< Beppu | Japan (Autumn2005) | Kagoshima >
Shimabara
2005.Sep.09 - 2005.Sep.12
From Beppu I took the train across Mt. Aso to Kumamoto and from there the Ferry to Shimabara. This small 40'000 people city is a lovely place. Arriving by ferry, the Shimabara Youth Hostel is ideally situated, just a five minute walk off the pier. And if you happen to arrive by train, get off at Shimabara gaiko station and you'll find the hostel just accross the tracks. I found it to be a friendly and economic place to stay at.
The main sights of Shimabara can easily be explored on foot and they are also very clearly marked. The Mt. Unzen Disaster Memorial Hall, however, is a bit off-site. It is built right where the main ash flow came down Mt. Unzen during it's eruption from 1990 - 1996.
The Shimabara castle also sports a separate exhibition of 'old household items'. The items on display, however, are not really that old, if you ask me. Among others I finally found a japanese typewriter there, a thing I hadn't seen up to now. But the mosquito net on display there is the exact thing I have been using myself for numerous years...
According to the weather forecast, the next day should have been rainy. In the morning the sky was a little dark, but not frightening. Still, I 
decided on a bad weather program. First thing was to go down to the small tourist information at the pier and ask them about hiking trails on Mt. Unzen. Only very disappointing information came forth, surely not what I had been expecting from a tourist information. Studying the info outside on a bench at the bus stop, a bus to Nagasaki arrived. When I asked the driver, he said it was a long and somewhat costly ride since he was taking the route across Mt. Unzen. Well, wasn't that a good way to go to Nagasaki? So I hopped in. On the way I started chatting with the driver and finally got much better and more detailed information from him than from the tourist information.
Arriving at Nagasaki, the sky was still cast but no rain yet. I went to the A-Bomb memorial exhibition. A very touching place. Dirt cheap and well worth the the visit, but not recommended for people who can't cope with some cruel pictures.
For the way back to Shimabara I decided on the train. Took just as long as the bus ride and cost me only about JPY 1000 less than the bus, despite the JR Pass. Coming close to Shimabara the 'promised' rain came. And it poured down really hard!
I still wanted to do some hiking on Mt. Unzen and finally extended my stay in Shimabara a second time when the last morning promised a 
reasonably fine day. Good thing I stayed another day. I followed the recommendations of the bus driver and went up to Unzen bus terminal and from there by another bus to Nita pass. Before riding on the cable car, however, I studied the walking map and decided it could not be too far to walk instead of ride. So from Nita togei, I first walked to the top of the cable car and then climbed Mt. Kunimi and Mt. Fugen. 
On clear days, on Fugen-dake, it should be possible to see smoke and steam rising from Heisei-Shin-san. Down in Shimabara it was a fine and clear day, but up here in the mountains, some clouds permanently hung around, unfortunately. From Fugen-dake back to the bottom of the cable car leads a nice and very easy walking trail which I followed. Still having enough time, I also walked the way back to Unzen and there had a look around the hot springs. A great day.
< Beppu | Japan (Autumn 2005) | Kagoshima >