Smokin'

This is as close as you can get to the crater at Mount Aso at the moment. You can just see on the right, the road winding up to the top but it's closed. Just a couple of weeks ago the volcano dumped ash on Aso town. According to the staff in my hostel when this happens it's annoying for people in the town because everyone has to clean up and can't dry their laundry outside!

All the hiking trails up to the other peaks are also closed so I walked back down to Aso instead of taking the bus. The views were great. 13km down a pretty steep hill meant my knees and legs hurt by the time I got back so I went for a soak in the Onsen.

The extras are a zoomed in shot of the crater and a shot taken halfway down the mountain. If blip had the option to caption extras, this last one would be 'if Mount Aso erupts, get your bbq beef here'.