Mt Aso attempts
![IMGP0924 [640x480]](http://walkndream.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/imgp0924-640x480.jpg?w=640&h=392&crop=1)
I am a volcano freak so of course, going to the Mt Aso caldera was something to do while Ally and I were in the Kyushu region.
We left Kumamoto one morning for a daytrip to the volcano despite the horrible weather and took a train to Aso station, where we waited for the bus. I have to say that on that day and the previous one, this particular region of Japan was hit by a powerful typhoon that was reported in the news worldwide (mainly because its impact on China had been severe, one of my penpals actually lost her house).
The wise thing to do when there is such a storm outside, causing landslides and flood, would be to stay in the hotel room. We had done that the day before already and felt like we were really wasting time, our plan did not let us any choice, we had to follow it (I will not plans things without flexibility anymore).
We said let’s go, and we went !
Did we see the volcano ?
No. The storm was so bad, that the bus driver dropped us at the volcanic museum, midway to the summit, saying that we wouldn’t see anything anyway. He was right, so we visited the museum (with a group of older Korean tourists, one of them who flirted with me and tried to convince me to go to his country, following me everywhere. That made Ally laugh for the entire day).
We left after the tour and went back to Kumamoto (that I lovingly named Silent Hill, as I do with every places where there is nothing to do and nobody to meet).
We went to Beppu and then, spent 3 days in Takachiho (Silent Hill, again, wait for the post 
) and on the last day, because we were really bored, we decided to go back to Aso.
It was sunny so, why not ?
Problem ? Public transportation from Takachiho offered 2 buses a day. The first one at 10 am. It was too late to catch it, because we had to check in at a new hotel first. The second one ? At 4pm ! Great if you decide to spend the night near Aso station but, we had to be in Kagoshima on the next day and couldn’t cancel our reservation so late. We had no Internet access, no phone and no fax, and the hotel required the latter.
In the end, we never saw Aso.I learned not to plan an entire trip too much in advance and to let some flexibility into it to avoid getting stuck in a city for 2 days doing nothing. Time is precious when you don’t spend your life travelling.
Articles about Japan, Taiwan and Korea are old, they are from my past travels (from 2007 to 2010). When my next trip starts, I will use this blog as a travel journal and not as travel memories diary.
