GW2024 D2 Kumamoto to Minami Aso

Route: Kumamoto - Jizo toge - Minami Aso 
Bicycle: 67 km
Total ascent: 1461 m
Average speed: 12.5 km/h
Riding time: 5:52 h
Weather: sunny and warm, but not too warm, 25 C

Today I crossed over from Kumamoto to the caldera (is it one?) around Mt Aso. I knew that the road with least elevation was going to be busy so I had planned for an alternative route, but surprisingly also that one was pretty busy. Luckily I got fed up of that traffic at the right moment, just when there was a turn to the right that lead to the starting point of yet another road over to minami Aso over a higher pass, but using a very scenic route that wasn’t so busy with cars, but beloved by motorcyclists. 

Midway through the climb I had seen on google maps a restaurant. It turned out that it was a huge attraction farm for which one needed to pay an entrance fee to get close to the cows, horses and sheep. And the food. I had no interest in the living animals and it seemed way too crowded to be able to eat in a restaurant in there, so I had on the parking lot an onigiri I had bought earlier at a conbini. 

But I did use the bathroom, water and vending machine to restock on fluids and cool myself down with abundant water. 

From there it continued uphill but never too steep with nice views. On the very top of the pass a cloud was lying in waiting. Same cloud that did engulf Mt. Aso. 

These grass lands seem to be typical of this region. 

In the distance some dark clouds but they never resulted in any real rain. Down , down and slightly up on the other side to my guest house for the next 4 days. With a very friendly host who has a Thai restaurant next door which seems to be one of the few places open after 17:00. 

Before dinner though I went to the closest onsen. A huge installation with (at least today) a lot of guests, but closed restaurant and closed rotenburo.