Aso

Takachiho is truly beautiful! We went on January 20th and 26th, and the weather was fantastic! Our tour guide, Ms. Duan, was incredibly dedicated and attentive, taking great care of each member of the group. We were very satisfied! Mount Aso and Kusasenri were also amazing; we even got to climb to the crater of the first volcano, Nakadake! How lucky! I highly recommend this day trip! Oh, and the Miyazaki beef lunch that day was delicious!

Before setting off, I was a little worried after seeing negative reviews on the tour guide website, but after experiencing it with friends, I think it was quite good. Our guide, Mr. Yang, was very nice; he was the only one in the group who stood out from the others, making him easy to spot. He was very attentive, and the conversations were interesting. No one was late for any of the group meetings, and the overall process was smooth. Takachiho Gorge is just as beautiful as it looks in the photos and is definitely worth a visit. However, since it's in the mountains, people with mobility issues might want to consider it.

After booking your trip, you'll receive a voucher, which will be a PDF. The PDF will detail the boarding times, itinerary, tickets, and important notes (in Chinese). The places that felt a bit rushed were the Aso Mt. Terminal and the Aso Crater. According to the itinerary, upon arriving at Terminal, you have to queue for the bus, and since the bus arrives quickly, there's no time to eat ice cream or browse souvenir shops. The time spent at the Aso Crater is also a bit short, especially if you want to take plenty of photos and walk all the trails, which requires more time. Back at Terminal, I remember the bus departs in 15 minutes, so if you need to use the restroom, eat ice cream, or browse the souvenir shops, there's definitely not enough time. Lunch was at Douce Nucca, next to the Kusanagi Aso Volcano Museum. The hamburger steak was delicious! You'll have three hours here, which is plenty of time. Finally, you return to Aso Station and can leisurely shop at the souvenir shops nearby. I stop at Aso Station for about 30 minutes in the morning to see what I want to buy, and then come back in the afternoon to buy it. The pudding is delicious! The coffee jelly is very coffee-flavored.

Although the zoo is not big, and it was raining that day, it was a bit inconvenient to move around, but it was also because there were not many people, it felt very relaxing, and it was rare to be able to feed the penguins very close, holding the bear for photos, not crowded at all!

The weather was great, the tour guide was friendly, and even the driver was very kind. Although it was a pity that we couldn't go to the volcano viewing platform due to wind direction, I still really enjoyed and appreciated the day trip.