Mt. Aso (阿蘇山) - Largest active volcano in Japan + Hot springs Hell in Beppu (別府市)

You might have read my previous adventure when climbing Mt. Fuji. Here comes a different story visiting another volcano in Japan. We were out on a 3-days trip in the southwest island of Japan, the island of Kyushu(九州). The trip went to the amazing hot spring area around Beppu and to the largest active volcano in Japan, Mt. Aso  (阿蘇山). Please enjoy!

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On the way to Beppu

We started off in Hiroshima, going by car the 300km to reach the city of Beppu. After some stops along the way, including a lovely lunch break, it took roughly 5 hours to reach Beppu. See map below, with our stop for lunch and the destination for our 1st and 2nd day.

As you arrive to the city of Shimonoseki, this is the road sign you see along the highway. It is a picture of the puffer fish, or fugu in Japanese. This city of Shimonoseki is known as the capital of puffer fish as most of them are captured in this area. The puffer fish is among one of the most poisonous animals in the world as many of its internal organs contains highly toxic poison. It takes several years to train to become a sushi chef with the skills to handle the puffer fish. I have actually ate it once, and... I'm still alive. But that might be a story for another time. :)

In the harbor in Shimonoseki we went to a restaurants where we could enjoy some excellent raw fish. One of my favorite sashimi (raw fish) is tuna, and I feel the tuna goes especially well when eaten in a bowl of rice. This kind of dish, where meat or fish is served in a bowl of rice, is called donburi or just don(丼). Below is my dish, まぐろ丼。

Before continuing our journey we had a walk around the harbor and let the kids play a bit. Here my daughter trying out a "fashionable"pose. 

And then playing with the fugu. What a cute round fish it is. :)

Just next to the restaurant was the local fish market located. As this was in the afternoon it was pretty quiet and not a lot of activities going on, but it was nice to have a look. Definitely not the same size as Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, but nevertheless, the smell of fish was the same.

City of Beppu ( 別府市)

After arrival in Beppu we had a traditional dinner in our hotel and then enjoyed a bath in the hotel's onsen (hot spring). Unfortunately I didn't snap any picture that the evening. Well, in the onsen it is not easy to take a picture due to the privacy of other people, but this one below shows the view we had from the outside pool. Exceptional nice view as the hotel was up on a hill.

Credit

8 Hells of Beppu

Beppu is known as the capital of hot spring in Japan and eight of the most famous have been given the name "8 Hells of Beppu". It was a rainy day with light drizzle or short showers. The rain in combination with the steam coming from the hot springs, made it nearly impossible to avoid to get wet, with our without umbrellas. Have a look at these pictures to get an idea of what I'm talking about. 

We didn't visit all of the 8 Hells but instead decided to only go to three of the, what we thought, most interesting ones. The first one is called "chinoike-jigoku" (Blood Pond Hell) and I guess you can imagine where they got the name from.

The next one is called "kamado-jigoku" (Cooking Pot Hell) and the name is linked to the fact that some of these ponds really reach 100 C degrees. It is just amazing the colors. Have a look at this blue color and compare it with the red in the pictures above.

The next one is called "oniishibozu-jigoku" (Shaven Head Hell). The ponds here contains mud instead of water and the bubbles created by the steam in the mud resembles a munk's shaven head, hence its name. The second image is an animation where I tried to capture the bubbling action.

That evening we stayed in a hotel just next to the foot of Mt. Aso, called Arden Hotel. Going to hot springs resorts like this is a very very common pastime in Japan, so whenever there is a natural hot spring there will be many resorts like this in the neighborhood.

The onsen area was located in a separate building and this path way lead there from the main building. This area was lit by lanterns in the evening but unfortunately I didn't have any pictures of that. 

And here is one course of the dinner served! :)
The plate on the right is a mix of basashi (raw horse meat) and salmon sashimi (raw fish). This was really the first time I tried basashi and it was amazing. It was extremely tender and full of taste.

Mt. Aso (阿蘇山)

The last day of our trip, before returning to Hiroshima, we were brave enough to drive up to the top of Mt. Aso. Compared to my climb of Mt. Fuji there were no climbing involved this time. The top is easily accessible by car with a big parking area just below the summit. Compared to Mt. Fuji it is also only half in size with its peak only 1600 meters above sea level. But Mt. Aso is an active volcano and the largest active one in whole Japan. 

When we reached the top in the morning we were at first not allowed to go up to the area around the crater. It is actually common practice and a precautionary measure. As the volcano is so active, there are many toxic gases released into the air and they constantly measure the levels to know if it is safe for visitors. But after only a few minutes they said it was "safe" and we were allowed to do the small walk up to the top. The smell of sulfur was very intense and it was almost suffocating when you were close to the crater. 

Below a picture of me, barely alive, gasping for air... :) 

And here the surreal view when looking down into the crater. The amount of sulfur has turned the water into something between green and blue. I thought it really looked like fabric softener. :)

Thank You!

I hope you enjoyed my post.  
Please comment and let me know if you have any questions.
See you around.