Roadtrip in Kyushu

Maki did her last working day last wednesday and I've had a week and a half summer holiday off work so we made a trip to Kyushu where we haven't been much before. We flew to Nagasaki and took a rental car for six days and drove from west to east and back west again in the north part of Kyushu. We brought the tent and camping gear and pretty much made up the route as we went along. I love to go on road trips and think this is one of the best ways of exploring new places and it was great way of seeing north part of Kyushu with all its beautiful nature.

More photos can be seen in our webalbum:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pedroso.mobile/KyushuRoadtrip2009?feat=directlink















Trying to swim in a shallow and amazingly cold river!















We went to many great onsens (hot springs) and this is one of the best ones. We were alone at this place and could enjoy the onsen for ourselves. I went into the cold river to get really chilled down and then straight into the hot spring, fantastic! Just like coming in to the sauna again after rolling in the snow.















Nice breakfast in the camping. After two nights of camping we thought it would be nice to stay at a japanese hotel. In a way it was of course, but after that one night we agreed that camping was much more fun and by the fourth night we were back in the tent again.















And I guess one reason is that it's difficult to do things like this in a hotel!















In Yufuin we found a guy selling these interesting creatures. For 10.000 yen (800skr) you could bring one home as a pet.
















In Yufuin we also came across a place were you could try to stick your feet into a pool with doctor fishes. The small fishes will eat your old skin off while giving you a tickling feeling. Here Maki get a treatment.















Along the Yamanami highway, well known for the nice scenery it passes, we found a nice place for a brake in the grass.















We visited the museum of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki before returning to Tokyo. This is the fountain of peace in the peace park, dedicated to all the victims of the atomic bomb crying out for water.