around the city is quite easy because an efficient tram system. After a quick breakfast I hopped aboard the tram and it took me south. After losing my way for a bit in the foothills of the mountains I found my way to Oura Catholic Church. It is a lovely little church with some excellent stain-glass windows in the front. It probably could not hold more than 50 people but in a country where organized religion is not very prominent it should be sufficient. This church was established in 1864 and dedicated to the 26 martyrs of 1597.The next stop along the way was Hollander Slope. It is where all the foreign people lived back when Nagasaki was a bustling port town in the 14th century. It is interesting that during this time there was a great deal of Dutch people but any European at that time was called Dutch
regardless of where they were from. It was not much more than a big hill with stone slabs for the street instead of asphalt. A big attraction on the slope are a couple Dutch style wooden houses. They describe them as Western style houses and they looked pretty normal to me... I guess it's because I am a Westerner. I guess the name fits.The last stop in Nagasaki was on the way back to hostel...Spectacles Bridge. It is the oldest stone bridge in Japan, built in 1634. It is a very pretty sight the way the reflection mirrors that of bridges arches...creating a pair of spectacles.
After two and a half hours on the train I arrive at Aso station. It is a very small town, probably no more than 5,000 people and it is pitch black out. No one really speaks English and all I have to go by is a map that the woman in the previous hostel gave me. So I begin to walk up a steep slope...hoping I am going in the right direction. Well, after 25 minutes of walking on a desolate road with hardly any street lights I find the Mt. Aso Youth Hostel run by a little old lady who does not speak any English. I get checked in and make my bed and find out that I must walk back down the hill to get dinner, noodle cup from the convenience store...yummy. I take a nice long shower and get ready for the next days adventure, Mt. Aso.
Getting up to Mt. Aso I take a 30 minute bus ride up the mountain. I took the first available bus 
at 9 A.M. and the fog is absolutely horrific, I was glad someone who knew where the road went was driving. When the bus reached the tram station I thought I was not going to get to see this great volcanic mountain. I waited around and the fog lifted enough to get the rope way running again. At the summit, I learn that Mt. Aso has the largest crater rim
of any volcano in the world, 4 square kilometers. I would have walked it but the majority of it was closed due to high winds and dense fog. I fought off the numbness in my face and hiked down the path to the bottom station. This part of Japan felt a lot like being in New Zealand, very spread out rolling hills and high mountains with hardly any buildings in sight...very beautiful.
That is enough writing for now, one more day soaking in the onsens of Beppu and then up to Shimonoseki.
