I’ve been waking up early, so it was nice to have a couple hours to drink coffee, read the news, and write before I had to pack up and catch the bus to Aso. It might have been better to take the 7 am bus, but I was happy to have the quiet time to start the day productively. As expected, though I had my doubts, the bus pulled up to the bus stop at the appointed hour and the driver came out with a clipboard that had my name among the list of reserved tickets. I threw my suitcase in the underneath storage and climbed aboard for a 2 hour journey of 35 kilometers. The bus stopped several more times on the way out of town, took a brief detour to pick up passengers at the Aso airport, and took a ten minute rest break within eye sight of the volcano. Nevertheless, we eventually reached Aso Ekimae (the train station), and the bus carried on after myself and a Chinese group disembarked.
My first order of business was to see about when buses to the next city Beppu departed and if reservations were necessary. There is apparently only one bus a day to Beppu (though one could transfer in Oita) leaving just after 2 pm, and reservations were required. However, the ticket machine just spit out a ticket without actually reserving me a seat. I can’t believe how expensive the bus ticket was–3500 yen! Jesus Christ, these local prefectures milk you for all you are worth.
The guesthouse was literally across the street from the train station. It was super nice, I highly recommend it (Aso Base Backpackers). The front desk was closed until 4pm, but I stashed my luggage in a closet and looked around for some info on hiking. I was of half a mind to try going up and back before sunset, but I wanted some food first. I followed the recommendation of sign hanging in the kitchen and walked a kilometer down the highway to a bustling restaurant (whose name had something to do with mountain bandits) with a variety of set meals available for lunch. While eating, I though better of attempting a full hike that afternoon, reasoning that I could do it in the morning if I got an early start.
Nevertheless, I took a looong stroll that afternoon, first scouting out the first stretch of the hike to mark the trailhead, then looping around a country road, taking a detour into the woods, and eventually coming through miles of farmland to the main part of Aso City, where I visited the Shinto shrine and bought a drink and a snack at a supermarket. I wondered some of the streets in the area then made a beeline back towards the guesthouse to checkin and rest. That ended up being a 4 hour plus walk and I was a bit tired out from the strong sunlight.
After dropping my stuff in my dorm room I heard a familiar voice down the hallway and said hello to L, whom I met in Nagasaki. We knew we’d cross paths again in Aso. I went downstairs to have coffee and maybe get a bit of work done, but L came around and we chatted more before running over to a supermarket to source dinner. He complained that there weren’t any convenience stores in this part of the town (a Lawsons across the street was still under construction), but the supermarket was far away and prices there are much better.
I made a beef curry rice with a beef croquette for dinner and continued to hydrate. The guesthouse had a whole library of books (mostly manga). L picked up the first (of six) volume of Akira and I eagerly grabbed an introductory Japanese textbook. I got about halfway through (taking notes, though it was 80% review for me–wow, I must be learning fast) before we decided to take the guesthouse owner up on his offer for “discounted” tickets to a nearby hotel-based onsen (hot spring).
The hot spring was quite nice with three pools (indoor, outdoor, and cold) and a tiny sauna. We spent about an hour and I noticed that most of the other guests were Chinese. In fact, the staff at the front desk whom we gave the tickets to spoke Chinese to each other–a big tip-off that they were not Japanese. Back at the guesthouse, I desperately rushed to complete the textbook before I needed to get to bed. I did, but it means I didn’t have time to do any of the other things I wanted to get done. Oh well, happy Easter.
| Bus Ticket (to Beppu) | 3500 |
| Set Meal Lunch | 1250 |
| Hostel | 174 RMB |
| Drink and Snack | 252 |
| Dinner and hiking supplies (water) | 876 |
| Onsen | 400 |
| Total: | 575.8 RMB (USD 85.7) |
Running Total: 24201.5 RMB (USD 3602.27)
Daily Average: 288.1 RMB (USD 42.88)
I woke up about quarter to 6, had some coffee, packed up as quietly as I could, and stowed my luggage back in the closet downstairs. I was out the door by about 6:45. The sun was up but obscured by fairly heavy cloud cover. I was grateful for the extra spf protection, but slightly disappointed that it made it harder to take good photos of the actively erupting volcano. Yes, Mt. Aso was in the process of erupting, but that just means it was continuously spewing out a plume of smoke. Not so dramatic, but cool to see (from a distance). I made good time on the way up despite nearly getting lost when Google Maps decided to both clear its cache and refused to load any map, but I managed through luck and ingenuity to follow the path (choosing to ignore the “Do Not Enter” signs posted by the ranchers that graze their herds over parts of the path from April through November.
Aso is made up of five peaks, where the central peak is the most active. The volcano and the surround towns all sit in the middle of an enormous caldera, or so one reasons based the nearly 365 degrees of encircling mountains (except for the gorge leading to the west). Behind the first wall of mountains to the north, there sits a second range of taller mountains (Mt Kuju). As I finished the first 8.8 km stretch that only took me from town to the mountain area, I saw the winds were blowing in the wrong direction and the plume of smoke was wafting over the base station of the crater ropeway that stood between me and the volcano. Fortunately, my hiking path was in the other direction. I made a crazy eight completing two large loops each taking me to the top of a mountain (roughly 1300 meters each). The trails were pretty rough and I regretted not wearing long pants and sleeves as I had to push myself through tall grass and bushes for long stretches of trail.
On my way down the mountain, the sun came out and I cursed my luck again. I thought I had been doing great on time, but it was about 1:40 by the time I got back to the guesthouse. I washed my hands and face quickly and packed up my bags. I looked at my watch and jogged over to a bakery around the corner that reportedly had very good cream puffs*. I bought two and one of the pasty sitting next to it since they were fairly cheap. I rushed back, grabbed my stuff and was at the bus terminal (aka train station) as two long distance buses were exchanging passengers. Neither was my bus. Mine came a few minutes later. I handed my ticket to the driver who took my suitcase for me and waved me aboard.
To be continued…
* On a side note, the city is really proud of its sweets and even offers a package where you rent a bike for four hours and get a handful of tickets that you can trade in at various bakeries and cafes (helpfully marked out on a map). It’s a cool idea, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to pay 3500 yen for it.