Helicopter flight at Mount Aso - Japan at Cherry Blossom 2023 - 16
31.03.2023 - Helicopter flight at Mount Aso
Weather: overcast sky in Kumamoto, cloudy at Mount Aso
Walking distance: 7.5 km
The longer the trip continues the more relaxed the agenda. Today we meet at 9:45am to go by bus to Mount Aso [↗]. This is a huge volcano with a caldera of more than 25x19 km wide. It's an active volcano with the last eruption in 2016. Within this huge caldera are several villages and 5 other volcanoes, one of which is the active one.
The ropeway to the crater was destroyed during the earthquake 7 years ago and has not been rebuilt to this day. Due to the activity and the amount of escaping gas, access to the rim was restricted for several months. Only recently it was reopened, at least partially.
Already on our way to Matsumoto we were asked who is interested in a helicopter flight and most of the group signed up. They will only fly if the weather is good, but the forecast looks promising.
The drive takes almost 2 hours. We make a 20-minute stop at the info center to use the restrooms and get a first overview of the area. The next stop for those who want to fly is a parking lot with a kind of improvised hut. The rest of the group stays on the bus and goes to the former ropeway station.
The helicopter is quite small (a Robinson R44 [↗]), at least the smallest I flew in so far. It has three passenger seats, so everyone has a window seat, but there will only be two of us flying. I sit in the front, next to the pilot. The flight takes only 7 minutes, but unlike the flight in Hawaii for example we start right at the point of interest. There was no mention of the flight in Djoser's trip description, so it was a nice surprise to have this option. Everyone who gets off the helicopter has a smile on their face.
We are picked up by the bus that brings us now to the former ropeway station. From here we can hike to the rim. Only a small part of the rim can be visited, but at least you can look into the crater, even if you see mainly smoke. If you have more time though, you'll find many hiking opportunities over former lava fields a little bit further downhill.
We're back in Kumamoto around 4:30pm. As I've been at the castle and the city center yesterday and I’m not in the mood for a temple or garden, I go to my hotel room to backup and sort my pictures, write a bit on this travelogue, and watch YouTube videos in parallel.
I bought some sushi this morning that I had on the way back from Mount Aso, so I'm not super hungry and just go to the food court in the department store next to the station. For the second time I order just based on pictures or plastic models and for the second time I get something that looks like what I ordered but doesn't meet my expectations in terms of taste. But ok it wasn't expensive and I've learned my lesson.
After that, I go back to the hotel and continue with my homework.
