Today we were headed to Mt. Aso, a volcanic mountain on the outskirts of the city. Aso is particularly cool because it has the world's largest caldera. Thousands of people actually live inside it. You can get a good look at the terrain from above here.
After about a hour's drive to the base of the mountain area, we met up with some other friends of Sato-san at a restaurant for lunch. They were another very nice group a people, and there were even a couple of them who spoke very good English. One of the English speakers kind of hid the fact that she knew English until near the end of the trip! Sometimes Japanese are a little shy to break out the English. The most interesting thing I had at the restaurant was a bright purple drink that I think was made from the pickled turnips that you usually get on the side of most Japanese meals. It was good at first, but kind of hard to drink the whole thing.
We headed out in two cars through the caldera and up the slope of the actual volcanic crater at the center. The landscape was truly amazing. Most of the mountains had very short bright green grass, almost making it look like a giant golf course or something. We could see numerous plumes of steam in the distance indicating where some of the area's many hot springs were located. It was also a really nice day out - pretty amazing scenery.
At the top of the crater we got out and entered a building that services a cable tram up to the peak.
The smell of sulfur was everywhere, and at the top we could see steam billowing out of a gaping crater. Here at the top the landscape was much more barren, black and brown dirt and rocks.
Some rain clouds had rolled in and started to sprinkle a bit at this point. The wind would occasionally blow the clouds of steam aside, and for a few seconds we could see down to the bright turquoise spring water at the bottom of the crater.
We stopped and bought a few gifts and then headed back down the mountain, stopping at a lookout point over the valley formed by the surrounding caldera. We could see all the way back to Kumamoto and even the sea beyond.
After the long drive home, we said goodbye to most of Sato-san's friends. One of her English speaking friends accompanied us to dinner, though. We visited a mall near Sato-san's house, which actually kind of resembled a western mall. The only difference was that it was like the whole place was one store, and the smaller stores, including the restaurants, were all kind of inside this one big store. We had another delicious meal of sashimi, noodles, and tempura, solidifying Kumamoto position as the city where I had the best food of the whole trip. I also was able to talk a little bit to Sato-san's friend, learning that a while ago she had lived in NYC for a year, and that her favorite film director is Quentin Tarantino. Needless to say, we got along well.
I had thought about leaving on a late train to get to Hiroshima or Fukuoka, enabling me to have more time to spend in the cities the next day instead of having to take a morning train. The long day and the prospect of another Sato-san breakfast convinced me to stay, however.
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