Day 11 | Kumamoto to Mount Aso

Wednesday 23 October, 2024

Missed the previous post? Check it out here

Today we are back on the bikes for a 58km ride to Mount Aso.

The rain has stopped aside from a bit of mist, and most of the ride is along major roads today.

We spend a good part of the morning getting out of the city itself, sticking to the paths unless it’s safe to go on the roads.

We have one major hill today, with about 843m of total ascent. Despite having a greater ascent than the other day of endless hills it feels so much easier due to the fact we aren’t loaded up with the panniers. And Belinda has created an ingenious way to pack the rinko bags on the back of the bikes.

We stop into a small bakery called Pan Qu-Be to grab some things for breakfast.

It’s a shame it’s so overcast as we can’t see any mountains in the distance.

However it’s perfect cycling conditions and the scenery is beautiful and green.

Once we get over the final hill it’s all downhill into the town of Aso.

We arrive in town bit early to check in, so make a stop into the local Lawson’s for lunch.

We then head to a nearby dessert shop called Nakamura Seika to get some sweet stuff for later.

Much like Pan Qu-be bakery earlier today, this place is also super cute and have a really nice range of baked goods.

We decided yesterday to make a last minute change to our itinerary and booked a room at Hotel Aso No Tsukasa, which is on the north side of the mountain range (we had originally planned to go via the south side but the area seemed quite remote).

Our accommodation is HUGE. It has three onsens, an indoor pool, two dining halls and a restaurant, a table tennis room, laundry, gift shop and three wings of guest rooms, each with up to eight floors.

We have the nicest Japanese style room on the fourth floor…

…with a great view.

They even give us some Kumamon bear cookies, the mascot of Kumamoto. The rest of the baked good were bought earlier. The choux and custard pastries are amazing by the way.

We head to Hirai across the road for dinner, a konbini style eatery selling DIY bento boxes for eat in or takeaway.

The hotel seems pretty busy tonight so we skip the onsen and decide we’ll use it tomorrow hoping that it’s a bit quieter. Tomorrow will be a rest day from the bikes but we plan to do a bit of trekking to the volcano. They sometimes close the roads if conditions are dangerous so hopefully the conditions are good and the road to the top is open!

Next post: Day 12 | Mount Aso