-Icelandic geothermal investment.

Undiscovered

2010-09-29T10:37:00.006+07:00

Introduction
Afghanistan is a logical extension of the many regions and countries highlighted in this blog. Certainly geographically. But in soaking customs one would suspect not.

Problem though is that references to Afghani soaks are scarce. Luckily this is counterbalanced by the excellent insight gained by Saba et. al's (2004) publication on Afghanistans potential for geothermal energy. Large extracts are as follows:

'The use of geothermal resources in Afghanistan might have begun with the settlement of the first people in the vicinity of the many hot springs in the valleys of Hindu Kush, where these springs, served as a source of warmth, and cleansing, and their mineral water as a source of healing. In this way, probably, long time ago, these people learned to use the healing properties of the hot water that came naturally out of the ground to make their life easier. Through experience, they might have discovered that a good soak in those hot springs cured certain ailments, e.g., stiff muscles and sore backs became limbed, skin diseases cleared up, and wounds healed. For this particular reason, many of these hot springs in Afghanistan are called "chashma-e shafa", meaning the healing spring, a property that deemed them sacred. Thus, the communities all over the country rightfully consider the protection of these springs as their duty.
Modern use of mineral thermal springs in Afghanistan goes back to 1940s, when few thermal springs in Herat (Obe and Safed Koh), Balkh (Aabe Garm), and Orezgan were developed for therapeutic purposes. However, soon these developments were abandoned. In 1974, the Obe springs in Herat were renovated for bathhouse usage (Akhi, 2001). Probably, at the same times, single bathrooms were built on hot springs along the Kabul-Mazare Sharif highway in Pole-khumri and Hairatan towns. The rest of the hot springs of Afghanistan are left undeveloped to date, but the people continue to use them in their traditional ways'.

Included in this publication is an extensive list of geothermal sites most of which no other references exist. In all it seems that this publication refers to over 200 hot springs, which would make Afghanistan a potential hot spring heaven.

Afghani hot springs. In depth
Some more info is available on Obe hot spring which Saba et al (2004) mention more prominently. On internet there's a photo (from 2004) with the following:

'New development on the hillside, opposite to the lower hot spring of the Obe Hot Springs Valley. This is one of few places that Herat is adventure in the wilderness and tap into the healing power of its geothermal and mineral waters'.

Another prominent area to find hot soaks in Afghanistan is the Wakhan valley. The river forms the boundary with Tajikistan where also hot springs are found more easily it seems as access is way better. See the Tajikistan chapter for more information on this.
On the Afghan side of the Wakhan I found this mention from the Letters from Afghanistan blog:

'On the fifth day we descended from the mountains to the valley and the road. We dropped 5,000 feet in altitude to the village of Kip Kut. That night we soaked in a natural hot spring. Slipping into the steamy, sulphurous water, we felt every inch of our burned and cut skin cry out, but what ecstasy!'

The mountainunity.org site adds:

'Hot Springs are located in various places down the Wakhan Corridor. This hot spring is located in Sargez just past Kipkut.Two mud huts have been built over the hot spring for privacy. It is not five star but when you have been short of hot water it's a welcome treat. The water is emptied after each person, so it can take a short time to fill. The man who runs it is extremely friendly, we paid 100 Afghanis each to support his work. The Spring is signposted and will take you on a path around the left side of a mountain. Its' about 5-10 minutes walk from the road. GPS location - N36d 58m 06.3s, E072d 54m 53.6s'.

The only other webtext on hot springs in Afghanistan is the following:

'Chishmah-i-Ayyub (Shrine built over hot spring where Ayyub – Job – is believed to have rested while journeying through Afghanistan)'.

And that, would you believe it, concludes all that can be found on hot springs in Afghanistan.

'Me and the major at the springs'

by gvsea.
Possibly Hairaton (Hairatan)? Another few photo's are on picasa.

Notes:
Akhi, M. Wazir (2001) The Services of Abdullah Khan Malekyar in Herat. Hand scripted biography, in Persian. London, Ontario, Canada, 605pp.
Saba, D. S., Najaf, M. E., Musazai, A. M., and Taraki, S. A. (2004) Geothermal Energy in Afghanistan: Prospects and Potential. Center on International Cooperation, New York University, New York, USA. & Afghanistan Center for Policy and Development Studies, Kabul, Afghanistan.

Soaking with six of the seven sisters

2010-09-21T10:56:00.002+07:00

Nestled among the Himalaya itself and the surrounding mountains lie the so-called seven sister states of Northeast India.

Way back in January, Arunachal Pradesh, the most mountainous sister, had been highlighted but the remaining six states warrant some soaking attention.

Soaking for elephants. Not.

The biggest and least mountainous state, Assam has no less than 2 Garampani's; places which denote a spring of hot water. Most mentioned is the hot spring located in Nambar Forest Reserve, but exactly which Garampani it is, is unclear. I'll cite this website:

'... the two more famous ones [hot springs] are located in Golaghat district and North Cachar Hills. The one in Golaghat district is located in the Nambar Reserve Forest about 19 km southwest of Golaghat town. The water of this spring contains hydrogen sulphide and its temperature is 53⁰C to 58⁰C'.

Let's call this the Nambar Garampani.

Other striking info on Nambar comes from this website:

'Elephants have now been denied the right to drink water out of Mother Nature’s very own hot spring in the wilderness of Assam. The Garampani hot spring by the side of National Highway 39 in Karbi Anglong district, Nambor Reserve forest, is now guarded by a huge ugly concrete wall. The area is an elephant corridor which the jumbos use almost on a regular basis'.

Looking more intently at the photo of this spring it seems that the wall is just for safety reasons with elephants as well as humans being protected for their own good. Sad though that the elephants can no longer soak.

Underwater
Then aforementioned citation concludes that there is another Garampani hot spring in Assam state near the

'... headstream of Kapili is at a distance of 33 km east of Jowai. Its water is 35⁰C warm'.

Let's say the Kapili hot spring or Kopili as I have seen or Umrangshu (Umrongso?), an often used alt. This Garampani is located close to the border with Meghalaya in an area known for tea plantations and the hydro project on the Kapili. This website mentions:

'The beautiful Umrongso Lake, the quite valley, the hot water springs and the exquisite scenery are enough to captivate attention. The visitors in this area can enjoy both hot and cold bath and fishing in the river Kopili'.

It's unclear to me whether this hot spring still exists. Here I read

'7-km away from Umrangshu in Meghalaya , the hot spring Garampani is lost in the water of Kapili Hydro-Electric Project. Barrage and dams are constructed on the Kapli River along 19-km area from Umrangshu to Hot Spring. A Lake has already come up over here'.

Wikipedia finally mentions that the hot spring is

'now lost'.

More sisters
In reality there is little info on hot springs in the Northeastern states of India. Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram seem to contain no hot springs. That leaves us with world's wettest region, the state of Meghalaya.

By far the most often mentioned in Meghalaya is the hot spring of Jakrem (Lawblei). Unfortunatly most mentions are as follows:

'Jakrem in Meghalaya is fast gaining popularity among tourists as it is a wonderful health resort. It is blessed with hot-springs of sulphur water which lure people from across the globe. It is believed that the water of the hot springs is endowed with curative medicinal properties. People come here to bathe in these hot-springs for good health'.

From a photo of Jakrem one can only conclude that the claim that it lures people from all over the world seems a little hollow, though the surroundings are appealing.

Elsewhere there are only lesser known hot springs in Meghalaya such as the hot spring of Umngi which is situated along a trekking route:

'Weiloi to Ponkung / Pongkung to Umngi: One can reach Weiloi village from Shillong by car / bus. On the way from Weiloi to Umngi there exist two natural mineral water springs. The Hot Spring of Umngi has the potential for becoming a health resort'.

Possibly 2 hot springs?

Resubelpara is the name of a town in north of Meghalaya which possibly moonlights under the name of Williamnagar. Some 15 kms away is apparently a hot spring by the name of Bakra.