It is almost Christmas and as you can guess it is pretty cold outside with temperatures often dipping way under 0 degree Celsius. For today’s blog entry, I go back a few months in the past where the weather was warm enough and I found some pictures to introduce you to one of my favorite places in Aso, Sensuikyō. A place to enjoy azaleas every year in May and also one of the starting points to hiking to the Mount Takadake (1592 meters high).
Unfortunately, there is no public transportation to reach Sensuikyō. The closest train station is Miyaji station, situated more than one hour away by foot. Nothing impossible but if you can rent a car it is way more convenient as for so many places in Aso. There is a large free car parking lot once you reach Sensuikyō. In fact, there was a cable car running from there which was in activity until ten years ago.
This is from this car parking that you can start a short walk between beautiful azaleas (only in May). As you can see on the pictures, the view is great and that is why there is so many visitors during this period. There are also some Buddhist statues when you go up a little. From there the view that combines the statues, the flowers and the background scenery is one of my favorites in all Aso.
It has been almost six years that I live in Aso now and I never had the chance to hike to the highest point of Mount Aso from Sensuikyō. There have always been restrictions due to the roads damaged by the earthquakes or the volcanic activity. It is now possible since the reopening of the Nakadake crater, but I did not find the time yet… Maybe if I find the courage to brave the cold, I’ll try the ascension in the next few weeks. It seems that the climb is more difficult from Sensuikyō than from Sunasenri and the Nakadake. It is nonetheless a good alternative especially when volcanic gas restrictions are ongoing at the crater and preventing you to hike from Sunasenri. Note that a new path is under construction next to Sunasenri in order to make the climb possible from there even when there is gas restrictions.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and see you soon in Aso!
Franck.
