A fabulous ride to Mt Aso

We left Oita this morning to head for Mt Aso where we will be staying for the next three nights.  Aso is the largest active volcano in Japan.  Having been somewhat disconcerted by staying in a town with steam blasting out of every nook and cranny, we now have to try to get some sleep knowing that there is an active volcano next door!  I’ve been assured that volcanoes, unlike earthquakes and tsunamis, give plenty of warning before they do their thing.

Today’s ride was really terrific.  Once we had left the city behind, we rode through the mountains and beautiful valleys, passing rivers, little villages and rice and vegetable fields along the way.

Kate admiring the view

Rice in the valley

The road went from being a wide well-maintained highway to a narrow little pot-holed track – just how we pictured rural Japan to be.  We stopped in the city of Takeda for lunch and I think we caused quite a stir!  We started off by shopping in the supermarket for our lunches – a bento boxed lunch for John and a sushi pack for me, with some cheese, fruit, juice and an individually wrapped carrot to top it all off.  John ‘chinged’ his lunch in the supermarket’s microwave.  [“Ching” is a recent Japanese verb meaning to cook in the microwave]. 

Only in Japan!

Bento and sushi

 
The other customers in the shop were quite intrigued to see a couple of westerners wandering through their shop.  We went outside to find somewhere to sit and eat, and discovered that we’d probably found the best spot in Takeda.

Shop in Takeda

Shrine in Takeda

We were next to an old ruined castle and a shrine, were there were seats, bins and toilets, as well as an interesting area to explore.  After we’d eaten and had a good look around the castle area, we took a stroll through the town.  I had a little chat in Japanese with a lady who was surprised that we weren’t with a tour group - an uncommon occurrence outside of the big cities.

Stone carvings in Takeda

The next stage of the journey was quite steep and very winding so we had to ride with extra care.  We arrived at the Aso Backpackers a little early  but were able to go in and make a cup of tea while we waited for reception to open.  We met a couple from Spain who are travelling around by train.  It makes us realise how much better it is to have our own transport to drop into any little place that we fancy and not rely on train routes.


Once we settled in we had a bit of a rest then went out for dinner.  There are several restaurants in the vicinity that serve horse meat but we decided to give that a miss.  The restaurant we went to also had horsemeat and ‘stewed guts’ on the menu but we settled for the more familiar fare of rice, soup, gyouza (dumplings) and chicken.  The meal was delicious and although we didn’t really need to, we dropped in to Lawsons to buy an ice cream for dessert.


We finished the day off with laundry, reading and and early night – ready to take on the volcano and a festival at the Aso Shrine tomorrow.