{"id":34202,"date":"2015-12-09T06:49:22","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T05:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peregrinusmundi.com\/arrivee-sur-kyushu\/"},"modified":"2020-07-05T17:46:56","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T15:46:56","slug":"arrival-on-kyushu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peregrinusmundi.com\/en\/arrival-on-kyushu\/","title":{"rendered":"Arrival on Ky\u00fbsh\u00fb"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Departure from Hiroshima on Saturday December 5, early for a bus and ferry journey which will take me to the island of Ky\u00fbsh\u00fb where I will spend the month of December. Ky\u00fbsh\u00fb is one of the four big islands composing Japan. It is the southernmost and is considered to be the birthplace of Japanese civilization. The island is mountainous with many volcanoes, including Mount Aso which rises to 1592m above sea level and which is one of the largest active volcanoes in Japan. The last eruption dates from September 14, 2015. The journey to reach Ky\u00fbsh\u00fb is not very long but the part by ferry causes some protests from my stomach due to a small swell. In the space of four days, I have taken the ferry more than in the space of ten years. The arrival on Ky\u00fbsh\u00fb is peaceful. The bus runs through the countryside, in small villages in the middle of the mountains. I arrive in Beppu around 4 p.m. Located on the northeast coast, the city is famous for its many onsens<\/em> (hot springs of volcanic origin). There are more than 3000 different, offering visitors more or less hot baths (some very very hot), waters of different colors or even geysers.<\/p>

I spend a quiet weekend in Beppu taking the opportunity to rest. Apart from the onsens there is not much to do or see. For gambling enthusiasts, the city is filled with Pachinko<\/em> (a mix between a pinball machine and a slot machine) which Japan is particularly fond of. Large rooms with luminous signs are filled with these machines where the Japanese devote themselves to their hobby in a sound atmosphere at the limit of the bearable (in any case for me: mixture of j-pop and noises of the slot machines ). It feels like Los Angeles at times. I go around the city center where I come across a gigantic tengu<\/em> head (youkais<\/em> recognizable by their long noses) proudly enthroned in the covered shopping alley. The nose is really massive. Stroll through a large shopping center to buy food (this is the opportunity to enjoy the view of different types of dango<\/em> (mochi dumplings)), and I return quietly to my hostel.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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