Winter tour of Central Kyushu

Half business, half pleasure we toured the insides of Kumamoto pref by RV. Our wheels were superb. Easy to drive and very comfortable to live in. Even in freezing temperatures we were warm and relaxed. Of course the presence of super clean public toilets helped as well as a hot spring bath around the corner every night. The weather was great. Crisp and sunny during the days and softly misty in the early mornings. Info on RV Auckland: click --> HERE

 We camped the first night in Hitoyoshi on a strip of land in the middle of the Kuma River. 

We watched some of the birds there, click --> HERE

The next day we followed the river up towards Mizukami 

Remarkable patterns of stones in the Kuma river. There must have been times of wild waters

Ice sculptures caused by a burst water pipe. For more of those click --> HERE

 

 Hotspring resorts can be pretty expensive to stay in, but many places open their baths for short visits for a reasonable price, most towns have a proper public bath that is usually cheap and on top of that are the foot baths... for free

We crossed the mountains to Takachiho and the road was very narrow at times, but we managed allright.

Takachiho Gorge

Below our view of Mt Aso when we woke up on the 4th and last day 

When we first came to Japan Mt Aso, said to be the biggest active volcano in the world, was a popular tourist destination. We could hike to the rim of the crater and stare at the size of rocks that had once been spuwed out and were piled up on the roof of the many concrete shelters. It was easy to imagine that those shelters were there for a clear purpose. When the volcanic activity increased and some big eruptions occurred the place closed down and now it is too dangerous to come close.

There is a volcano museum, but at 8 am the parking lot is deserted.

 Just the toilets caught my interest

Time for breakfast