Kyushu Special 1: Aso Mountains 阿蘇山

During the 21st Oct, scholars from the same organization and I went for a 4 days 3 night study trip to Kyushu to learn more about the Japanese culture, history and customs, as well as to interact with the local Japanese. Our first stop was the Aso mountains located at the heart of Kumamoto.
 10月21日，我和其他獎學金學生一起去了一趟4天3夜的九州研修。目的是為了對日本的文化，歷史和生活有更深一層的認識，並且于當地的日本人交流。我們的第一站就是位於熊本縣中央的阿蘇山。

Aso mountains is filled with man-made grasslands, wide-spread through human intervention of burning and clearing the lands for cow grazing. It was a nice change to walk around open space unlike the crowded streets of Tokyo. Though feeling relaxed, there is not much scenery to look at during that time.
人工草原遍佈了整座阿蘇山，這些都是通過人為燃燒出來的，為了就是能放牛。 在廣闊的草原中漫步和在東京的擁擠街頭是截然不同的新鮮感覺。雖然心情很放鬆，不過那時沒什麼好風景欣賞。

Alternatively you can also pay a modest fee to ride on its muscular horses to enjoy the misty landscape.
另外，你也可以付一點小錢騎他們的壯馬來享受瀰漫的草原。

Through our study reports and presentations, I got to know that these grasslands are currently now in danger of being abandoned due to increasing import of cheaper overseas beef and an aging cow-rearing community. With intense price competition and younger people not wanting to inherit the tedious farming practice, we're not sure how long can the Aso grasslands be maintained.
通過我們的學習報告和發表會，得知這些草原正面臨被遺棄的危機。這是因為外國牛肉比當地牛肉更便宜，驅使外國牛肉進口日益增加。加上年輕一輩都不想繼承這吃力的農作，所以不知阿蘇草原能維持多久。

Aso mountains is also an active volcano, one of the few in the world which is open to public to let us gaze upon its crater. You can reach the top via a ropeway and smell the sulphuric air while waiting for your turn. The sulphuric air caused slight discomfort in my throat and I had to cover my nose with tissue paper. Unfortunately due to the bad weather, we could not enter into the caldera zone but only loiter at its outskirts, taking photographs of its barren land and feeling utterly disappointed.
阿蘇山也是世界少數讓民眾上去參觀火山口的一座活火山。通過索道可以達到山頂，等待時也可以聞到硫磺味。硫磺的空氣導致我的喉嚨少許不適，得用紙巾遮住鼻子。很可惜的，因為天氣欠佳，所以無法參觀火山口，只能在周圍失望地照相。

The greatest enjoyment of the day besides strolling in the grasslands was food. This restaurant which served us lunch had a great selection of home-grown specialties such as Aso beef, vegetables and other traditional Japanese dishes.

除了在草原漫步以外，這天最享受的應該就是吃的了！這家餐廳提供了非常美味的土產佳餚。其中包括了阿蘇牛肉，蔬菜和其它傳統小菜。

PS: Not sure if I jinxed the weather because I jinx holidays every single time XD

Of course, I chose its renowned homegrown Aso beef set meal! (the cost was borne by the scholarship! :D)
我當然點了出名的土產阿蘇牛肉套餐！（而且費用都是集團付的:D)

Just look at this pretty beef! It's said that eating 100g of Aso beef will help to sustain 7.5 square meters of grasslands! Support the farmers!
看看這幾片漂亮的牛肉吧！據說100克阿蘇牛肉會幫忙維持7.5平方米的草原！支持當地農家！

On the hot plate, yum~yum!!!!!
在鐵板上燒烤，美味!!!

 After having our fill, we then realized that they had a wide selection of traditional Japanese okazu (side dish). I tried a bit of each and found a few of them to be quite nice. Needless to say I didn't finish them all because the taste was too strange.
吃飽之後，發現原來他們有多樣的傳統日本小菜(okazu)。所以我每樣都拿一點來試試，有些還味道不錯。可是因為有些味道怪怪的，所以沒有全部吃完。

Overall Impression of Aso Mountains 阿蘇山的印象
Aso mountains is a great place for nature sight seeing if the weather is good. Activities such as crater viewing, horse riding, flower appreciation, hot air balloon, etc. will be more enjoyable under clear skies. Besides sight-seeing, festivals, hot springs and traditional arts, the food is really good as well :P
假如天氣好的話，阿蘇山是一個享受大自然美景的好地方。活動如火山口觀光，騎馬，賞花，坐熱氣球等，在晴天的天下進行會比較好玩。除了觀光以外，祭典，溫泉，傳統藝術體驗和美味的美食也是很不錯的優點 :P

Visit the Aso City Tourism guide for more details (Japanese only):
阿蘇市的觀光官方網頁 (日語）：
http://www.asocity-kanko.jp/

Next: Lodging for the night...

接著：晚上的住宿...