We tried figuring out if was cheaper going their ourselves or getting a shuttle to the springs. Ole, a German guy who stayed in our dorm before Jon, told us the costs and timing doing it yourself but in the end we figured a tour company would be much simpler.

Jon found a place in his lonely planet guide for a tour and we heading off to find it. We found the street the place shoulda been join but couldn’t find the office. We musta gone up and down the street 3 times and still nothing. In the end we found the tour company, it turned out it was a local cafe which offered tours. Very bizarre that!

It cost about Q110 which is about £8, for transport and entry to the springs. We were told by a guy Naz was chatting to at our hostel about a “secret spring” at the same place but wasn’t quite so advertised to the public. When we arrived we made a beeline for it. Go down the steps right of the main area, avoid the angry black dog tethered by a chain and trek for about 5mins down. Eventually we found it and no one was there. Perfect.

Jon and I thought the water was too hot, but Naz took the plunge and went it. He said it was pretty good so we all went in. It was really hot, but not so much that it was uncomfortable. There were two pools, one that had water fed direct from the spring outlet(?) and another next to it that had water pouring in from the first pool. The second pool was a little cooler but we didn’t go into that one.

We started taking photos and Jon and I managed to coerce Naz into doing a model photoshoot. I have a set of images that I need to combine that shows off naz’s “flair” shall we say?

Behind the pools, around some rocks, there was a waterfall. It was about 15 feet tall and the water was cold! Though after being in the hot spring that didn’t matter. We took turns standing under the waterfall. The feeling of the water crashing on your head wasn’t painful or irritating, it was strangely nice. I guess its a type of massage, the pressure of the water hitting the scalp, and the temperature of the water strangely making us feel something we would never experience back home. I can’t vouch for Jon but Naz and I have never been under a waterfall so we were buzzing from the experience.

After a while we went to the main pools where everybody else were at. The main area had 3, 1 large and empty one, 1 medium which had water feeding from the large, 1 medium that wasn’t fed from either pool. We decided to dip into the large pool as there were already people in the other pools.

Jon brought his aerobie with him and threw it to me. I missed it and it went into the waster. I jumped in the get it. The water in the large pool was extremely hot. So hot you could only last a few seconds in there before the body’s survival instinct kicks in and tells you get out. I though my skin was on fire. There was a reason why people didn’t go into that pool. We chilled out in the first pool as we couldn’t tolerate the heat of the large pool. That pool had the largest feed of hot spring water so it was extremely hot. We played with the aerobie for a bit and we eventually tried throwing it on each others head. After a while we went back to “heat up” in the large pool. We dared each other who could last the longest in the water. There were stairs leading into the pool and we kept going further in. Eventually I decided to right in and dip my head under water for a few seconds. Boy it was hot. Moving while in the water was uncomfortable. There is a tingling feeling all over the skin as you move any part of your body in the water. Whats affected me the most were my legs, walking up the stairs to get out. It was like they were in shock at the temperature and the muscles couldn’t believe my brain was telling me to exert myself.

Jon and Naz took the plunge also and went underwater. I took a video of it as I knew it would be funny watching them scream at how hot it was. Time was almost up so we packed our thing and went back to the shuttle. On the way back to our hostel, we noticed that street lights used energy saving bulbs! They were not as powerful as the amber lights we have back at home, but using an energy saving bulb makes sense as these lights are on all night.

I’ve never been to a hot spring and I really enjoyed it. I prefer showers than baths so the idea of sitting in a hot pool, like literally just sitting there, was interesting to me. If I encounter more hot spring on my journey you can be sure I’ll give them a visit.