Aso

The weather was great, and the views of Mount Aso and Takachiho while boating were truly beautiful. Plus, our professional guide, Jimmy Yanagi, was witty and humorous. Highly recommended!

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.

Since our accommodation was near the Sakuramachi Bus Terminal, and most other day tours depart from Kumamoto JR Station and require early morning departures, this tour was perfect because it included pick-up from the Sakuramachi Bus Terminal. Plus, we wanted to visit Aso and Takachiho, so it was ideal! If I remember correctly, this was a local tour company's itinerary, so about two-thirds of the passengers were locals. The tour guide spoke Japanese, but there was a Chinese-speaking translator, so there was no need to worry. The times for each stop were clearly indicated on signs. The tour quality was excellent; the guide, translator, and driver were all very friendly, and we had a great time. We ate lunch at a local restaurant in Takachiho and chatted with other Japanese members of the tour group, giving us a real sense of traveling abroad!

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!

We departed on time in the morning for Takachiho Gorge, a breathtaking natural wonder. A ride on the miniature train offered panoramic views of the landscape, with patterns reflected in the caves along the way – a truly stunning sight. Our guide, Yoshiko Yamasugi, provided detailed explanations, and we even enjoyed horse meat skewers. At noon, we arrived at Kusasenri. Thanks to half the snowfall, we were able to play in the remaining snow on the mountain, which was delightful. After taking the shuttle bus to the crater, we were incredibly lucky – the crater, which was originally closed, was open! However, it immediately closed again after we finished. It was very cold, and the smell was unpleasant, so we wore masks.