Japans first National Park

We are now nestled in the west of beautiful Amakusa, having come through its sister National Park over the last few days.  From bubbling gysers to placid bays and crystal clear ocean, this is a beautiful place to be!

We headed off from Fukuoka via Dazaifu - the old prefectural capital of Kyushu. An amazing museum that we didnt have time for, so we just wandered about town.  We visited a temple that has over 150 different kinds of plums, and all of them were in blossom! Lucky!

We stayed in Nagasaki with a couchsurfing host - Crystal - an Hawaiian english teacher getting back to her Japanese roots in Kyushu.  She gave us a wonderful perspective on her life in Japan, and gave us a room all to ourselves (a RARE commodity in Japans usual one-room student apartments).  From that base, we ventured into Nagasaki, Shimabara, Obama and Unzen.

I fell in love with this wall - its constructed from old broken roof tiles but it makes the most beautiful pattern!

We did not get to go to the A-bomb museum in Hiroshima, we visited the Nagasaki museum.  Awful stories, makes concern for those in the north even greater.

Next we visited a few small towns and Unzen National Park/Geological Zone.  First stop, Shimabara, and old Castle town with a whole street of Edo-period houses restored to their former glory. 

Mt Unzen looming in the background.  Nearby volcano Mt Fugen erupted in 1992.

Mt Unzen is an Onsen town at the top of a mountain.  The story goes it was discovered by a very famous Buddhist priest whilst he was wandering in the mountains.  The hot, sulfurous water superheated by the volcano erupts out of rocky areas creating the `Jigoku` or `Hells`.  They were so called as they resemble the Buddhist description of hell, and each one is named after a different fable concerning our fates after death.

The next day we headed out of Nagasaki on to Amakusa (the other half of the National Park situated on an archepelego) via the onsen town Obama.  As you can see, the election of Barack Obama in the US has given the town of Obama a lot to advertise with.

The sign says `Chanpon` (a seas\food noodle dish) with Obama saying `It was delicious!!`

Our first close encounter with Japanese beach engineering.  We will put up pictures from Amakusa - but you will see why it is such a relief to be on a natural beach.

Obama is famous for a public park where you can bathe your feet in the springs.  Its also famous for eggs that they cook in the spring outlet.  Feet yes, eggs no.



So now, we are in lovely Amakusa.  In a remote surfing lodge with the wonderful Tatsu.  The rain has stopped, so I will leave it there for now and put some more photos up after a walk/kayak/sit on the beach.