I decided to travel with my skiing mates to Kumamoto, because they reckoned it was worth a visit.
This involved taking the ‘normal’ train back to Shin Tosu. The Shinkansen will not run to Nagasaki until 2020. From Shin Tosu, we then got on to the fast train to Kumamoto.
I had booked into a Guest House in the main part of town. This involved taking two trams on the only two lines (A and B) in the town. They are real ‘rattlers’ of trams. This was not the first place where I encountered old trams. I had expected that most public transport in Japan would be very new. This is not the case. Albeit, the Guest House was only about 40 metres from the tram stop, it was not obvious how to get there using the instructions they provided. Not for the first time a local came to my assistance.
Pretty Good Gardens
After checking in to the Guest House, I headed to the Suizenji Park. This a pretty good garden. It was easy to find my slow moving skiing companions in the gardens. They take lots on photos. They got me doing the same. Check out the Flickr site if you have a lot of time. You will note that some of the trees are flowering – blossoming is another term for that.
After looking at virtually every tree in the park, we had tea in Tea House. It included a sweet thing that looked like an egg – very clever.
There was a bloke in the Tea House who told us was from “Philadelphia – America”. When asked if that was north or south America he seemed a bit confused.
Spectacular Castle
I left my skiing mates and headed off to the Kumamoto Castle. It is seriously big. There are a lot of steps to the very top parapet.
That night we had a very good meal in restaurant in the main shopping area.
Quick Trip to Kagoshima and Back
I really liked the Guest House where I was staying. I decided to stay an extra night and travel to Kagoshima for the day. That involved a round trip of 340 klms. However each leg only takes 50 or 60 minutes depending on the frequency of the stops.
Kagoshima is the southern most ‘large city’ in Japan. The main feature of the city is Sakurajima which is a volcano on the opposite side of the harbour from the city. It has been spewing an almost continuous stream of ash since 1955. It seems to erupt every few minutes.
I took a quick bus tour that included the Sengan-en, which is another garden. Next is a small museum that was Japan’s first factory. That was only built in 1850.
Flickr Links
Kumamato
Kagoshima
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