The longest day. Kagoshima to Yamaga Onsen Kazenosato in Kitsuki. Rugby World Cup 2019. Japan
18th October 2019
We decided to leave Kagoshima by ferry and got an early
morning boat at the pier in the town. The ferries are drive on drive off and frequent,
there is one every 15 minutes.
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| Kagoshima Ferry |
We drove off onto the Sakurajima pier. Our plan
was to visit the Sakurajima volcano and we drove up to the Yonohira
Observatory. Unfortunately the weather was very poor with low clouds and rain
so visibility was very bad- no sweeping views of Kagoshima bay for us.
We drove along the south coast and over a bridge then on to
the coastal town of Miyazaki.
Stopped in the town of Aoshima for a very nice Italian /Japanese
lunch at the Aoshima Fishermans Beach Side Hostel and Spa.
Then walked across The
Devils Washboard to the Aoshima shrine.
We were driving beyond Beppu, with our ultimate destination the
Yamaga Onsen Kazenosato in Kitsuki.
As it was the Rugby World Cup quarter finals weekend in Oita,
I had been attempting to book accommodation for over 2 years, and had failed to
find anything, so hoped to find something upon arrival. Just before leaving the
UK this accommodation had come up on booking.com. The location was further out
than we wanted, but according to the map there was a train station, with trains
to Oita. Again, I had been struggling to find current information on the train
service as I had read that the trains were disrupted by the earthquake in 2016.
Once we left Aoshima the weather deteriorated, and it was a challenging
and very tiring drive- through tunnel after tunnel towards Oita.
Then just as
the end was in sight, we were diverted off the E10 as the road had to be closed
due to a landslide that caused an accident. We crawled at a snail’s pace
through Oita , Beppu and finally at Hiji the traffic cleared. So it was quite
late and pitch black when we found the Yamaga Onsen Kazenosato.
Using Google translate we managed to check in and realised
that all the meals were included in the tariff. We were shown to our room, it
was not just a room but a traditional Japanese house, with clothes and shoes to wear, beds on the floor and a wooden bath.
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| Yamaga Onsen Kazenosato |
There was also a segregated outdoor Onsen. I had got the hang of the
Onsen etiquette by now and after our dreadful journey enjoyed the hot spring.
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| The Onsen |
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