Takachiho - Miyazaki-ken

Friday 27th. Drove over the mountain to get to Takachiho. We tried to visit Mt Aso but it was closed because of the amount of gas coming from the volcano was at dangerous levels. We got out of the car for only 5 minutes at the bottom of the hill and were effected by the gas. I wouldn't want to have been any nearer. It was a little disappointing for Andrea as she has not seen Mt Aso before. Me, on the other hand have already seen it twice. We finally got to Takachiho at around 3pm. Finding anything in this town is a challenge. First there is only one sign to reach things and generally you have to turn a few times to reach your destination. So we got extremely lost. The maps of the town are atrocious. The only show the main roads and the landmarks are few and far between. Finding the Youth Hostel was close to impossible. We ended up asking a lady who drove us there as she couldn't describe how to drive there. It was down this little back alley. Even though it was hard to find the youth hostel is really nice. It is run by a lady and her two sons. We then went to watch the Yokagura, which are traditional dances of the area I think to thank the gods for the harvest season. This was even harder to find. We asked two old ladies the direction. The first one obviously doesn't ever deal with foriegners as she spoke normal speed Japanese to me. It was also strongly tainted by the "ben" (dialect) of the area. When we eventually arrived at the Yokagura, it was fantastic. There were to two 5 year old boys, that took a liking to the "eigo no hito" (english speaking person). When they saw Andrea they shouted at the top of their lungs "KOWAI!" which means scary. Even though I look different, Andrea's red hair took them by surprise. They were so cute. They actually sounded like the children from anime films. At the Yokagura they served out food and shochu (alcohol). I love shochu but because I was the responsible driver I couldn't drink any.

Saturday we woke up early to climb Mt. Sobo. The road up to the mountain was very narrow and rough. It gave the little car a good work out. It was good to do some driving reminding me of my family's 4x4 days and driving with my brother. The hiking track wasn't disappointing. Unfortunately at the top, the cloud hadn't lifted so you couldn't see more than a metre down. It was actually quite scary not being able to see how steep the mountain was. At the top we had lunch and met some Japanese guys who thought it was great that they could practice their English. They also gave us some hot tea, which was fantastic since it was freezing at the top. Andrea also befriended some other Japanese people that when we reached the bottom invited us to go hiking with them next month on a mountain in Kagoshima prefecture. I hope we can go, even though we hardly know them. The generosity and the friendliness of Japanese people still amazes me. After the climb we found a local onsen to relax in. Unfortunately there wasn't an outside pool. We went to Iwato Jinja Shrine and Yasugawara Cave. The cave is famous because the sun god was supposed to have hid there and had to be encouraged out by the other gods so there could be sunlight. All over the place there are little mounds of rocks. We then returned to the youth hostel and were invited to drink shochu with the lady owner, her two sons and other guests. It was great talking and answering questions about the different countries and different impression we have.

Before leaving for the trip we had looked at the weather it had said that Sunday was going to be sunny. We woke up and it was raining, and continued to rain heavily for the rest of the day. We had decided to have breakfast at the youth hostel which ended up being a feast. It was so good. I lost a bet with Andrea because the egg was actually raw, but then I went onto to shock her by eating it ALL! (You eat it mixed with rice and a bit of soya sauce). We went to the Takachiho Gorge which is absolutely beautiful even in the rain. It was very interesting as it was created from lava flows from Mt Aso. On a nice day you can row a boat up the gorge. We then went back to Yasugawara Cave to try and get some better photos but the light wasn't much better. After eating pancakes we drive over to Mt. Aso area to have an onsen. After driving around a bit with the informative (very sarcastic) Japanese signs we found a great onsen. We then drove back home via the express way. The only bad thing about the trip is that I lost my keys. I then had to break into my apartment. It's fairly hard when you are on the fifth floor and there are bars on the window. But where there is a will, there is a way. It would have cost $120-$200 to have the locksmith come out so I'm glad I am a good at "break and enter". Maybe I missed my calling. hahahaha!
Anyway, it was a fantastic weekend away. Takachiho is really beautiful and definitely worth a visit but you definitely need a car, and you definitely need to know how to ask and understand directions. Oh, and I found my keys..... I had dropped them getting out of the car near my apartment, so no worries!

Sumo

I went to sumo again this year, and again it was fun. My pictures from last year were much better maybe because I took many more. The Sumo's keshomawashi (aprons like things) and the judge kimonos were still very beautiful and definitely very expensive.
After the sumo we went to eat at a Korean restaurant. The gave us bibs to wear so we wouldn't get our clothes dirty!! This is Jared, Joy and me at the restaurant.