Roving Japan

Day 18 Photoset

Mt. Aso is a 2.5 hr drive from Yufuin, but the drive is very pretty and the time flys by. On our way we stopped at Yumeooturi bridge that is supposed to be pretty famous. Its a pedestrian suspension bridge that crosses a deep ravine. From the bridge you have a good view of a couple of famous waterfalls. Now, you may or may not known this about me, but heights kindda freak me out. I can handle rock climbing and roller coasters because I feel safe since I am strapped in… but I’m not very comfortable leaning over the side of the golden gate bridge, or in this case, a very narrow foot bridge crossing a deep ravine. The bridge has no vertical support structures, it is purely held up by suspension cables. It’s cool to look at, but I just wanted to get to the other side as fast as possible. The worst part was once you made it to the other side, you knew that you eventually had to cross the thing AGAIN to get back to the car! Risa is much stronger than me when it comes to this stuff. She was calmly walking across and taking lots of pictures. Thankfully we weren’t at the bridge too long, and we were soon back on the road and heading to Aso.

Mt. Aso is a very cool volcano. There is a deep pool of green liquid in at the top of the mountain that produces a toxic gas. We were lucky today because there was a nice breeze keeping the gas from floating over the observation area. Since there was no gas, we could walk all the way to the top and look down at the green water. The view of the Aso caldera is also quite impressive. It’s pretty cool to see the massive crater and how the caldera floor is now all farms and city.

On our way back from Aso, we stopped at the onsen resort town of Kurokawa. We didn’t have a lot of time there since we had to return the car, but we got to go into one onsen that is famous for the green water. So far this has been my favorite onsen. I like the onsens that feel like you’re out in the middle of nature. This onsen is surrounded by trees and a garden with little or no sign of modern civilization. As a bonus, I was the only one in the water!

We are now back in Beppu. Tomorrow is our last day, then we head to Shikoku!