Day 15: Takachiho & Aso

みなさん、こんにちは！

Hello everyone!

１５日目は高千穂＆阿蘇へ！

The day 15 of our Japan Trip was a day trio to Takachiho and Aso!

私の両親とスペインの家族と一緒にレンタカーで宮崎県の高千穂峡へ。九州ではあまり外国人観光客は見ないですが、ここでは必ず団体で来ている方々を見ます。国際的に人気なんですね！

We rented a big car to drive with my parents to Takachiho Gorge, Miyazaki prefecture. You can seldom see foreign tourists in Kyushu but I see groups of foreign visitors every time I go there. This place must be popular internationally!

ボート乗り場では２−３人で乗ります。30分くらいでしょうか、奥までゆっくり進んでぐるっと回って帰ってくるだけのはずが、漕ぐのがなかなか難しいんです。運良く私のパートナーは漕ぐのが上手かったんですが、人が多かったのもあって他の人のボートとぶつかったりしながら、やっと帰ってこれました。自然が描いた岩の模様や形はどこかのアーティストの作品のようで見ていて飽きません。浅瀬の水は透き通っているけれど、奥に行くにつれて水深が深くなってエメラルドグリーンに。高千穂峡の近くで子供時代を過ごした私の祖父や大叔母たちは、昔よく川に泳ぎに行っていたけれど、ここの水は深すぎて近寄らなかったと言っていました。あの川の底はどうなっているんだろう、どのくらい深いんだろうと想像するとゾクゾクします。

2-3 people can go on a boat together. Probably for 30 minutes or so, it’s just to go to the back and come back, but even that is usually hard as you have to row by yourself. Although my partner was relatively good at rowing, we still struggled with it. We were bumping to other people (vice versa) partially because it was quite crowded on that day… but we managed to come back. The patterns and shapes of rocks drawn and created by the nature was like a piece of art, which was very fascinating. When water is shallow it’s crystal clear - but as you keep on going to the back, it gets deeper and deeper and it gets emerald green. Old people in my family used to live in the area when they were small, and they told me once that though they used to often swim in rivers, they kept away from that river as it’s too deep. I get so curious when wondering around how it looks like ta the bottom of the river and how deep it could be.

高千穂峡を訪れる時の定番の流れは、ボートからのそうめん流し。スペインの家族もこんな体験初だったので大喜び。慣れない箸で流れてくるそうめんをうまく捕まえようと必死でした。毎回混んでるので、時間に余裕を持って行くことをお勧めします！

The “must do” in Takachiho is Somen Nagashi. It was the first time for my Spanish family, they seemed to be enjoying a lot. They were trying to chase the noodle floating away, since they were not used to use chopsticks. Every time I visited there the restaurant was quite packed, so I would recommend you go with a plenty of time just in case!

次の目的地は阿蘇。火口の規制が解除されたと聞いていたので行ってみました。私がイギリスに移り住む直前に、これから当分拝めないのでと見に行ったっきり、約３年ブランクを経てやっと行けました。火口まで登って行く時の景色といい、火口の迫力といい、やっぱり阿蘇山は最高でした。スペインの家族ももう少し歩き回りたかったようですが、時間がなかったので帰りました。

The next destination was Aso. As we heard that the restriction at the volcanic crater was removed, we drove up to the top of the volcano. About 3 years had passed after the last time I saw the crater, which was before moving to the UK. The stunning panoramic view from the top and the intensity of the volcano made me realise that Mt. Aso is amazing. My Spanish family seemed to want to continue walking around a bit more but as we were running late we headed back to the city centre.

つづく・・・

To be continued...

れ

R