14/12/22 Weds: Woke up at 7.30am to get ready for our hike to Mount Nakadake, which was estimated to be about 5 hours to and fro. I had cabbage and dango soup for breakfast bought the night before.
We began the drive upwards towards Mt Aso Park road at 9+am and the sky looked dark and gloomy as we went higher. There was a entry fee of 800 yen to be paid as we drove into Sunasenrigahama parking lot. As soon as we got down the car, we regretted and the plan of hiking (even the short one hour trek on the Mt Eboshidake loop trail) was scrapped in my mind immediately lol!The wind was crazy near the crater! It was -3 degrees celcius and the toll auntie told us it was snowing and there were snowflakes around. *ran to hide in some shelters available around haha~* We couldn't see the caldera because of the thick clouds all around us too. It was all volcanic ashes around the area and there were only a few tourists now and then.
We even ran back inside the car to hide from the cold for a bit! After that, we decided to walk a bit further up to see a few craters. My body felt fine but those exposed parts like the face and every time I remove my gloves to take photos, it was freezing! *My fingers went red, itchy and dry from the exposure to the chill.* We decided to drive down to Mt Aso Volcanic Museum instead and spent a while there. *Parking there was 500 yen* Mt Aso last erupted on October 20, 2021... very active volcano indeed. Also saw an interesting video with 3D model that depicts the trail... guess we'll leave the hike to Mt Nakadake to another day if we re-visit Aso!
Left at 10.30am to drive over to Daikanbo Lookout on the other side of Aso, where one can supposedly see the five peaks of Mt Aso. It was still cold at 1 degrees Celcius, albeit the sun that came out helped.Tried Aso milk that was thick like yoghurt, but not bad imo. Drove down to Joyfull restaurant near our Airbnb to have lunch. My salmon porridge was nice and Potato tried their beef Motsunabe. It costed us 2,414 yen for lunch.After we re-fuelled the car at Eneos to 3/4 tank at 34 litres (5,781 yen), we walked over to Monzen shopping street but Aso Shrine was still closed. I reckon it’s because of the last volcanic eruption and earthquake that caused the fall of one of its halls, so maybe that’s why visitors cannot go in and beyond. *Jess tried her luck at the love fortune and she picked“小吉”again lol.* There was a tree just outside the shrine and couples could walk three rounds around it and it probably meant the two will be together forever... so Potato and I did that haha.We went into natural tea garden after that and bought some tea for friends. The lady was very professional when we wanted to taste tea. She’d timed them as she boiled the tea leaves to a certain temperature.Saw some snow on Mt Aso's top as we walked back to the Airbnb. We walked Jess to Miyaji station at 5pm before she departs for Singapore the next morning from Fukuoka.PotaTOHs then went popped into Asoyakusouen at Monzen shopping street to have some tempura for dinner! The shop opened only five days ago and Potato ordered the 1000yen set for each of us straightaway! Apparently, the chef loves to build things and he has a Youtube channel. They even fried shinsoo leaves! We bought 20 strawberries for 539 yen at the huge supermarket nearby after dinner, and then drove to Mori to get horse oil cream (738 yen) for my mum. The strawberries were very sweet, but that can of orange alcohol drink was no match for the one we had at the Ryokan haha!
Comments