Going down the road and back again
We have spent a week basically doing a coastal circuit of Kyushu, the southern most island of Japan, with a couple of forays inland for good measure. About 15 train trips, 4 long bus trips, and too many local bus trips to count, and now we have headed half way up Honshu again to Kanazawa. 5 different Shinkansens today, some of them with a very tight changeover, particularly the need to navigate some fairly complex platform arrangements. Luckily, the late running of trains here is measured in seconds not minutes, so any spanners in the works are down to us.
Beppu 20/3 - 22/3
Our stay in Beppu was wonderful. The town itself didn’t do a whole lot for me, but the Ryokan we stayed in was a delight. I have already mentioned the food, but it really does warrant another rave. It was superb. So too was the private onsen. We were only at Beppu for two days, but we took no less than 6 baths. That’s more than I have taken in the last ten years. Beppu was also the base for a day trip to Usuki, a one hour train ride south. Our reason for visiting Usuki was ostensibly to check out the famous stone Buddhas, dozens of them, many quite large, chiseled out of stone on a hillside overlooking the city. What we failed to appreciate though was that the stone Buddhas were actually about 5 kilometres out of town and public transport options were fairly thin on the ground. Because we only had about 2 hours to spend n Usuki, we decided to forego the Buddhas and just have a look around town. After a bit of an aimless wander through a pretty hilltop park and castle ruins, we decided to sit down for coffee and some chiffon cake (which I have grown a little fond of), and whilst we sat Beth did a bit of research on the town. Turns out that there was a whole lot more to Usuki than the stone Buddhas, most notably for us, an historic samurai district, which boasted original houses of samurai families, some other beautiful homes, and temples galore. Once we got wandering with a purpose Usuki revealed itself to us as a remarkable and beautiful little city, and we thanked our lucky stars that we didn’t try harder to get to the Buddhas.
We were a little concerned as we left our cases with the takyubin people at Jodogahama, that we would never see them again, but when we walked into reception at Beppu, there they were. Magic. We have been on the road now (or probably more rails) for more days than we have changes of clothes in our suitcase. Little bits of hand washing here and there have got us by, but a proper laundry run is now overdue, so Beth finds the nearest laundromat and off we trot. Laundry is one of the more tedious aspects of travel, but even this can be an amusement. The laundromat was super clean, and although everything was in Japanese, the instructions were quite straightforward. Put the washing in, close the door, put in money, and about an hour later your clothes are washed and dried. We chose to sit and wait rather than go for a wander. As we sat the washing machine kept us appraised (in Japanese) of progress via regular announcements. The lovely lady was probably also warning us about all sorts of dire things that might be happening, but as our Japanese language skills have not progressed, we were none the wiser if this was the case. Although I was disappointed that the washing didn’t come out folded as well, for such a mundane thing it was a pretty satisfying experience. As anyone who has lived out of a suitcase will testify , it is a beautiful thing to know your case is full of clean stuff.
22/3 - 23/3 Takachiho Gorge and Miyazaki
Emboldened by the successful independent travels of our suitcases, Beth decides that this time we will put three changes of clothes in our day packs and place our luggage in the hands of the takyubin to have their arrival at Nagasaki coincide with ours four days hence. Again we crossed our fingers.
After two nights and six baths at Beppu we have a big day ahead of us. Our end destination is the city of Miyazaki, but again we have a significant detour along the way which is the real reason for our travels. We break our train journey at Nobeoka to catch a little local bus two and a half hours up into the hills to Takachiho Gorge. The bus trip was a delight as we travelled along very narrow winding roads, over towering viaducts, beside very steep fall-always just beyond the kerb. All the while enjoying gorgeous views of pine forests, winding rivers, villages nestled in the valleys and logging trucks coming in the opposite direction. The most wonderful part of this journey was that the bus really was just a local commuter service. The only obvious tourists on board were ourselves and another couple. Surely this meant we would have Takachiho Gorge all to ourselves. Nice thought, but no such luck. It would appear that there are many more luxurious ways to get to Takachiho gorge, and these were the methods favoured by a very large number of tourists. Fortunately, the lady at the bus station information desk, whose counsel we sought, had things sussed. Knowing that the tourist buses disgorged their masses at the top of the gorge to save their legs as they walked down to the bus waiting at the other end (where I guess they were regorged), our counsellor summed up our fitness level and sent us to the bottom of the gorge to walk up. That way instead of being caught in the tourist stream, we just needed to step aside as each group lumbered down the path, then enjoy the clear air once they had passed.
To be fair, I really can’t begrudge these people coming to enjoy this place, it really is quite gorgeous (pardon the pun). It is different to our beautiful Kimberley and Karijini Gorges, but just as beautiful in its own way, and perfect weather made the whole experience an absolute delight. Now it was just a matter of retracing our steps on the little bus back to Nobeoka to catch the limited express train down to Miyazaki. Quite a big day today, and neither of us could really be bothered with dinner, so a few nuts and some fruit bought along the way sufficed before we hit the sack ahead of another big day tomorrow.
23/3 - 24/3 Kumamoto via Ibusuki
Today we are headed across the island to the western Kyushu port city of Kumamoto, an easy three hour fast train ride from Miyazaki. Unless of course you decide that you need to take a six hour detour down the local line to the small town of Ibusuki right down on the southern coast, just because it looks like it might be an attractive coastal train ride.
Whilst killing time at Kagoshimachuo station before departure of the Ibusuki train, Beth was approached by a little old Japanese gentleman, but this time it wasn’t a television interview, he just asked politely if he could speak with us for a little while to improve his English. How could you say no. It turns out he had visited Australia and was keen, despite his years, to travel more. He wasn’t really trying to improve his English so much as to brush up a bit. We spoke for a few minutes, then headed off to catch our train, but were waylaid a bit when Beth caught wind of the possibility of catching a special Joyful train which was waiting at the platform, but after a bit of dashing to and fro we found that the Joyful train was fully booked, so we needed to revert to plan A, whose departure was imminent on another platform. A little more dashing had us boarding just before the doors closed. The carriage we boarded was quite busy, so we made our way up the train until we found two seats, and who should be sitting opposite us than our little gentleman from the platform. He accompanied us almost all the way to Ibusuki and gave his English a very good workout. It was very nice, but I think we might have exhausted him. He fell asleep and almost missed his station.
Ibusuki was a pretty tired looking town, and definitely not on the tourist map. We had about 90 minutes here before our return train to Kagoshimachuo station, so decided we would go for a wander and find some coffee and cake. There were only a few cafes indicated on google maps, so we thought we would just choose the one that looked nicest. The first one we came across didn’t look like a cafe at all. It looked more like a dressmaker’s shop, and there were Japanese women in fine kimonos socialising around a low table, the only table in the place. It really didn’t look like it was meant for us. So we moved on. The streetscape deteriorated from here, all flaking paint and tumbledown structures, and the other couple of cafes looked pretty ordinary, so we decided to head back to the dressmaker’s and try our luck. After a few should we, shouldn’t we moments, we summoned up the courage to venture inside, where we were welcomed like long lost friends. It turns out there was some sort of clothing themed social event we had happened upon. But no matter, we were invited to sit at their table with them, to chat, drink coffee and nibble on local snacks which just kept coming. It was truly wonderful experience, and language really didn’t matter much, we seemed to communicate just fine. Apart from the socialising, the thing that made this an exquisite experience for Beth was that she was able to indulge a passion for admiring the beautiful Japanese kimonos, which were both adorning the lovely ladies we were talking with, as well as displayed throughout the shop. This filled in our time quite nicely and reminded us about judging books by their cover. A tired a dreary little town clearly had a heart of gold and has given us an unexpected and cherished memory.
The train trip back to Kagoshimachuo had no-one wanting to hone their English skills, so we were able to concentrate more on the coastline of Kagoshima bay we had come to see, and it was indeed quite pleasant, if not spectacular, apart of course from Sakurajima, the most active volcano in Japan, which sat across the bay and dominated the landscape somewhat. Happily it seemed quite peaceful when we passed it by.
A fast train from Kagoshimachuo gets us to Kumamoto late in the afternoon, but having sat on a train for most of the day, we chose to walk the couple of kilometres to our hotel rather than catch a tram, and although the weather had turned a bit ordinary, it was a really nice walk through parks and down some amazing streets which had been converted into covered shopping malls. Excitingly, along the way we noticed that some of the cherry blossoms were starting to show themselves.
Kumamoto is a beautiful little city, and it is a pity that we don’t have more than one night here, but at least our bus to Kurokawa Onsen the next day does not depart until early afternoon, so we have time to do a little bit of exploration. The amazing Kumamoto Castle takes up most of that time, but we also get to have a bit of a wander around town, particularly those shopping malls that surprisingly, Beth seems to have taken a fancy to. I think the abundance of high end kimono shops may have fed that fancy.
24/3 - 26/3 Kurokawa Onsen
Kurokawa Onsen is a little village way up in the Kuju Mountains north east of Kumamoto, popular with tourists because of its abundant hot springs. The two and a half hour bus trip is nothing short of spectacular as we cling to the side of the mountain climbing impossibly steep inclines via switchback after switchback after switchback. Beth may have been able to keep track of direction, but I felt like the kid in the middle with a blindfold trying to land a blow on the piñata.
The little spa resort we are staying at is very nice, idyllically situated on a babbling brook, with beautiful gardens and a steaming, hissing pump house sitting behind the car park. Sulphur smells you would wrinkle your nose at elsewhere, are quite fine here and only add to the atmosphere. Our room is in the “new” building, which looks pretty old to us, but very nice. Once again we have a private Onsen, but this time no shower, just a shallow bucket to ladle water from the bath and a stool to sit on. If we want a shower, we need to go to one of the public baths in the resort, or just wash ourself on the deck outside your room. Rules around using the baths are quite strict, and the most important one is to make sure you are clean and well rinsed before you get into the bath. We are still chickens, and choose to not head to the public baths just yet. We will need to take the plunge some time.
Because we have two nights in Kurokawa Onsen, it gives us a full day to explore the place and to go for a decent walk. Beth consulted her maps and found a few viewpoints and waterfalls in the district, and of course a bakery for coffee and a bit of cake. We had a delightful walk through rural communities and out to some slightly out of the way waterfalls, and although Kurokawa Onsen was jam packed with tourists, none of them chose to join us. It think the hills and the distance did not fit their spa resort holiday theme. Oh well, more fool them, we had some lovely sights all to ourselves. It was wearying however, so we were looking forward to our coffee break at the little bakery which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. When we reached the spot google sent us to there was nothing. A steep, unkempt grass covered embankment on our left and rural properties down below us on the right. A couple of Asian tourists were coming up the road the other way also looking a bit lost. They too had been guided here by google to the au Pan bakery, which like its namesake Peter, was starting to feel like a work of fiction. Beth could sense my distress, so we kept searching. Eventually we found a road that google didn’t know about, which doubled back to the au Pan cafe, where we had a lovely cup of coffee and a few little baked treats.
After resting a little we ventured back to Kurokawa Onsen to mingle with the tourist throng and have a look around the village, which was very nice. Lots of steep and narrow shop lined lanes and a lovely river running through town rendered the tourist nuisance a trifle. Many of these shops were peddling yummy looking local delicacies, which although tempted, we shied away from, knowing that we were in for another formidable Japanese meal back at the Onsen.
26/3 - 28/3 Nagasaki via Yufuin
One last bath, sumptuous breakfast, and then back to the bus stop for a ride to the old town of Yufuin for a 5 hour stopover en-rote to Nagasaki. Yufuin is almost back to Beppu, so we have gone full circle. It is a very nice old town which has been well and truly discovered by tourists, and the town has adjusted accordingly. Most of the old shops have been turned into essentially souvenir or fast food outlets. This, together with the streets being overrun means that sadly, some of these shops charm has been lost. Nonetheless we had a lovely time wandering around. Naturally we found a nice cafe, we had a walk through the tourist centre, but we also walked where the tourists didn’t seem to be going. We happened upon a museum of comic art, which we went inside and had a look at. Not for the exhibitions, but because the building itself was so beautiful.
One of the attractions of Yufuin is the Yufuin No Mori railway, which runs from Yufuin (not surprisingly) through some very nice scenery to Fukuoka, and boasts some very classy old carriages. One of our reasons for going to Yufuin was to travel the Yufuin No Mori, but we hadn’t reckoned on how popular it is. When I went to book tickets, the website suggested that there was no room at the inn. I eventually found a couple of non adjacent seats, but we had to catch a later train than we preferred. It was worth the effort though. Even though the train was full it was a lovely trip. Two more fast trains and we are down to Nagasaki, where we are reunited with our suitcases. We are at Nagasaki for two nights.
Nagasaki probably resonates mostly with westerners as the site of the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan in August 1945 to end the war in the Pacific and therefore WW2. But of course it has a much richer history than that one horrible event. Nagasaki was a major port on the trade routes of the Dutch East India Company, and was really the only gateway into Japan for the western world. It was through Nagasaki that western culture, medicine and technical expertise found its way into Japan. We visited a fascinating area called Dejima, which is the restored Dutch trading port. It was extremely well done, and as I said, absolutely fascinating. Nagasaki is a beautifully located port city, with some really nice gardens, interesting architecture, a nice river, and always a favourite with me, some nice bridges. So plenty for us to fill in our day. In fact, we could easily have spent a few more days here.
Of course it is impossible to ignore the horror of the destruction wreaked on Nagasaki by the dropping of the atomic bomb, and whilst we were in two minds, we decided we would catch a tram out to the peace park, which was established as a memorial and an entreaty for peace. It was extremely well done and certainly was no glorification of war. We also went to the atomic bomb museum, and whilst it was confronting, it is important to be reminded from time to time of the horrors and injustices of war. Over 70,000 innocent civilians wiped out in a second, and 100,000 more badly injured and diseased by radiation. It caused the Japanese to unconditionally surrender and ended the war, but what an awful cost. I find it hard to reconcile.
From Nagasaki we are hopping off Kyushu and back onto Honshu and making for Kanazawa, which Beth is really looking forward to.
Love the blog and photos… looks like Beth is embracing the local culture in her outfit 😂 Tge Peace Park looks beautiful, as does a lot of the other photos (except for the very crowded street scene, I’d start hyperventilating)… keep on catching those trains and having more adventures ♥️ Lisa
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