Mount Aso on Kyushu

It’s amazingly simple to travel in Japan on the airlines. We had been told we only needed to be at the airport 20 minutes ahead of time – and at Oita – it would have worked! We, of course, didn’t believe them and arrived early…to wait. Ah well…at least we had our books.
Our first flight was to Kumamoto where we joined a tour out to Mount Aso. This is a bit of a misnomer…there really is no “Mount Aso”; it’s actually a caldera that is about 12 miles in diameter. Inside this huge caldera there are numerous volcanoes and cinder cones, one of which is still active. That, of course, is the one the tour bus took us up to – Naka-dake. There is a cable-car running up to the summit where we enjoyed a Japanese style lunch and a walk up to the rim of the 100m deep crater. Did I mention it was chilly up there? (freezing) And the wind was howling? (even colder) And the gases stank? (and no gas masks). Needless to say, we went back inside to find the kerosene heater to warm up while we waited for the cable car to return.
Click on the title to go to a web page with more information about this area. It looks like a place to visit in the summer - wonderful camping I'm sure.

Sanai Kogen Hotel

We traveled through the caldera to the Kurokawa onsen area – a very popular place for onsens – or hot spring Japanese bath house. This is apparently a very famous area. We stayed at the Sanai Kogen Hotel – a large but very modest looking hotel with fabulous service. They came to pick us up at the bus stop – and took us to a gorgeous room overlooking the caldera and the bath houses. We decided to use the outdoor one – despite the cold weather. I must admit, I wore my pj bottoms under the kimono – it seemed a bit too breezy to me. Now why I worried is beyond me – the bath house is outdoors. In this delightfully cold weather, one takes a shower in a very cold room (it was inside but only because it had a roof and 2 walls) and then quickly heads outside to sink into a nice, warm, pool of water. You have your tiny little towel with you – dish-towel width and probably twice as long. This doesn’t go it the water but it serves for “modesty”. It is so cold out of the water that the towel is frozen by the time you pick it up. It crackled. Ah yes, the things we go through to experience “the nature”.
It was a nice view – you could see the volcano across the way with wisps of steam and lots of brown hillsides – it is still winter over here, and it proved it. Great sunset in the deep, dark cloudy sky. We woke up to a white landscape – with wind blown walks. Gorgeous, but rather cold. If you look at the snowy picture, on the right side you'll see the roof of a building...that's the outside onsen the place is famous for.

Dining at Sanai

We had the most exotic dinner imaginable. We had a small tatami room reserved just for us. When we entered, they had laid out the table with 7 or 8 dishes - the hors d’oeurves. They had a selection of sashimi (some sushi with fish, some without), tofu dishes and various vegetables. Then they brought in another collection of dishes – again a mixture of fish, beef and veggies. This went on for 3 or 4 more courses. They also had rice and a couple of kinds of soup. We began by eating most of what was served on each plate to having a taste of things because we were too full. It was unbelievable. The service was spectacular!!!
The next day we went back to the bus stop where we were picked up by a different tour bus. The woman guide was wonderful – she didn’t speak a word of English but made sure we knew where we were going and found English brochures for us everywhere we went. This bus was posh with wonderful seats and even a tiny chandelier! Big change from the day before.
We also visited the home of a famous Japanese songwriter, Rentaro Taki. He was a young man who was a musical prodigy, writing songs particularly for children – and still famous today. The guide sang one of his songs – and though it was new to us, all of the Japanese knew the piece.

Stone Buddha's

We also visited an old samurai home - amazingly located in the middle of the city. We walked in through a gate and wound our way through a few gardens until we came to the old style home. It was fascinating to walk backwards through time. The house was expansive (given that we’re in Japan) and tucked away so neatly. It was a warren of small rooms – not even sure how you’d wend your way through the place if people were actually living in it. The garden would have been really nice had it been spring time. Oh well…..did enjoy a nearby waterfall. The walk around it was nice. Didn’t really like sitting in the bus all the time.
We took a trip to visit The Usuki Sekibutso or Stone Buddahs, National Treasures of Japan. (Basically, these are important cultural items that are considered to be exemplary of Japanese culture.) These stone images were sculptured from the Heian era (794 A.D.-1192) to the Kamakura (1192-1333) era. There are fifty-nine images here that have been designated as national treasures. Sadly, nature had taken over many of the sculptures and they required some major restoration. They are now protected by wooden awnings and caretakers who work on removing plant growth that continues to creep back. Sadly, no one knows exactly why the Buddha’s were sculpted here.
We spent that night in another onsen in Yufuin, this time with a view of Mount Yufudake (another mountain in the Aso chain). This time we had our meal served in our room – the woman bringing tray after tray of wonderful delicacies. Once again we finished up VERY full.

Ferry to Oita Airport

The trip the airport was extremely interesting. We were told to take the train out to Oita and catch a bus to the ferry that would take us to the airport. We can do this. The train was a breeze to catch and we headed out toward Oita. We took off to find a restaurant for lunch and then went to locate the bus to the ferry. Well…that was a little more difficult. First, we were in the wrong spot. Then, we found the right spot, could even read “airport” and the timetable so we were fine. We were a little confused about the “Ho-va” they had marked on the sign (in Japanese, of course). We just thought it was the Japanese way of saying harbor (you know …ha-ba). It seemed close enough and the driver accepted our mispronunciation so all was fine. We arrived in time, bought our tickets and got ready to board the ferry…then we walked across the concrete pad to the “boat” sitting on the pad. It was a hover craft that we were riding on to the airport – and what a ride it was. This thing lifted itself up (lots of air under it) and it proceeded to travel across the concrete and down to the water. It was FAST! But also very bumpy. The craziest part was our arrival at the airport. We could see the concrete pad coming up…we traveled up the ramp and then we kept going and going and going…sliding around corners, until we finally arrived at the airport. It was really a cool ride!!!
They have little brochures on the ferry - complete with some English entries including "What you should know about hovercrafts". It includes information about it being "fast and cool". They also assure you that safety measures have been taken (it can stop in 10 seconds- unbelievable!) and that it has been "carefully designed".
There is a link from the title of this entry takes you to the Oita Airport. There's a box on the map that shows the hovercraft ferry boarding area. You can see the concrete "road" we traveled from the water.