Today was our only booked tour for this trip. I had booked a trip out to Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine, Mt Aso and Kurokawa onsen town. These places are all really hard to get to unless you drive but we got it cheaper on klook then if we were to rent a car!
It was and early morning get up as we had to meet the tour guide at Hakata Station at 7.50. There were so many people taking tours from here it was crazy. We found Jimmy who was our tour guide for the day and he showed us which bus to get on and what seats were ours. At 8 we were on the road. Jimmy was a pretty hilarious tour guide not only did he had to say everything 3 times in 3 different languages (English, Chinese and Japanese) but he had everyone laughing everytime. He would also give us very clear tips for every place we stopped and would end with if you don’t do it like this then 1 more group will come and you will be in a longer line. He guaranteed he would get us everywhere 10 min before any other group.
Our first stop of the tour was Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine. This shrine is hidden among the cypress forests at the foot of Mt. Aso. About 100 moss-covered toro, or stone lanterns, line the steps to the shrine. It is also super popular recently because of an anime “Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light” which I have not seen. It was so beautiful and so peaceful in amongst the trees. There were a lot of stairs to get up to the top where the shrine is but it was well worth it. Anthony said it looked like something out of Zelda. We wandered back down to the bus to head to our next destination.
Our next destination was meant to be Mt Aso Crater. However Mt Aso is Japan’s most active volcano. It is also the largest with its caldera stretching 24 kilometers from north to south. Because it is so active it is often deemed unsafe and is closed. So the groups hopes were not very high to see it. You can imagine our suprise when our tour guide jumped up and yelled it is open. I need to collect all your money for the shuttle bus (that should give you an indication of how often they actually get to go up as it’s not included in the ticket price) Jimmy I think as excited as we all were collected everyone’s money and we made our way to catch the shuttle bus up to one of My Aso’s 5 peaks Mt. Naka. On the way up we started driving over the caldera which was really beautiful.
We swapped from our bus to the Crater bus and were told we could only stay up here for 25 min because of the gases. We were also told to see the crater before looking at anything else up there as there is always the possibility of it shutting again. With those warnings in mind we headed up to see the beautiful crater, you could see it’s beautiful blue lake and all the smoke coming up. We had a good looks around watch the areas become more smoky and move around. They do have little shelters up there in case the volcano does erupt. So quickly our time was up and we had to head back to the bottom. We were so lucky to be able to get up there today.
Our next stop was lunch at Kusasenri. Kusasenri is a crater from a volcanic eruption a while ago. It is now a grass filled beauty with a view over another of Mt Aso’s peaks. Lunch was a bit hectic but we got some Aso Beef and miso soup. After lunch Anthony joined a long like for coffee and I got us some Aso milk ice cream which was delicious. The other specialty here is horse meat but I didn’t want to try that.
Then it was on to our last stop of the tour which was Kurokawa onsen town. This is a old style onsen town that offers multiple baths and places to enjoy the volcanic waters. We grabbed a onsen towel and then headed to a good onsen to rest our weary feet. The area was beautiful and we had Sakura petals falling into the onsen while we relaxed. What a way to end the tour. Then back on the bus and a 2 hour bus ride back through the stunning scenery of this area.
We had some sushi for dinner.