Took a train to Yufuin, northeast Kyushu, where we will be staying in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) for the next two nights. Soaked our feet in a hot spring foot bath at the train station while our laundry went through its cycles at a nearby laundromat.
Category: Japan
Smoking Landscape
Hiked to 5,600 feet where we could see the smoking landscape on all sides. Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park, southern Japan.
Caldera Lake
A caldera lake gradually revealed itself as we hiked up a volcano then along the rim in Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park, Kyushu, southern Japan.
Cycle Around Active Volcano
Rented modest bicycles from a modest shop for 4 hours. Cycled a loop around the base of a smoking, roaring volcano, Sakurajima, taking care not to slip on volcanic ash. When we returned the bikes 40 minutes earlier than planned, the owner refunded ¥200 each.
Southernmost Kyushu Hike
Took a train to a tiny country station, the southernmost in the Japan Rail system. Hiked past fields of vegetables that will be harvested in the coming weeks. Walked through many cobwebs “blocking” the trail, reminding us it’s almost Halloween. Caught glimpses of Mount Kaimon.
Peace Cranes
Posted Nagasaki Origami Peace Cranes.
Nagasaki Origami Peace Cranes
Mitsubishi Guest House
Stood on the verandah of a former Mitsubishi guest house, opened 1896, where crews stayed while their ships were repaired at the Mitsubishi shipyard across Nagasaki Bay. The shipyard still uses a dry dock opened in 1905. The original British electric motors still drive the pumps.
Nagasaki Peace Park
Origami peace cranes, Peace Park, Nagasaki.
An OLLE Hike
Paused today’s rail journey from Onomichi to Nagasaki at Kurume for a few hours to do a self-guided OLLE hike. The concepts and trail markers for OLLE hikes originated in South Korea. The energetic hike included forests, bamboo stands, shrines, great views, and fields of azaleas.