In October my brother Ulfried and his girlfriend Helga came to visit me. One weekend all three of us went to Kyushu to see Misao and her family. I had already enjoyed a stay there in April and this time also I enjoyed the stay and Misao's Japanese cuisine. Further we planned to visit Mt Aso, an active volcano, on Saturday.

We started very early because it is a long ride from Saiki, Misao's place, to Mt. Aso, and takes about three hours. On the way, there was already a lot to see. Misao's young lady friend Kumi who drove us, had to stop every so often, so that we could take photographs. Amongst other places we stopped near Ogata machi at the Hajiri waterfalls, where we could also visit a souvenir shop. Eventually at noon we reached Mt Aso. Unfortunately we could not drive up to the crater, because that day the volcano was more active than usual and produced sulphur vapours that smell badly as well as being toxic. So first of all we ate our bento (which is a lunchbox with rice, sushi etc.). After our meal we were able to have a look at the crater. It was possible as the wind had changed. But soon after we had left the car all the visitors were urged to leave the mountain and go back into the valley. Fighting bouts of coughing we quickly took a few photographs before going back downhill. On the way back we stopped in the Kuju Hanakoen (flower garden) to admire the autumn flowers. Finally we stopped at an Onsen. From the outdoor pool one can admire a beautiful view of Mt Aso. But as it was already quite dark and as the mountain had no eruptions we saw only the stars.

On Sunday we visited a place near Usuki town where Buddhas had been carved in stone several centuries ago .The rocks had been deposited there in prehistoric times as Mt. Aso erupted and later they had been carved. Afterwards we drove to Fukuoka to visit a famous shrine, that is dedicated to the god of all students. There we prayed for a successful completion of our studies and then headed for the expressway to go back to Hiroshima.

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