Took a chance on the gas, and drove up the road a bit, to the rest area/viewpoint at Bihorotoge. Beautiful view of Kussharo ko covered in clouds. Made it to a gas station with fumes in the tank, and then headed up to Mashu ko - famous for it's clear water. Went to the third viewpoint, as recommended, which turned out to be really great (and free).
This pooch wanted a human's eye view...at least I think that's what he said.
Headed down towards Akan ko, enjoying some huge and delicious blue grapes, with a taste that every artificial grape flavour aspires to, but never quite reaches. Went to the Akan ko eco museum, and saw some marimo* in a tank - a bit underwhelming, but they are kind of cool to look at.
*Note: Akan ko and the surrounding area took the marimo and made it into a cute character, marimokkori. Mokkori is a slang term for an erection. But combining these two things apparently is quite ok, and Marimo is quite popular, even among kids. There is also a Marimokkorin, the female version, with not one protrusion, but two...
The floor of the museum is a huge aerial photo of the area - kind of cool, and I could see where I was heading later in the day.
Me Akan Dake is an active volcano, with steam/sulphur pouring out of various vents. It was a very cool sight. Had some good views of Ao numa (blue swamp) and Aka numa (red swamp).
Note that while ao is translated as blue, it's also the colour used to describe the colour of plants, and traffic lights... Also, while the weather was sunny and clear, it was actually almost chilly at the top - glad I had my toque, wished I'd brought some gloves.
Another hike over to Akan ko looked like a charred wasteland. Interesting to look at, but maybe not for hiking through.
The LP Hiking in Japan estimated 2 hours up, and 2.5 down, but it only took me about 3 altogether, including stopping for pictures. Hiked down and over to yu no taki - hot spring falls - and was pretty disappointed. The falls were just a trickle, and the "hot" spring was tepid at best. And the bottom was pretty slimy.
Oh well. Wandered back around Lake Onneto in the fading light, managed a few pictures that showed its colour, and walked back to the car.
While driving, I found another sento, this time a really old one. Bring your own toiletries, no sauna, nothing fancy, just shower stations, a big bath, and lots of mould. (And a lot of old men).
2 comments:
are the red and blue swamps really far away? they look like they could almost be just small puddles beneath you.
Pretty far - the pic is looking down into the crater.
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