Fumoto Ryokan Bettei Kounoyu Minamioguni-machi

This charming village may be a highlight of the trip -　a touch of `old Japan` so elusive in the cities. Found another old ryokan where no one spoke English, but managed to get a room, and head straight to the onsen.

Decided to spend a second night -- in part to rest from ...

... can even be enjoyed by visitors who are staying by themselves or as a couple. To ride on a boat with an open space is 3150yen a person (about $35USD)
A "JUMBO" boat for 45 people with a full course meal is 65,000 which seems quite expensive but comes out to about 1,500 yen a person (plus the costs of drinks). All-you-can-drink is an additional 3150yen. W "medium" boat for 17people w/ meal is 26,000yen.
The pictures speak for themselves...

... station, buses leave every 40minutes or so from 730 am to 630pm (get a time table from the Nakatsu station information desk). Take the bus to Kakisaka 柿坂 , it takes about 40minutes. I would suggest getting there before sundown since the cycling center is a short walk from the bus stop (probably about 10mintues) but the country roads could be confusing. Calling the cycling terminal and asking someone to pick you up might ...

... razon, al crater se le llama el "bol de arroz". Esta totalmente cubierto de cesped y tiene una altura de 954 metros.
El autobus nos dejo en una explanada llena de tiendas de souvenirs, desde donde se podia coger un funicular, pagando 400 yens, hasta la cima de Nakadake. Mi guia decia que se podia subir andando, en unos 20 minutos, asi que optamos por esa opcion, para estirar las piernas y con un poco se suerte fortalecerlas.
En la subida las vistas eran ...

... Eso si, teniamos el hostal para nosotras solas, siendo las unicas huespedes.
Nos sentamos un ratillo en la terracita a disfrutar de la brisa -necesario despues de haber estado cargando con las peazo mochilas. Las tiendas cerraban pronto, asi que nos dirigimos a Lawson a comprar la cena. Por el camino nos fijamos mejor en el paisaje. Uno de los volcanes estaba humeando y las montanas, que ahora se veian claramente con el sol del atardecer, tenian un ...

... by mountains). I rode for 2 hours and then realised I was lost, and so I kept on going up. After 3 hours in the hot muggy heat I was dry heaving! Too many nights of drinking. I eventually called quits and took the down hill slope all the way back
to the center of the city.

I got Naked and Buried in Sand

After my long bike ride, I decided to bite the bullet and try out one of these Onsen thingies. Deep down I was terrified of getting ...

Vanmorgen hebben we een cadeautje gekregen toen we de Ryokan verlieten. (hadden wij ook iets mee moeten brengen als bedankje voor het logeren????) Rond de middag zijn we aangekomen in Kumamoto (de klemtoon bij Japanse steden licht op de twee-na-laatste lettergreep KuMAmoto dus, zo hebben wij zelf bedacht). Het is hier zeker 30 graden, wat onze reisproductiviteit niet ten goede komt. Toch zijn er een ...

... to fly by the seat of your pants if you're traveling with friends, but not when you're leading a group of high school students in a foreign country...

So that group, got up the top, complained bitterly about the cold (ah, teenage angst) and left back down the cablecar like 15 minutes later. I had met a Frenchman on the bus up by the name of Matthieu and we both agreed instead of going back down immediately, we should hike around the area hoping for some better ...

... one active volcano in the area - with the idea that we'll walk around its crater before heading back down. Unfortunately - due to volcanic activity - the crater is not the safest place to be that day so we just decide to walk down from the top - about a 3 hour jaunt. Again the views are great and despite the snow storm the previous night, the day is warm and clear. We decided to try and take a short cut through the woods, lost our bearings ...

Sun Ming Ming is the tallest human being I have ever seen. The Chinese center is 236 cm (7 foot, 9 inches) tall. He is shy and soft-spoken and doesn't seem particularly interested in doing interviews with sports writers. But I've been happy to have my chance to chat with him twice in English this season. Still haven't written the "big ...