The ladies in the Aso-san youth hostel were very friendly and it has a very nice, hot oyuba which closes at 9pm. With all the walking around, the hot water was really refreshing. After the hot bath, the lady suggested us a route that would give us a nice panoramic view of the ash cone. With that in mind, the next morning, we head to Aso-san.
The ride up Aso-san was calm and simply beautiful. We did not see anyone around there because it was still early and I guess people do not really travel there during winter. We could see the volcano from afar, releasing gases that resembles clouds..
The white patch in the middle is Kusasenri with the crater on the left.
Mount Aso crater
We climbed the first mountain (Mt Kijimadake, 1321 m) starting from the bus stop at Kusasenri. There were stairs and cement pathway but were covered with a layer of ice. I never walked on ice and had trouble walking.
The ash cone on the left while the edge of the caldera is visible in the background.
We then continued our journey to the crater. At the bus terminal, we took the ropeway up. At the beginning of the ropeway, there is a board with light signal indicating the direction of the wind. If the wind is blowing the wrong direction, the area will be sealed off.
Alternatively, one may also hike up instead of using the ropeway. However, there were ice on the pathway and due to slipping hazards, the hiking route was closed. At the other end of the ropeway, there were areas to view the crater. But due to the thick clouds of gases, we did not see the crater.
We found the hiking trail, somewhat away from the general area and began our hike. The hiking trail has vertical sticks, maps and rocks with (white) arrows painted on them. Here are some photos of the hike:
We hiked up to Mt Nakadake (1506 m) and decided to head back since we were losing daylight. After heading back to the YH, the hot oyuba was awesome.
The next morning, I left for Beppu and when i reached the Beppu station, I was greeted by the station annoucement: "Bepppppppuuuuuu. Bepppppppuuuuuu". That put a big smile on my face!