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Published: August 27th 2010
April 26th early in the morning between 4 and 5 am and I’m up and preparing for Golden Week. The taxi arrived outside Simon’s apartment at 5am. The wind was blowing powerfully and the air was chilly. I was instantly happy we opted to have a taxi drive us instead of walking 30 minutes to the ferry port. We bought our tickets at the port and our breakfast at the convenience store nearby before boarding the 6am ferry bound for Oita on the isle of Kyushu. We had unreserved tickets and stayed in what I would describe as steerage; rows of narrow pallets in rooms along a corridor. I dozed most of the 6 hour journey and awoke shortly before we pulled into Oita harbor, but I still felt sleepy under the anticipation and excitement when we arrived. By bus and train we were able to arrive at our first destination, Beppu, in under half an hour of stepping on dry land. Beppu is a quirky onsen town, traditionally a pleasure town for relaxing. We checked into our ryokan, with its private baths, great service and good food, for one night. After check in we headed out into the jigoku part
of town to take a self guided tour of a few of Beppu’s jigoku or “hells”. In this particular section of the town steam rose out of pipes, buildings, bath houses, ponds and other places due to the numerous hot springs in the area. A serious reminder as to how very seismically active Japan really is. The first jigoku we visited, Umi Jigoku, was beautiful. The first lake was an emerald green and covered with lily pads. The second lake was murky red mud, spurting and steaming. It smelled like rotten eggs from the sulfur. Then before the third lake there was a green house keep warm by the thermal steam from the spring that had orchids and water lilies inside. The third and main lake was vivid blue (Umi means ocean) and steaming. It’s hot enough to boil eggs and they do. Hanging into the lake they had net of eggs they boil and then sell. Not sure I’d want to eat one though. The next hell was called Oniishibozu Jigoku which gets its name from the bald heads of monks the bubbling mud is said to resemble. It was pretty interesting, but the park and the pools of
2nd pond at Umijigoku
Amazing that water could naturally be so bright green!sputtering mud were pretty small. The last hell we went to was Chinoike Jigoku. Chi means blood and refers to the blood red color of the water from the mud beneath. The picture we got of the place from the entrance counter was impressive, but the pond itself was a bit of a disappointment. The red mud was caked on the outer base of the lake and full of debris. The other five hells we didn’t even bother with since they weren’t recommended and sounded uninteresting (one was a lake of crocodiles and another was a geyser they stopped up for safety reasons). So at around 5pm when we returned to our hotel we left our bags and headed to Takegawara Onsen two blocks from us to take a sand bath. The main building for this spa is an old Meiji Era artifice, with the inside converted roughly for modern fixtures, so it retained most of its old world charm. Upon arrival you are given a short, grungy blue cotton yukata(robe) and separated into men and woman changing rooms/onsens. After changing into the yukata you leave through a back door to a huge open area with two indoor field of
The main lake at Umijigoku
You can see where they have the eggs lowered in the bright blue water. black sand. Women with their pants rolled up and trowels in hand scrape an indention and you lay in it and they bury you in a warm cocoon of sand. The earth upon you is heavy, warm and moist; you can feel your blood pumping through all your arteries from the pressure of it. After 10 minutes of being buried you tear and rise out of your cocoon like a butterfly and head to the shower room to remove all the grim and then into the onsen to relax. Overall a fun and relaxing experience I would recommend to anyone. After the onsen we hurried back to our room to exchange things before our prepared Japanese course dinner in the hotel. Sushi, tempura, soup, rice and more. Yummy! About 30 minutes after dinner we went to the private semi outdoor onsen for an hour before bedtime.
Early the next morning we headed west to Kumamoto. The 3 1/2 hour train ride through the mountains was stunning (at least the parts I was conscious for). Everywhere there was green in the mountains and the valleys were a patchwork of fields. At one point on the ride somewhere between Kumamoto and
Aso the train stops and goes in reverse to change tracks, which was quite a shock. Upon arrival in Kumamoto we promptly stuffed our bags into lockers and went straight to Kumamoto Castle by tram. Kumamoto Castle isn’t an original Castle, but it’s the third largest (after Osaka and Nagoya) and one of the three most beautiful (In Japan they love lists of top 3 things). The castle was rebuilt in the 1960s since the original was sacked and burned during the Satsuma rebellion in 1877. The castle grounds were massive and we spent several hours exploring them, the various building and the main castle donjon. One building next to the main castle was recently restored and had beautiful murals similar to the ones seen in Nijo Castle painted inside, luckily you can actually photograph these. When we had our fill of the castle we hopped on the tram again to Suizen-ji Gardens which has a hill that is supposed to represent Mt.Fuji. It wasn’t anything special really. We collected our bags back at the station and checked into the strangest, dirtiest and coldest minshuku in Japan for the night (even if it was dirt cheap, not worth the savings!).
We went out for dinner to escape our room to an izakaya before turning in early.
Early, too f%#*ing early, especially since we discovered over the course of the night that someone in the neighborhood kept roosters that preferred to be night owls. Those cocks…. Anyway, despite the lack of sleep I felt pumped for the day. We were going to Mt. Aso, an active volcano with the world’s largest caldera. After another beautiful train journey we arrived in Aso, a small one horse town dotted with minshukus, ryokans and a hostel for those who wish to stay overnight. There’s nothing to do there besides catch a bus up the mountain to the ropeway, which we quickly did. Past the town the tree line begins and ends rapidly. Most of the distance of the bus went past green fields, mostly smooth, but cut through with occasional scars. On these fields of green cattle and horses grazed peacefully under the shadow of an active volcano. Upon arrival at the ropeway we discovered that two of the main areas around the caldera at the top were closed due to wind and volcanic activity. The ropeway car took us over a barren,
desolate stretch of mountain side before depositing us barely 300 meters away from the rim. We walked up the only pathway open to the roof of what I would describe as a volcanic fallout shelter. From the top we could get a fairly good view into the crevice. Aso was active and pouring smelly sulfur smoke into the sky and blurring the inside from the vision of all the onlookers. At the top of Aso most of the building and pavement seemed relatively new and to my left I could see the ruins of what I assumed were two previous fallout shelters, an eerie reminder of the danger whose very throat I was trying to peer into. We were stopped on our way back into the ropeway station by a friendly, talkative English speaking guide who told us to stick around because they were going to reopen the area right next the caldera. Sure enough not even 5 minutes later the masked guards deemed the area safe enough and removed the barriers. We were the first across the threshold and unfortunately reached the edge, cameras ready when the wind momentarily shifted and pushed a cloud of sulfur filled smog right
The Lord of Kumamoto Castle had a really big hat
Do you think he was compensating for something? into our faces. We received a putrid mouthful of the acid breath of the volcano and choked on it. Sulfur isn’t pleasant to breath or taste and I wouldn’t recommend the experience to others. Despite the nauseating stench of the volcano the beauty and thrill of peering into the depths of an active volcano is something I will never forget. After descending the volcanic cone via the ropeway I felt mentally (and sensually) affected (mainly by the sulfur), but it faded as Simon and I decided to follow our impulsive nature and inquire about the helicopter we saw take off and land a sort way down the highway. We hiked there and decided to Gambatte or go for it. What an experience! I felt like I was living out a show from Discovery or National Geographic. An indescribable experience. My words won’t do it justice, but I hope the video and pictures will. ^_^ After our airborne adventure we hiked down the to the museum/gift shop/restaurant and had a meal famous in Kumamoto Prefecture, Basashi or raw horse. Sorry to those readers that this offends, but raw horse if very scrumptious. Much better than beef. After filling up on our
lunch we took the bus back down and the train back to Kumamoto City. Surprisingly we still had daylight left so we spent an hour at an onsen soaking away the travel grim and aches. For dinner we went all out. A bucket of KFC in our hotel room. Classy right? = P
Yet again an early departure. Kumamoto station to Kumamoto port by bus and from Kumamoto port to Shimabara in Nagasaki Prefecture by ferry. There was just over an hour of waiting time between our train to Nagasaki and our arrival at Shimabara Station. Lucky for me since I wanted to indulge my castle fetish and browse around Shimabara Castle which was a quick stroll away from the station. I liked the Shimabara Castle, the moats and walls created a graceful picture and the castle donjon reminded me of a layered cake. Glad I got the chance to visit.
Shimabara is next to Mt.Unzen, a volcano, which partially destroyed the city in 1990-1991. We could view the colossal mountain earlier from the ferry we arrived on and the train to Nagasaki had to travel far away and around the volcano, so we could see it from there.
First impression of Nagasaki was a good one. The station was bustling, the people felt friendly, there was a jazz concert inside the main entrance and a massive blow up dragon strung up in the rafters. In most peoples minds I’m sure Nagasaki automatically brings up images of destruction and sadness. Although the atomic bombing in WWII leveled almost the entire city of 1,000s killing 70,000 and injuring even more, you can’t tell from first sight. The people there endured and resurrected their city. Looking at the city from the tram you see a prosperous modern city full of movement and life. Our hostel, Akari, was situated next to a serene picturesque canal and is the cleanest, brightest hostel I’ve ever stayed in. After checking in we headed to the city museum to wander around the traveling Ghibli art exhibit there. It’s amazing to think that a cartoon you watch consists of 1,000s of painting for every character movement, every background. After several hours of being seriously geeky we left, but not before Simon bought me a cute cuddly cat bus! ^_^ Outside the museum night had fallen and the lights of Nagasaki reflected in its harbor. We strolled through
the downtown to Chinatown for a snack of street dumpling before a delicious Chinese/Japanese fusion dinner of Champon, mixed rice and spring rolls. Nagasaki’s Chinatown is petite (about two blocks by two blocks), but very intriguing. The next day in Nagasaki we visited the Peace Park and Museum. The park was a beautiful memorial to the numerous lives that perished in that first instant and the fires and radioactive aftermath. It also is a prayer that no one will ever make the mistake of using such a grim and gruesome weapon of annihilation. The museum is a sobering experience and I think all people should see either this one or the one in Hiroshima so that they can understand the frightening reality of atomic bombs. After the museum we headed back towards the hostel to a nearby shrine, Suwa Shrine. It was the first to offer and one of the few places you can buy omikuji, fortunes, in English. In the late afternoon we wandered around daytime Chinatown and strolled back to our room along a shrine lined back road curving around a hillside.
Another early morning (definitely a theme on this vacation) and train travel back to Shimabara,
ferry ride back to Kumamoto and even more train time! (The natural scenery on Kyuushuu is stunning. If I could get a rail pass I would spend a week just riding around the various routes on this island admiring the view.) This time around we grabbed the Kyushu Shinkansen to Kagoshima on the island’s southernmost tip. Kagoshima is generally known for Sakurajima, a former island just off the coast of the city that is made up of one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Kagoshima is also known for being the main access point to Yakushima, mountainous tree covered island and World Heritage Site. We spent a couple of hours exploring the port area (i.e. we got lost) so we had plenty of time to study the volcanic mass that lay across a short span of water. It’s amazing that people reside on that island much less on the coast of Kagoshima so near such an active monster. Sakurajima is a decade volcanoes, which means it has a history of large & potentially devastating eruptions and lots of people still live near it. Personally I find volcanoes fascinating, but wouldn’t want my house near one. Anyway, we finally
found the correct ferry terminal after two wrong guesses and boarded the hydrofoil ferry for Yakushima late in the afternoon and started the high speed boat journey to the mysterious island.
The first good view of Yakushima from our boat was at sunset and the island looked mystic and eerie in the twilight sky with the dark rain clouds clinging to the mountain peaks. On Yakushima the mountains almost always have rain clouds hovering above, even when as far as the eye can see across the waters the rest of the world seems to have blue skies. It’s almost like there are rain magnets embedded in the mountain tops. (Yakushima is the rainiest place in Japan.)When we arrived at Anbo port we disembarked the hydrofoil and left the terminal and tried to call the number for the accommodation that Simon booked, but there was no answer, several calls later no answer and no taxi drivers had ever heard of the place. We wandered into town realizing at this point that sleeping outside was a growing possibility. Luckily a friendly ojiisan (grandpa) in a run down car stopped to help us since we were looking at the map like the two
Suizenji Park
I forgot to mention that this was supposed to be one of the three most beautiful parks in Japan. I think it should should be removed from the list and replaced with Ritsurin Park. lost foreigners that we were. We explained to him our trouble and he tried to call the hostel himself and again no answer so he gave us directions to a tourist information office that could help us find a place to stay( he even drove ahead and let them know we were coming before circling back to make sure we were going the right way). He was so kind, people like that are true gems. At the office we were lucky enough to get a room at a minshuku that was just opening up that very day. The kind and efficient office lady even walked us straight to the door just down the street. The room was clean new and wonderful! The kind obachan (lady) that ran the place even brought us delicious local juice every night and every morning. ^_^
The next day, after a grateful nights sleep, we got up early and caught a bus up to Yaki-sugi land, a protected forest, to do some hiking among 1,000s of years old cedar trees. We spent most of the day hiking around the entire park and the last bus down the mountain still got us back to Anbo
with enough time the meander along the coast and through the tiny town a bit before dark so we had time for dinner and karaoke in a bar run by a drunken samurai & his bemused wife before bed. The next day we explored the rest of the town, which didn’t take too long so we spent some time at the coast reading (well Simon was) and playing around in the water (guess who was doing that). Then we went back to the port and back to Kagoshima. In Kagoshima we went straight to the station and caught the train all the way to Miyazaki. There we strolled around the streets, sang some karaoke and had another hotel hiccup that involved sneaking me in, which only worked due to fortunate timing. The next day we went to the Miyazaki Science Museum, an interactive museum focusing mainly on physics and space, played around like kids and watched the worst planetarium show ever. That afternoon we grabbed the train back to Oita and barely made it onto a ferry back to Matsuyama in Ehime. After that we took a late train to Imabari, practically fell asleep after walking through the door and
so ended our nine day rapid tour of Kyuushuu. ^_^
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alain
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observation helicoptere
Sur le depart à Kiushu ,avez vous des informations pour le tour en helicoptere? merci Alain