Hells...

  Kumamoto, Japan
Monday, April 16, 2007

Sunday was a long old day, as I made my way towards Kumamoto, but it was also a day that reminded me why I love travelling so much...not that I needed reminding of course! There wasn`t a specific reason, I just happened to have a really great day to top off what had been such an enjoyable first week on the road. Previously I`d been debating whether or not to venture to northern Japan and Hokkaido before going home...well the debate is now over as I`m 100% going...it`s just too much fun travelling around to be able to resist!

The day began with a short walk to the bus station, and once again I was accosted by a local en route. The young lad kind of hovered in front of me, obviously plucking up the courage to speak, until we reached a pedestrian crossing and all of a sudden I heard a "how do you do?" I`d not heard that phrase for a while, but anyway I had a quick chat with him and told him my plans for the day, before we went our separate ways and gave eachother a "see ya." It`s weird being the centre of attention wherever you go, but on a day in which I literally saw more volcanoes than westerners, it`s hardly surprising...

1. Unzen

It took two hours for the bus to snake its way around the Shimabara Peninsula and up to the volcanic town of Unzen, and it was immediately apparent that there was plenty of geothermal activity as smoke bellowed out of the ground wherever you walked! As I`d got myself organised the previous day, I had an English map of the area so I helped a Swedish couple with directions when I saw them struggling with a Japanese one. They were just finishing their trip around Kyushu and gave me some good tips for when I get down to the southern part of the island...

There were plenty of walkways around town leading you past gurgling jigoku, or hells, bubbling away and emitting hydrogen sulphide steam at 120 degrees celcius no less. The screeching sound heard when the steam is produced is said to resemble the cries of those descending to hell, hence the name. Once again some Christians had suffered back in 1630, as 33 of them were subjected to `death by scolding` after Christianity was banned in Japan...slightly harsh really.

9. View of Unzen

I had a few hours to kill before I continued on towards Kumamoto, and I`d planned to get the bus to get further up the mountains and view the volcanoes in the area (one of which, Fugen-dake, erupted in 1991 after being dormant for 199 years). For some reason though, there is just one bus a day thesedays, despite the fact that they used to run every 25 minutes - it seems that there`s no middleground in Unzen. I wasn`t too disheartened though as I was told that you could walk it in just over an hour, so I set off and looked at it as practice for when I hopefully climb Fuji-san in the summer...

I soon came across an Australian guy looking lost (incidentally he was the third and final gaijin I saw all day), so I took him under my wing and we did the walk together. He was in his late-forties so struggled a bit with the steepness, and he`d been out on the beers the previous night (typical Ozzie!), but he was a decent bloke to have around as he was well travelled and a bit of a wise-cracker. We both cursed at the sign that said 0.6 km to go as it was hopelessly innaccurate...or maybe it just felt that way because our joints were starting to ache!

z11. Lake

Eventually, we saw light at the end of the tunnel, with light in this case being a metaphor for a vending machine...I really needed a drink! Thankfully the next stage of the ascent was much easier, seeing as though we boarded a cable car that zoomed us up to the top in about three minutes. Unfortunately though, the clouds prevented us from getting crystal clear views of the volcanoes, but it was still nice to look down over the other mountains, as well as a lake and the town of Unzen itself. I knew that I`d have plenty more opportunity to get up close and personal with volcanoes in the days ahead...

Agter a much easier descent, I had another mooch around town and relaxed by the side of a nice lake where more cherry blossom could be seen, before boarding a bus to Shimabara. The weather really started to clear at this point, so it was a scenic journey as we descended from close to 1000m above sea level, right down to the port where I was due to get the ferry across to Kumamoto.

Again, despite clearly listening to music, an old woman approached me and started talking to me in Japanese...cue a twenty minute conversation that more closely related a game of chirades since my Japanese is limited at best, and her English was non-existent. There was nowhere to hide as I had an hour to wait until the next ferry, and I felt mentally drained when she finally left!

z14. Fugen-dake

Once on board, I got a great view of Fugen-dake whilst waiting for the ferry to leave, with the sun setting directly behind the middle of its crater. This made me feel a lot better as at least I`d seen it in all its glory, and as the ferry made the short journey across the water, I got my first glimpse of two more volcanoes in the distance. They looked quite eerie as it was approaching dusk, with their silhouettes overlooking the dead calm sea...I`ll be exploring them in a couple of days time.

I had to get another bus from Kumamoto Port to the city centre, followed by a taxi to the hostel, and I was lucky enough to get a really friendly driver who gave me a mini-guided tour of the city on the way there. I`d been on so many different forms of transport though, that I was just ready to get to my accommodation and breath a sigh of relief!

After dumping my bags, I did have a quick roam around and it seemed like a nice city on first inspection, something that was confirmed the next day when I had further time to explore...

z18. Kumamoto Castle

Actually I could have quite happily stayed in bed all day, but I forced myself to get up as I just had one full day in Kumamoto...plus I could hear the incredibly annoying voice of a Japanese woman, riding up and down the street with a megaphone - anyone who has been in Japan for a reasonable amount of time will understand what I`m talking about. I have no clue what it`s all about, maybe something to do with the elections, but anyway she managed to get me out of bed at a reasonable time...

I`m starting to lose my enthusiasm for castles in Japan as they all look alike, but as it was drizzling with rain I thought it`d be a nice way to pass an hour, and sure enough it was interesting to look at the exhibits and such. There were a couple of `mock guards` standing outside the entrance and posing for photographs, something that I`d not seen in any of the other castles I`d visited. So in the end, it was 500 yen well spent...

A

z23. Suizenji koen

fter mooching around the shops, and receiving more stares and nods of recognition, I got a tram to Suizenji-koen in the afternoon and had a walk around the park, the highlight being a grass replica of Mount Fuji. It was a relaxing place to be for a couple of hours, and it gave me the chance to read up on the Mount Aso area where I will be heading next...