Ending in Hakata/Fukuoka

After catching up with mail and other chores, I took a quick subway ride to the Japanese Garden in Ohori Park. It is relatively new compared to others in Japan, and I found it a bit "stiff". Rakusui-en, near Hakata station is older, smaller and has many shady trees and more moss onthe ground.

After that peace and quiet time spent in nature, I plunged into the commercial underground mall of Tenjin. The basements of nearby department stores like Parco, Solaria and Mitsukoshi were also all connected to the mall and there was food galore...what a surfeit!

Susan and Choo went to Yufuin by a special train, and then on to Beppu and back by the Sonic Express. They thought Yufuin was worth visiting. It will be on my list at the next visit. I quite enjoy Japan, especially the wonderful uniformity and ingenuity of the bus systems throughout the country. I do not think I will get to learn Japanese properly, but I should bone up on my vocabulary a bit so as not to feel so frustrated when I can't get my message across concerning simple tourist neccessities.

Off to Singapore tomorrow....

Nagasaki

This was the last outing for me. I was becoming weary of getting on and off trains. Huis Ten Bosch was a disappointment for us, as we had not expected to pay over 3000Yen to enter the theme park. I don't remember reading that it was one.

So, after snapping a few photos, we took the "Sea Side Liner" to Isahaya. This was a worthwhile ride along the coast of the bay, especially with the good weather we had yesterday. Isahaya is also where one changes to a private train to visit the peninsula of Shimbara, and then connect to Kumamoto, by ferry, if one wants to do that.

We had a quick snack of Oden in a small restaurant near the station. It was tasty! We were then whisked to Nagasaki by the Kamome limited express train, which had leather seats. We enjoyed  ramen and gyoza at one of the many restaurants in the mall next to the large and well-designed station, and then set off by tram to the Peace Park. Susan was moved by how the school children were reminded of the Atomic bomb tragedy by their visit to the Park.
Next came a steep learning curve of how to transfer trams correctly to get to the Glover Garden. It was near closing time by then and we did not get in. But the night lights of Nagasaki were coming on, and Susan got her photos.
Another Kamome ride took us back to Fukuoka, where the temperature felt more truly like autumn than at any time during our trip.

A long bus ride to a beautiful gorge

Yes, it took 3 hours to get to Takachiho Gorge and another 3 hours back. We pitied the bus driver who had to drive 6 hours (with a 2-hr rest in between trips) that day. I wonder if he does this every day or every other day?

We, on the other hand had many views of Mt Aso from a different perspective and a safe ride up into the mountains. The tourist office was helpful with maps and directions and we started off downhill, at first on a straight road, and then on a winding road down into the gorge. We were glad to get off the road which was busy with cars and tour buses, and get on to the track next to the gorge. It was as beautiful as the pictures advertising this wonder of nature. Many boats were in the gorge. I had thought we could have done that too, but I was not keen to row the boat!

We did not look forward to walking all the way up to the town again, but it turned out not to be too strenuous.

We reached Kumamoto after sunset of a long day.

Impressive Mt Aso

The jetfoil was punctual as ever (like all public transport in Japan) and we reached Kagoshima in time for lunch at another favorite eatery: Home cooking at a family restaurant  a few blocks away from Kagoshima Chuo station. Then we took the short Shinkansen ride to Kumamoto.

The next day we made our visit to Mt Aso by taking the "Aso Boy" train to Aso station. This is a cute train for children. It has a children's playground in the centre of the train. There is also a viewing car at the back of the train and also an appropriately sombre car for senior citizens, who I find seem to dress themselves in rather dark colors here. Susan was thrilled by all the different drawings of the little doggie throughout the train. I presume this is "Aso Boy".

We disembarked at the Aso town station which was painted black(indicating the lava??). Then it was a 30min bus ride up to the cable car station which took passengers up to the lip of the caldera of Nakadake. We decided to walk, which was a good thing. We saved 1000Yen each, and had a lovely walk in the bright sunshine.

I have never been up to the edge of a volcano crater before. We understood that it had been closed for 10 days either because of bad weather or because the fumes were too dangerous. There was also a walk across old lava sands to view the plants that try to grow there, before being dried up by the heat.We gave thanks for the perfect weather.

Near the volcanic museuam, there is a nice walk across a grassy plain. It looks like there is also some accommodation here...made a note for another visit

All wet in Yakusugi Land

It was a hard decision  to get up while the rain was still enjoying itself, and tog up to walk in the storm. Although we had a lovely walk in Yakusugi Land ( a visit to ancient Cedar trees and walking trails), we were wet all day long. We took the 80min circuit. In the beginning there were easy board walks and paved paths. Later we had to climb up stony tracks and put our feet among tree roots, much like at the Bukit Timah Hill tracks.There were many bridges to cross. These gave us lovely views of the rushing river below. Unfortunately Iwas reluctant to take out my camera in the rain.

The next day could not have been more different. Bright sunshine greeted us, and we went out in our Singapore clothes. We decided to visit Shiratani Unsuikyo, the ravine up the mountains behind the main town of Miyanoura. We were rewarded for our early start: after we had finished the short trek, wave after wave of bus loads of tourists arrived.

After lunch on a bench at a Miyanoura bus stop, we headed for Sempiro Falls. The hot walk uphill brought us to a view of the falls surrounded by bare rocks. I did not think this was really worth visiting. However, the walk was good. We rewarded ourselves with another visit to the restaurant by the sea!

The tail of the typhoon

We were not sure if we could leave as planned to Yakushima, on account of another typhoon that was bothering Okinawa and threaten to come our way. As it turned out, there was only light rain in Kagoshima and we managed the crossing in a very stable Jetfoil.

Yakushima was even hot when we arrived and we had a smooth transfer to the local bus and to our accommodation Morinokokage. This was a cute collection of lovingly made cottages, with excellent varnishing and stained glass windows. Our cottage was one of the largest with attached bathroom, 4 bunk beds and a hammock. All hotel amenties (and more) were available. A little toy train stood ready in front of our door for transport of little ones. The owner also had built a little play house for his 15-month daughter. it was delightful.

We went to Anbo, the nearest main town to get information for our walks and also to feed our hungry stomachs. We were fortunate to have an english-speaking apprentice hiking guide to help clarify the details of the walks and transport.

We were also absolutely bowled over by the standard of the cuisine in a small family restaurant in a beautiful setting on the riverside. It was the only restaurant open at that strange time of 3pm

The tail of the typhoon sent lashings of rain just as we completely our grocery shopping. We ran to the bus stop and dripped all the way back home.

Walking to a waterfall

We were thrilled to ride the Kirishima Express to Miyazaki, after all those stop-and-start days! We passed familiar Hayato station once again and pressed on through the mountains to Miyazaki. On the way we also passed many ricefields ripe for harvest, while the harvested stalks were already hanging to dry in picturesque rows.

Miyazaki was not too interesting, although we walked through a little of the downtown area. We then turned back to ride to Shigetomi where we had spied a board detailing times for walks to a waterfall. We were not disappointed when we got off, as there were many helpful directions to the park, and with the help of locals on the way, we soon found ourselves enroute.

At first we had to face a barking dog indicating to us that it was the wrong way. We finally found the entrance where I found several thoughtfully left sticks to aid climbers. I was glad for that, because some of the steps were really steep. I admire Susan and Choo for being able to keep their balance! First it was an uphill trudge on rough steps to a high point to view the town and the beach that fronted it. Then it was a steep downhill to another area with a small (dirty) pond, and a short trek to a beautiful waterfall. Later we took the path to the "white clouds" and were rewarded, after a laboured walk, by a view of the coast again. Choo thought that the path downward might lead to the beach, but Susan was not keen. So we retraced our steps, anddetoured to the beach via the road.

We enjoyed the day day very much!