It’s an overwhelming decision to decide where to visit in Japan for a couple weeks. After consulting the extensive information on the web and number of conversations with chat bots, we settled on a mix of cities and rural areas. Specifically, this meant a few days in Tokyo and Kyoto with the rest on the island of Kyushu. This ended up being a good mix of adventuring and a blast of busy cities and culture.
We had planned to drive around Kyushu but failed spectacularly in reading the fine print regarding car rental. Who knew that international driver’s licenses were still a thing? We ended up narrowing our travels down to a few key areas in the north starting with Yufuin. This quaint town is welcome relief after the overwhelming crowds of the big cities. It also happens to be next to a giant volcano. It was a big day but we managed to hike from the door of our guesthouse right to the summit!
Volcanos definitely became a theme. Nearby was the Aso volcano complex, which itself is in a gigantic 100 square kilometre caldera.
We made our way on numerous trains, buses and boats to Nagasaki which ended up being our favourite city by far. Interesting history and fascinating landscapes. One day we took another bunch of buses and boats to a nearby abandoned island which was ripe for exploration.