Please see
post #357 regarding Plan B for Monday.
Increased volcanic activity of Mr Aso continues and a no-entry zone is currently in force stretching 1 km from the crater and resulting in the closure of the ropeway, road and hiking trails to the crater. Since it seems unlikely the situation will change in the next 3-4 weeks a slightly revised plan is proposed for Monday 6th April.
Starting on 1st April there are more buses from Fukuoka/Hita to Kurokawa Onsen (4 daily instead of 2 daily services), so I've had to change our plan slightly. For this trip I'm assuming everybody will have either a 3 day or a 5 day Northern Kyushu Rail Pass, which should cover all rail travel. The bus we plan to catch in Hita actually comes from Fukuoka but we'll save 1,240 yen by going to Hita on JR with a Rail Pass.
Revised Schedule - Sunday 5th April
09:24 JR Hakata (Limited Express Yufuin-no-Mori #1) - 10:40 Hita **
11:38 Hita Bus Station (bus) - 12:50 Kurokawa Onsen (1,850 yen)
** Just found Limited Express Yufuin-no-Mori has free wifi @:-)
Seat reservation is compulsory and must be arranged in advance.
The revised schedule gives us nearly an hour in Hita, which is a historic town under the direct control of the Toyotomi Clan and later the Tokugawa Shogunate as the main city overseeing Kyushu between the late 16th and 19th century. There is an area not far from the railway station which has preserved or restored shops and other buildings from the Edo period. We can walk there and back (0.5 km each way) while we wait for our bus.
Mameda-machi, Hita City
Tickets go on sale a month in advance for long-distance buses and I suggest we book seats on the bus before we arrive in Fukuoka.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like me to book a seat on the bus for you. The cost will be 1,850 yen which you can pay me on Thursday or Friday.
Revised schedule - Monday 6th April
10:35 Kurokawa Onsen (bus) - 11:23 Aso Station (990 yen)
11:45 Aso Station (bus) - 12:14 Kusasenri Plateau (570 yen one way)
Optional visit to Aso Volcano Museum
Once again
if you would like me to book a seat on the bus from Kurokawa Onsen to Aso JR Station please let me know. Good news for
serfty who has to return to FUK on Monday morning: the 9:30 bus to Fukuoka via FUK remains unchanged.
Unfortunately we will not be able to see this view.
We have a few options for getting back to Aso JR Station and to Kumamoto. We can decided this nearer the date or even on the day.
13:10 Kusasenri Plateau - 13:35 Aso Station / 13:44 Aso Station - 14:50 Kumamoto or
13:10 Kusasenri Plateau - 13:35 Aso Station / 13:53 Aso Station - 15:22 Kumamoto or
13:35 Kusasenri Plateau - 14:00 Aso Station / 14:43 Aso Station - 16:11 Kumamoto or
14:05 Kusasenri Plateau - 14:30 Aso Station / 14:43 Aso Station - 16:11 Kumamoto
I will try and explore alternative ways of viewing Mt Aso without getting too close on our way to Kumamoto on Monday afternoon.
Kumamoto Castle
Suizenji Garden, Kumamoto