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| Ferry for Sakurajima Volcano |
We bought the Kyushu JR3Day pass (cost = 15000Yen). Foreigners need to present their passports in order to purchase the ticket. I left my passport in the hotel. Fortunately, the hotel was a 10 minute walk from the Hakata JR station.
We also made seat reservations for the 9:29 a.m Shinkansen, arriving 10:55 a.m at Kagoshima-Chuo Station, Japan's most southerly Shinkansen station.
For me, one of the highlights of taking the Japanese train is eating in the train as it zooms towards the destination; nothing like a light breakfast with nice scenery. After looking through the variety of bento sets, we settled for two boxes that were labelled as Best-Sellers 😉. It was difficult to decide with so many choices!
The train departed on schedule, leaving cloudy Fukuoka for sunny Kagoshima. After passing through several towns and tunnels, we arrived promptly at 10:55am in Kagoshima-chuo station.
We could have explored the island by ourselves but being lazy and lacking prior research, we booked a 1/2 day island tour instead. We checked with the tourist office but the staff was slightly blur and directed us to the travel office. We were re-directed back to the tourist office to purchase the ticket. There are 2 tours daily and our afternoon tour starts at 1:40pm.
From my limited knowledge from the Japanese Drama: Sego-don, Kagoshima had famous political figures that transformed Japan during the Meiji Restoration.
The cherry trees have started to blossom providing a beautiful canopy along the river bank. A group of ladies were having their lunch under the trees; students and office workers were also taking breaks along the river bank rest area. It was indeed an idyllic place to stroll and relax.
Sakurajima volcano came into view and it heightened my anticipation for the afternoon tour. White clouds and smoke could be seen coming out of the mountain - Exciting!
More pretty blossoms along the river bank. They weren't at full bloom yet; would surely be a beautiful sight during the full blossom, which would probably happen in a few days afterwards.
After walking along the river bank, we walked to the Kurobuta Alley, across the JR station for our lunch.
We queued at Bus-stop 8 outside the JR station, and with all passengers boarded at 1:40pm, we left for the ferry terminal. The passengers disembarked from the bus once the ferry start sailing.
Sakujajima drew nearer as the ferry approached the island.
This is an active volcano with volcanic activity still dropping ash on the surrounding area. Its summit has three peaks:- the highest Northern Peak at 1117m, the Central Peak and the current active Southern Peak (Showa crater).
The first stop was the Yunohira Observatory, the highest point on the mountain open to the public.
The second floor observatory offers a panoramic view of the lava field, the surrounding areas and Kagoshima city, and the ports.
As the bus loops around the island, various evacuation shelters can be seen.
The bus stopped for a photo op at an almost buried shrine gate. One can only imagine the amount of lava during the great eruption!
When we arrived at the Arimura Lava Observatory, the tour guide offered an umbrella to each passenger. The weather was cool with no possibility of rain and plenty of sunshine. Anyway, we used the umbrella. We heard soft pattering sounds on the umbrella and we realized they were tiny ashes from the volcano. Then, we heard a low booming sound, and greyish-smoke spewed from the crater.
The pattering sound on the umbrella got louder. Soon, the surrounding area was covered with thin grey clouds of ash, with our belongings also being coated by a thin layer of ash.
It was indeed an exciting (if not heart-stopping at times) experience to end the tour.
"The serenity of courage : Co-existing with Spirited Nature" mytravelbooklet
The bus returned to Kagoshima-chuo station on-time. We made our seat reservations, had udon in the station, bought bento sets for the ride again, and took the 19:07 train back to Fukuoka's Hakata JR station.
We headed back immediately to the hotel for a thorough bath and a prolonged soak in the onsen. Our hair had stiffened from the volcanic ash and we could still feel other traces of ash on ourselves.
It must certainly be a challenging living beside active volcano; but the locals seem to have found ways to deal with the constant barrage of ash from above. For instance, it has become a habit for them to cover all their cars with plastic sheets. This trip gave me a better appreciation and respect for those who've adapted to living close to a volcano.
It was an enjoyable trip and I've made a mental note to visit other cities in Kyushu in the near future.
For this Trip: