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Approaching Sensuikyo
Small stupa and Nakadake in the distance, Mt Aso. Back home, the ubiquitous ramen food product conjures up images of either ultra extreme food budgeting or camping fare. Not so in Japan where ramen has been taken to an art form. The last time I willingly ate anything remotely resembling ramen noodles was when I was on Aconcagua in December of 2011. I'm pretty sure that back then 10 packs of noodles did not cost much more than $1 in the USA so imagine my shock and chagrin when my first meal in Japan last week was ramen noodles for ¥800; side dishes of a bowl of rice and 5 fried
gyoza (Japanese dumplings) went for a much more reasonable ¥200. The ramen was good, but $8 good? Not so sure...
US$ ≈ 101 Japanese yen (¥)
Kumamoto
Spent 2 nights here to recover from the frantic travel pace of my last 2 days in Taiwan coupled with my first 3 days in Japan in addition to a butt kicker of a hike around Mount Aso last Sunday. Got a screaming deal at a schwanky hotel which was nice. Kumamoto Castle can be seen in a couple three hours, entrance ¥500.
Accommodation and food Super Hotel
Stupa
Mt. Aso. Lohas Kumamoto Natural Hot Springs is definitely the longest named hotel I've ever stayed in and it's probably the best value too. Through booking.com I paid ¥4,230/night in a twin ensuite room with limited channel Japanese cable TV and AC. Breakfast, Japanese style but good, was included although there was no brewed coffee just instant from a vending machine. There was WiFi all over the hotel and a Japanese bath with 42°C hot tub which was a welcome relief after the Aso hike. The location wasn't ideal - about halfway between the train station (way far from the city center) and castle. It was a 20 minute walk to either from the hotel or frequent streetcars pass in front for ¥150. Most of the places to eat are in the arcade north of the hotel. Don't remember much but I got a couple of noodle dishes - once with fried squid and the other with an accompaniment best described as onion rings with fried shrimp (much tastier than it sounds) each for ~¥700.
Transport Local trains to Aso run throughout the day taking ~2 hours and costing ¥1,110 for an unreserved seat. Once I activated my Japan Railways pass,
Looking Back Down the Trail
Sensuikyo with Aso in the background, Mt. Aso. I left for Hiroshima on a
shinkansen bullet train departing at 9:00 and needing only 1:52 to cover the 400 km (240 miles) including the few stops in between.
Aso
Nice, quiet village living in the shadow of the active volcano. At times, Nakadake crater spews so much toxic gas that the area can be closed at a moment's notice. Fortunately, the crater was open when I was there and the weather was perfect which is apparently rare.
Accommodation and food Guesthouse Asobigokoro is an easy 15-20 minutes on foot from the train station but the owner will provide a pickup between 15:00 and 21:00 (check in at 15:00 anyway) and drop off from 7:00 to 10:00. Dorm space is ¥2,000. There are also pricier double rooms but the walls are made of material not much thicker than rice paper so privacy is non-existent. All toilets and the one shower are shared. There's WiFi, a kitchen with free, REAL coffee and tea (buckwheat tea was certainly different), and a bar. Can get discounted entry into the nearby Japanese bath for ¥350. A short walk down the street is a 24 hr convenience store with an unassuming cafe
Slopes of Nakadake
Billowing steam. Can just make out the cable car, Mt. Aso. serving delicious, cheap meals. The only problem is that dishes are ordered from an exclusively Japanese written vending machine which spits out a receipt given to the cook. Fortunately there was a picture of one meal consisting of tempura shrimp, rice, and udon noodles for ¥550 -
oishī.
Transport Buses run between the train station and Nakadake crater on Mount Aso several times a day for ¥650. For Sensiukyo at the base of Takadake I caught the 8:55 train for the 5 minute run to Miyaji for ¥210.
Hike to Mount Aso It took me ~10 minutes to get my bearings after arriving at Miyaji but I soon hit the pavement on the way to Sensiukyo hoping to hitch a lift. Had to walk the whole way to the inoperable cable car station where there was a visitors center staffed by a sweet, old Japanese lady who spoke no English. She did have a good Japanese map of the area which was adequate as the trail system is very easy to follow. Set off at 10:38 and was soon confronted with the crux of the hike. The trail initially is well paved but there is a barely distinct
Getting Higher
Still many large rocks on the trail, Mt. Aso. spur trail up to Takadake signed only in Japanese. While I was trying to reconcile the characters on the sign to what was on the map a Japanese hiker passed me and told me that was the trail to Takadake. All the other signs afterward were in both Japanese and English.
The trail was very uneven, encrusted with large stones but eventually became easier. We reached the Takadake crater rim at 12:02 and split up from there. I tagged Takadake's summit ~5 minutes later then headed for Nakadake topping out there at 12:30. From there the trail back to the main viewing area on the other side of Nakadake initially headed in a southerly direction and crossed Sunasenrigahama or "plain of ashes." The viewing area is near the top of another inoperable cable car, got there ~13:00 but left quickly as there was lots of steam and not much to see. Had to hoof it to the base of the cable car from where the 14:00 bus to Aso (¥650) departed right on time arriving at Aso station at 14:30. That left me plenty of time to eat at the cafe near the hostel, repack my baggage, and walk
back to the train station to catch the 16:13 departure to Higoozu where a connecting train to Kumamoto was waiting on the adjacent platform.
Fukuoka
Arrival point in Japan flying from Taipei. Probably should have pushed straight on to Aso as I spent less than 24 unremarkable hours in Fukuoka. I think most travelers come here to catch the ferry to or from Korea. Not an unpleasant city by any stretch just didn't see any reason to hang around.
Accommodation and food The ultra popular Khaosan Hostel International Backpackers was packed presumably because it is the cheapest place in town, ¥2000 for a bed in a 4 person AC dorm. There's a good kitchen, plenty of bathrooms and showers (rare in NE Asia's hostels), WiFi, and a chillax lounge for watching World Cup matches broadcast live in the middle of the night in Japan. It's a bit of a schlep from Hakata station and there are better ways of arriving from the airport than what the hostel recommends. The aforementioned ramen was consumed at Iduppu a few blocks south of the hostel. There are also a couple of places closer to the hostel.
Transport Rather than
activate my 2 week JR pass to get around Kyushu, I opted to take local, unreserved trains to Aso and back to Kumamoto. Hakata to Aso took 4 hours and 3 trains changing first in Arao then Kumamoto. To Kumamoto was ¥2,130, between there and Aso was ¥1,110 each way so the total was ¥4,350. There is a 3 day JR Kyushu pass for US$70 which would have allowed passage on the much faster
shinkansen between Hakata and Kumamoto but there is no fast train to or from Aso. Unlike the country wide JR pass, the regional passes can be purchased in Japan at the respective major train stations.
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