Kavey

We were in Kyushu in Oct/Nov 2013.

We loved visiting the two hells we chose, but otherwise found Beppu quite an unattractive town. We also stopped into a large department store, called YouMe, as we needed to buy an inexpensive extra case for all my shopping, and our hotel receptionist suggested it - was the right place, we found what we needed.

We didn't stay overnight in Beppu but visited from Yufuin Onsen, but I'm not sure there's an easy way between them by train. Perhaps by local bus, I'm not sure. (We had the car).

Regarding Mount Aso, we did use the ropeway but it's such a short journey and the views aren't that amazing from it, that if I were planning a trip for someone else, and they had a rental car, I'd rather suggest driving to the top, there's a very small car toll fee of some kind but it's pretty low, certainly less than two people return tickets on the ropeway. The ropeway doesn't give you any amazing views into the crater, it really just saves you doing a 2 minute further drive up the last stretch of road!!!

Kurokawa Onsen wasn't as interesting to walk around as we expected, so if you can't find a ryokan with onsen that you really like, I'd consider skipping it for elsewhere. You might look at Yufuin as your onsen stop instead, as it's a nice little town to wander about, especially the end down by the little lake, some nice souvenir and food / drink places, at least.

For liked our drive to Takachiho Gorge, not just for the gorge itself but for the stunning views while driving around Kyushu. Likewise, we went to Usuki to see the stone Buddhas and we liked that, but the drives themselves are what I enjoyed the most.

Make sure your half day in Kumamoto gives you time to see the castle and perhaps you'd like Suizenji Park too. Here's my post on that: http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/02/sui...-kumamoto.html

mrwunrfl

Like Kavey, I didn't stay overnight in Beppu. Saw that it was worth a night, but not sure about two, given my travel style and attention span, and it was unattractive as Kavey wrote.

This link for Yufuin has a good map for N.Kyushu http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4750.html and shows Takachiho in the lower right off by itself due to no rail service (there is a bus to Takamori where it is a couple blocks walk between the bus stop and JR station; nice people in Takamori).

JR can get you from Beppu to Yufuin. From Yufuin there is a limited express train to Kurume connecting to the shinkansen to Kumamoto with travel time a bit over 2 hours. There are two good options in the afternoon from Yufuin to Kumamoto, shown as Route1 and Route3 on this timetable: http://tinyurl.com/lmetc9y

JC98

Wow, thank you all for the wealth of good advice you gave! I'll comb through them all to collect all the gems, and get back to you for any new questions! Thanks so much, and sorry about a bunch of blank lines in my previous post.

JC98

Kavey, the garden in Kumomato looks interesting. I'll add it to the itinerary.

mrw, thanks for the train info. OK, maybe 2 nights in Beppu is too much. I'll try to see if we can squeeze in Yufuin. Are the Buddhist sculptures carved in the mountain worth visiting? Do that vs Yufuin?

Thanks

Kavey

The Stone Buddhas are worth seeing, but they're a fair distance from the rest, so it really depends on whether it fits with your itinerary. For us, as I mentioned, the driving itself was such a pleasure, we really enjoyed heading there, though the site itself isn't huge and won't take a huge amount of time to explore.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4742.html

We went from Kurokawa Onsen after breakfast to Usuki in the morning. We pootled around there, had a cheap and tasty lunch in a canteen-style restaurant by the entrance and then pootled across to Yufuin where we checked in, explored the town a little, relaxed and had dinner.

The next day we explored the Beppu hells in the morning, (dropped in to the department store to buy the new suitcase) and headed back to Yufuin for the afternoon and evening again.

We deliberately gave ourselves a few hours each day in whichever onsen town we were overnighting in.

That said, if don't mind a longer day, you could do the Beppu Hells quickly in the morning (as long as you start early), then go to Usuki afterwards, get lunch on arrival and see the Buddhas after, and then head to your next overnight, somewhere around Aso, direction of Kumamoto.

Kavey

Actually, Usuki is only about an hour drive from Beppu, it's longer from Aso / Kurokawa though.

JC98

Hi,

Anyone know where to find the pdf files of a city or region on the Japan Guide website?

Thanks!

hawaiiantraveler

Actually its the JNTO site that has the better pdf's on cities and regions throughout Japan. The JG site is good but there are many other sites to use with information about Japan that are priceless.

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/pdf/travelguide.html

Aloha!

kalihiwai2

Here is a link to a article from Fukuoka Now about an Oita weekend getaway that includes Beppu.

http://fukuoka-now.com/areaguide/oita/

JC98

Cool, thanks, all, for the links! HT, whoa, so that's a treasure trove of pdf files!

Thanks!

Kavey

I've used the JNTO site (and also been in touch with their office in London for help / info) but never stumbled across that fantastic list of PDFs, thank you HT!!!!

kja

My all-time favorite guide book for Japan is New Japan Solo, which was (as I understand it) published in part by/through the JNTO. It is old and out-of-print ... and if I were going to Japan again, it would be the first thing I would consult!

hawaiiantraveler

Your welcome! Yes they add/update the pdf's every year.

Aloha!

JC98

Koyasan: I'm still not sure where to stay to get the best experience. I currently have a booking with Ekoin (cancellable). I picked it because it was recommended in all the guidebooks I looked at -- it's 1000+ years old, close to the cemetery, fire ritual every morning, meditation, sutra writing, and most of all it's supposed to have excellent Buddhist vegetarian food.

But now I check their website, and it shows there are 3 different dinner options (normal, medium, sumptuous), and my booking probably by default goes to the normal since it's close to the price quoted there. But that meal looks very sparse and simple. If I want to experience the full extent of temple cooking, not sure it's worth shelling out like another $80 more for it. I didn't know there was such variation in the meal. Thought the price difference was for different room sizes/views.

Is this typical of temple lodgings in Kyosan? Different dinner sets for different prices? Or I should check out a different temple altogether?
Thanks

kja

I can only tell you that I stayed at Shojoshinin, which offered excellent (Buddhist vegetarian) food. When I went, I don't believe I had any choice about the meal options.

(BTW, I've confirmed a temple stay at Haein-sa for my upcoming trip to South Korea -- thanks again for encouraging me to pursue that!)

Mara

I went to Koyasan in April 2009 and stayed at Muryoko-in. I enjoyed my stay there very much - I saw now on TA that it has mixed reviews. When I was there, don't know when kja went, but I didn't have any meal option either as far as I remember. Although now going on to their website they do have 3 dinner choices. I vaguely remember back when I was doing the research that all the temples charged the same price....but that was five years ago so it must have changed....

I stayed two nights as I traveled there from Miyajima which was a long trip and there is quite a bit to see there besides the famous cemetery. I enjoyed the early morning, very early, service and the fire ceremony. And I enjoyed the veggie food - even though I am not a vegetarian. ;-)

Have a great trip!

kja

"don't know when kja went... I vaguely remember back when I was doing the research that all the temples charged the same price..." -- I went in 2006. When I did my research, there were tremendous differences in the prices for temple stays (including meals) on Koyasan. I chose what was, for me, quite a splurge because so many places had inconsistent reviews and I wanted it to be a special night. But it looks like Eko-in is getting some great reviews and has some options that sound great. Maybe you can contact them to ask which meal comes with your reservation?

JC98

Thanks, kja and mara, for your responses. Like you, I thought all meals would be the same, and the price difference is due to the room size and view that you can get. But, it looks like now there are different tiers of meals for different prices. I checked another temple's website (Fukucchi-in) and it has about 5 different dinner sets you can choose from. So complicated.

I emailed Eko-in and they checked my reservation from booking.com and said booking.com gives a standard meal and I'd need to cancel that resrvation and book with them directly to get the upgraded dinner for 5000 yen more person. That's like another $100 USD more just for food. Hmmm, I need to think more about it.

kja, I think you'd enjoy Heinsa. Note that you don't get a private room like in Koyasan but a shared dorm room -- more like a big hall and you roll out your own futon from a stack in the room to sleep on. The floor was new blond wood, nicely heated when we were there. Plus, no one else was in the women's dorm, so DH snuck in there with me. Taboo! The men's dorm had 3 other guys at the time, and they were all snoring away when he got in, so he came next door to join me. In the morning, we had to check the surrounding to make sure no one saw him when he snuck out again.

Don't miss the open air library that contains the Buddhist sutra carved on 80,000 woodblocks from the 13th c. Amazing that the wood don't rot in the open air like that after so many centuries.

Mara

kja, interesting - I wonder where I got that idea from....strange things I remember...lol....

Anyway, JC98, glad that you could change your booking - I always try to book directly....however, since it is a vegetarian dinner I am wondering what an extra 5000 JPY could be...lol...are there photos?

JC98

Also, where to get lunch at Koyasan? Are there restaurants up there? We plan to get to Koyasan early from Osaka the day after we land, to have more time to visit the temples. Haven't done researched on which ones are must-sees. If you have recommendations, please share.

Thanks!