Kagoshima - boy

Sacurajima, recently upgraded from island to peninsula by volcanic activity, was the main reason for coming to this place. The volcanoes were only a twenty minute ferry ride away and supposed to be the most active in Japan with over 500 eruptions this year. The evening of our arrival showed much promise as wisps of smoke rose from one of the peaks but unfortunately two solid days of cloud and rain put paid to any decent views of the volcanoes and we were left with a poor exhibition and short film in the visitors centre. I suppose a live 'volcano show', large enough to be visually spectacular but small enough to avoid an evacuation was always too hopeful.

 

When plans don't turn out as expected the one thing you can rely on in Japan is good food and hot springs. We bathed watching the sun go down and the following day under a shrine outside by the sea. When we returned from our sunset onsen the owner of the Ryoken (Japanese B+B) plied us with sake and beer at his local izakaya (pub) and we plied ourselves with its excellent food.

 

The next day we went to Ibusuki, famous for its hot sands, where we went to have another encounter with the sand monster, followed by another onsen. This time the sand was extremely hot and therefore not laid on as thickly giving a totally different and less claustrophobic experience. We had a lovely stroll along the beach, noting how odd it was to see steam rising from the sand. When we dug down a few inches to sample the sand it was too hot to touch. When we sampled the sea it was too hot to swim in. Now that's some geothermal power going on down there.