GW2024 D5 Full circle of Mt. Aso

Route: full circle of Mt Aso
Bicycle: 70 km
Total ascent: 946 m
Average speed: 14.2 km/h
Riding time: 4:57 h
Weather: quite windy, cloudy, 20C

For today my plan was to do a full circle of Mt Aso. There are different ways how to go about it, I took the easiest. 

The day started with a fountain, that gushes out 60 tons of water every hour. If I calculated correctly that’s 1 m3 every minute. And this is only one of the many fountains around here. Not really sure why, but it seems that at the foot of this volcano there are a lot of water fountains in addition to all the hot water fountains. 

My next stop was a strategic stop at a conbini which here are few and far between to stock up on onigiri in case I don’t find a place to have lunch. And then onwards through this very rural landscape that in many places reminds me of Bavaria. Without the riches though. This area here is clearly depopulating and although there is great tourist potential it isn’t enough to keep the place afloat. The other day there was a study published saying that more than 40% (!) of Japanese municipalities will disappear. The ones here seem to be on a straight road to that unfortunate end. 

My third stop of the day was at a shrine that was recommended and has a name impossible to remember: Kamishikimi Kumanooza shrine. A long staircase, even longer than its name leads up to the shrine …

… and then further up to this hole in the mountains ridge. 

From here it was another 6 km or so to the highest point of the ride today.  Unfortunately though the ride down wasn’t very enjoyable due to the strong winds. But the landscape is really nice. 

In Aso I went to visit the famous shrine, which to me looked like any of the bigger shrines in Japan. This one was heavily damaged by the 2016 earthquake and they just completed reconstruction of the big gate. 

From here it was a long ride through the valley battling against the wind. 

My Minshuku owner had warmly recommended a visit to the earthquake disaster museum. The museum was closed today, but one can enter freely the area and see the old Tokai university that was sitting right on top of one major fault line that burst open. 

The day ended with yet another fountain, very close to my Minshuku.