Trip 2 - Day 9 - Oogi Onsen to Yufuin

Lucas and I woke in Oogi onsen, refreshed and ready to explore the awesome riding opportunities between Oogi and Yufuin - our next onsen destination.

Oogi Onsen - traditional and simple.

Outside it was quite cloudy and the wind seemed to be gusting. Richard bowed out, opting to have an easy rest day given the relatively short distance to Yufuin as the crow flies. Our plan was to spend 5 hours riding as many of the good roads in the area as we could, strung end-2-end. You can see the route laid out below.

Our rambling route for today

The roads were taken, yet again from Warren Mallet's Motorcycle Paradise blog and promised some amazing riding. For those in the know, the roads included routes 674, 212, 28,  27, 367, 210, 40, 621, 11, 442, 669 and 30. Richard can rattle off the special names for each of these roads but I'm completely ignorant. All I know is that there are some black ones and some blue ones in this group. Good enough? ;). I do know that route 11 is the Yamanami Highway. So not completely ignorant then.

Before we left our nice hostess produced some Onigiri for us that she had prepared herself. It was a very nice gesture and we dutifully scoffed them before climbing on.

Onigiri from our lovely hostess.

By the time we were on the bikes the sky had cleared. There was still a crisp breeze, but it was slight and the morning promised amazing weather. The breeze was stiff and chill, and whilst the blue sky blazed, I needed all the vents in my jacket and pants closed to keep warm.

Soon the sun got up higher in the sky and the day turned hot. The jacket vents were opened again and, as usual, the riding and the scenery were amazing. I know, I say the same thing every day, but the thing is - Japan really is a motorcycle paradise.

Japanese niceness

Motorcycle paradise.

More Japanese niceness.

About 3pm the weather came in as we rode route 40 up to the pass between Mt Mimata and Mt Kuoiwa. Clouds literally rolled around and over the peaks as we motored towards them, and the wind picked up considerably. A light rain started, and although it was only slight, the temperature dropped to 13 degrees as we reached the pass.

And, ... the clouds come rolling in.

I threw on my rain gear and we sped towards the finish line. We got a little wet in the end, but nothing really compared to day 1. My rain outers got some drops but nothing permeated to my riding suit underneath (phew).

Our onsen hotel in Yufuin

Ensconsed in our onsen hotel we had a so-so dinner (yes it even happens some times in Japan) and then retired to the rotenburo to soak away our cares. The rotenburo was large with a nice mountain view. Cares were indeed duly soaked away.

All ready for a soaking.

Trip 2 - Day 8 - Hitoyoshi to Oogi Onsen

Wow, what an amazing day - one of the best day's riding I've ever had in Japan. Great weather, amazing roads, beautiful scenery - the whole package. After yesterday's grey haze, today greeted us with clear blue skies and finally a break from the high humidity we've been having all week. The sun rose clear and strong, and the mountain air around Hitoyoshi was crisp and cool. Suffice to say we were psyched to get out on the road!

Our plan for the day was to ride back towards the Aso region from Hitoyoshi, along routes 445 and 25, and then to brave the curves of the famous Kenny Roberts road before circling up out of the Aso caldera and locating our hotel for the night.

The route for today from Hitoyoshi to Kurokawa

Right off the bat route 445 did not disappoint, with some of the best riding and best scenery we've had on this trip to date. The road ran up into the mountains, following wide valleys with streams typically running many metres below. Wide sweeping turns were the norm, and while we were tempted the charge the turns and up the pace, the scenery held us back and we made many stops for photos.

Vistas from the wide valleys of Route 445 

In contrast, route 23 was a much smaller affair, more intimate - running along a rocky stream in a much smaller and tighter valley. Villages were nestled in small hamlets beside the river every few kilometres as we passed, and the road followed the river's twists and turns as it ran along beside it.

Sights and sounds of Route 23

Next we reached the Kenny (Roberts) road with its sweeping turns linked endlessly one after the other. The day had grown bright and clear, and being a Sunday there were bikes and bikers everywhere. This time we did charge the turns, and between stops to take photos of the other bikers and their rides, the adrenalin flowed freely.

Bikers assembled on the Kenny Roberts road

Yeah we've ridden the Kenny

With the Kenny road finally dumping us back down into the Aso crater, we headed to the northern caldera rim that we'd ridden towards Kurosawa a few short days before. That time we were in a hurry to reach day's end, but today we had time to fully explore the route. We rode to the edge and visited many of the best lookout spots to fully appreciate (and photograph!) views of the whole Aso area. The scenery on display was nothing short of spectacular!

Some tool on a bike poses in front of the Aso caldera

View of the Aso caldera from the crater rim

Duly awed by the majesty of Aso's dramatic landscape, it was finally time to head for our digs for the night. Lucas and I are staying in an onsen hotel 'Oogi Onsen' just outside the Kurokawa area. We fought the traffic to wind our way there, and after checking in we immediately rode back out to get some dinner. Just up the road was a quaint little place run by a nice old lady and her husband. We had a very welcome beer and a pleasant meal before returning to the hotel for some relaxing hot water action.

We're now back at Oogi and ready to hit the rotenburo!

Let the relaxing begin!

Oogi Onsen Rotenburo did not disappoint

Trip 2 - Day 7 - Ibusuki to Hitoyoshi

I was awoken last night at 3am by the flash of lightning and the drumming of rain on the hotel window. It was raining cats and dogs. Groaning I turned over, buried my face in the pillow and prayed that the rain would exhaust itself by morning. My prayers were answered and when the new day came it was rain free, hazy with low cloud, and ridiculously hot and humid.

Our planned ride for the day would see us burn out to the west coast of Kyushu to view the iconic volcano Kaimondake, and then north along the Ibusuki Skyliner, before jumping on the freeway to bypass Kagoshima and then do a quick tour of the Krishima Onsen district.

Our route from Ibusuki (south) to Hitoyoshi (north)

With all the haze and low cloud about, it was unlikely that we would get a good view of Kaimondake who, on a good day, is spectacular as she sits by the sea on the lower west coast of Kyushu. As expected, visibility was poor and the mountain never really showed herself. Damn.

The elusive Kaimondake shrowded in cloud.

Having tried and failed to photograph Kaimondake, our next destination was the peace museum at Chiran, the site of a Word War 2 Tokko (Kamakaze) airbase from which sorties were flown during the battle for Okinawa late in the war. It was really interesting to see the artefacts collected there - I would really have loved to spend a few more hours here, but as it was  a single hour was all we could spare.

Mitsubishi Zero at the peace museum

After the museum we climbed back on the bikes and charged the Ibusuki Skyliner. This road was so god-damn awesome that it has immediately made my top 5 Japanese motorcycling roads of all time (and that's saying something). The curves, running north along the main ridge of the Ibusuki peninsula towards Kagoshima, swept back and forth and back and forth for kilometre upon kilometre. It had had us heeled over, wrists bent back, and eyes streaming. When we reached that last toll booth it was with a a matching set of maniacal grins. Man it was good.

Riding the Ibusuki Skyliner

The rest of the trip to Hitoyoshi passed without anything outstanding to tell. Our path took us along route 223 which turned out to be quite a nice ride despite a bit of traffic. We had originally planned to ride up and over mount Karishima itself along the beautifully squiggly route 1. Unfortunately, the mountain started erupting just two weeks before our arrival and a two kilometre exclusion zone has been established around the whole thing. Oh well - next time.

Route 221 from Ebino to Hitiyoshi had intrigued us since our planning stages due to a set of matching corkscrews that can be seen on the map.

One of the Route 221 corkscrews

These turned out to be amazingly engineered stretches of road the used the spur of the mountain side to climb up on to the top of the ridge itself. The road hangs onto the front of the spur, circles around and plunges into a tunnel all the while climbing up and up; finally passing over itself and out along the ridge. The process is repeated on the way down with some dizzying concentric circular bridges. While it's really just a piece of highway, it was quit exciting to ride these structures at their almost vertigo inducing heights and see the engineering that went into them.

We finally arrived at Hitoyoshi at around 5:00pm, totally exhausted and with arses very sore indeed. I've been wearing my monkey-bum pants for the last 3 days now and even with them on my rear end is getting very tender by day's end. It's nothing a good onsen won't fix :P.  Having signed in we settled into our lodging - a small cabin away from the man building. The place we are staying is kind of like a family holiday park, and has a set of onsen baths, including a rotenburo for us to enjoy.

A cute cabin for the night.

Time to get my sweaty riding gear off, go have something to eat and jump in the outdoor bath for a long hot soak.

Trip 2 - Day 6 - Aoshima to Ibusuki

Waking in the hostel this morning we were up and going early - so much so, we were on the bikes by 7:30am. Even with the early hour, it was already hot and humid as we pulled out of the carpark, and it remained so for the whole day. That's 5 straight days of hot weather now! We stopped briefly at the 7-11 for breakfast (despite Lucas vowing never again to do so) and I managed to scoff a cake, cold coffee in a can and a Vitamin-C shot before jumping back on the bike. Remember kids, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Our plan for today was to ride the east coast of Kyushu south from Aoshima before crossing to the Minamiosumi port to catch a ferry across to our final destination - the resort town of Ibusuki.

The route for today, including the 50 minute ferry crossing.

The ride south consisted mainly of two roads, route 220 and route 448. Route 220 was a picturesque ride with rugged coastline on our left for much of it.

Magnificent coastal landscapes on the east coast Kyushu.

Similarly, route 448 had its scenic moments. But it also provided some superb riding with long sweeping corners and numerous chicanes. There were two occasions at least in which our enthusiasm may have gotten us pinged by the cozzers had not a convenient little old lady been keeping us reigned in as the milicents rolled past. As it was I can still report zero incidents!

As we neared the bottom of our southward journey on 448, we stopped off en-route at the Uchinoura Space Center. Here you can see a couple of rockets on display, as well as the launch pad used to fire them. Total geek-boy fantasy shit. Awesome.

Rockets at the Uchinoura Space Centre.

Very soon after, route 448 took us across the middle of the Kagoshima 'claw' and we arrived at the Minamiosumi ferry port ready to reserve ourselves a birth. What followed was half an hour of mr ferry dude trying to tell us that we could not, under any circumstance, pre-buy a spot for the 3 o'clock ferry, but if we were to be at the ferry terminal at 2:30pm he would guarantee us a spot. This seemed patently ridiculous and after endless arguing, convincing, haranguing and cajoling Lucas, amazingly, got him to agree to us pre-paying our tickets.

After all that, we didn't have much time left to go anywhere else in the hour that remained us, so we grabbed some drinks and waited.

Waiting for the ferry to Ibusuki

Soon the ferry arrived, we drove on, it sailed off, and we rolled out into Ibusuki ready and raring to hit the hot sand onsen with which Ibusuki is synonymous. We walked to the Ibusuki Saraku Natural Sand Bath, paid for our special yukata and neck towel and trundled down to the beachfront for our hot sand experience.

Special Yukatas are on and we're ready to be baked

The 'natural sand onsen' that followed was like nothing I've ever experienced before. You lay down in a depression that has been pre-dug and shaped by the diligent shovellers that stand ready at your burial site. An attendant carefully wraps your neck in your small onsen wash towel, and then proceeds to cover your whole body from the neck down in coarse hot sand.

Being buried alive

The sand is naturally heated by the volcanic activity in the area and, once covered, you begin to heat up very quickly. The weirdest thing is that you start to feel your pulse in your fingers, then hands, then feet, then arms, and pretty soon you feel like you are in a techno club being buffeted by the subwoofer as your pulse is felt in every extremity. The pores open all over your body and you start to sweat profusely from everywhere at once.

Buried in the sand all 3

When you finally can't stand the heat any more (Richard and I lasted 20 minutes, Lucas much longer) you rise from the sand like a zombie breaking through its burial mound. Your yukata is drenched with sweat and the sand is stuck to you. You then enter the special bathing area where the sand is washed off, you have a long soak in the hot and cold pools, and walk out feeling on top of the world. It's such an amazing feeling.

After our burial and subsequent resurrection, we went in search of dinner. A couple of doors down from the natural sand onsen we found a ramen joint. Maybe I was a little hungry, not having eaten since breakfast, but both the ramen and the gyoza I ordered were superb. The beer wasn't bad either, although I'm probably still too dehydrated to be drinking anything but water.

A well deserved dinner

Our hunger again sated, we finally sauntered back to our hotel very satisfied indeed and ready for a good night's sleep.

Trip 2 - Day 5 - Kurokawa Onsen to Aoshima

Lucas and I woke to the sound of the burbling river in our comfortable room in Kurokawa Onsen and quickly collected all our gear before heading down for a wonderful Japanese breakfast. As always the service was impeccable and comfortable without ever feeling oppressive. Somehow your hosts have catered for your every whim before you even knew about it yourself.

Our amazing traditional breakfast.

Our bellies full, we jumped on the bikes to go meet Richard at Takachiho Gorge, a good hour and a half away south. As we were waved goodbye by the bowing and smiling staff of the hotel, it was raining every so slightly. As soon as we cleared the Kurokawa valley however, it cleared right up and soon the sun broke through hot and strong. Yet again we had temperatures over 30 degrees today - that's 4 days in a row now!

Lucas and I motored our way south down route 40, which turned out to be a very nice road indeed. Winding its way through new forests, small farming villages, and rice paddies being prepared for the new summer planting, it had some really nice sections that had us laying waste to the ubiquitous 50 km/h speed limit.

By 10:15 we had arrived at Takachihiko and met Richard's new friends from the Aso Rider's House. We took a quick look at the gorge which was nice, and had a laugh at all the dudes trying to row their girlfriends around in boats.

Takachio Gorge with many boating couples.

Pretty soon we said our goodbyes and sped south. Our route for the day was meticulously planned using a bunch of recommended roads from Warren Mallet's Motorcycle Paradise blog. I'm not going to bore you with the route numbers (truth is I can't remember them :P) but we strung together as many as we could of Warren's best recommendations that were heading on our general direction. They were absolute gems one and all.

Our planned route for the day. Ambitious if you don't count the speeding.

At one stage we stopped for a drinks break in a one horse town somewhere before route 22. The owner of the local general store was very friendly and so excited by our arrival that she peppered us with questions for many minutes. Three australians on motorcycles were quite the local event.

Called the 'friendly shop'. No idea what the town was though

After drinks we burned down route 22, which wound it's way along the Umaru River. Descending into a deep forested valley, the road gave us many wide sweeping turns as well as some tighter single lane action. An amazing ride from beginning to end, and reminiscent of some we had enjoyed very recently in Shikoku. Basically, putting road and river together is the recipe for a great motorcycle route, and Japan is a country full of them.

Riding through deeply forested valleys beside green rivers.

Coming out of the Umaru valley, we spied a small restaurant and decided to stop for lunch. The local woman and her husband were also very friendly, and I ended up with a tonkatsu that our hostess assured me was real mountain pig (wild boar) and a local delicacy. I'll take her word for that, but it was pretty damn good I must say.

Wild Boar Tonkatsu. Mmm

Hunger sated, we continued along our merry way towards our ultimate goal - the seaside town of Aoshima sitting on the east coast of Kyushu. To get there we had to cross the urban madness of Miyazaki and sitting at the endless traffic lights was no fun at all in the 34 degree heat. Ultimately, we made it; arriving around 5pm melted and dripping into our jocks. Our digs are a hostel right on the sea-side that also has an onsen attached. Very new and clean.

Our digs for the night

We were so hot when we arrived that it took us quite a long time to get going with the chores we needed to do. Our room was hot as a motherfucker and needed the aircon to come up to speed, so in the meantime we bought drinks, walked around and did a bit of washing. Lucas walked around in just his long pants, scaring many of the locals. When he decided to take a nap on the sea-wall I had to take a snap of him and his audience.

Lucas scaring the natives

We also met another local while we wandered around waiting for our washing cycle to finish. This dude was playing his shamisen at the sea-side and Lucas got him playing requests. A really nice guy he was (I cant remember his name, let's call him Bob). Bob was from OIkinawa and gave us a great local recommendation for dinner.

Bob and his Shamisen

With our washing finished we headed out to dinner based on Bob's recommendation. We got there just in time for last orders (phew). It was a seafood place with a great japanese selection, and while I settled on Ebi Tempura, I was eyeing off Richard's nigiri platter with envy.

Huge Ebi (prawns) for dinner with a cold beer.

Replete and exhausted, we have finally retired to the hostel for the night! More adrenalin-filled japanese adventures await us on the morrow!