ropeway – FAQ Japan

I am woken at 4:47 am to an alarm coming from the direction of the ocean. I look out of the window,it is raining hard. I dart out of bed to check acomputer. No active tsunami warnings. I have a look outside, the alarm is constant, the rain is heavy, but everywhere else is quiet. No one rushing around. No lights on in houses. No one else in the hostel awake, it is mostly calmness.nI calm down from my initial panic and decide to take advantage of the onsen (hot spring)in the hostel; which opens 24 hours a day except during cleaning time. Thanks to the volcanic activity in Japan, there are lots of onsens all across the county.Onsen water is believed to have healing powers derived from its mineral content. I get out of the onsen and the alarms finally stop. I go for a nap.nnnnnIn the hostel lobby, I ask a few people what the sirens were all about this morning. Only one other person heard them. If it was a tsunami warning you would know about it. Those things go on for ages, he says. I tell him this morningssirens went on for at least an hour. He repeats, Nah, if it was a tsunami warning you would know about it. Not very helpful at all.nMy original plan for today was atwo-hour bus trip to the top of Mount Aso; Japans most active volcano. It turns out though that due to heavy fog, the gate is closed, and I wouldnt have been able to ascend the crater. I decide to skip the volcano and head to Beppu Station. Outside the station, there is even an onsen for hands. Beppu is part ofita Prefecture. Today I take a train to ita, the capital of thePrefecture.nn280 later and I get off thetrain and go inside anindoor shopping arcade to shelter from the rain. Thishuge arcade is packed full of people. There are so many restaurants, so much choice. Usually, I spend a long time wandering around trying to find a decent lookingrestaurant, but here there are plenty I would eat at.I wander downSmile Smile Street, with its restaurants sandwiched between wedding boutiques and pachinko parlours. There is also a random boat in the middle of Smile Smile Street.nAs I wander back through the arcade in search of breakfast, I am drawn to a restaurant called Vegetbar. It is not that therestaurant is vegetarian that draws me to it, but the incredible menu. I have developed something of a sweet tooth since arriving in Japan, yesterday I discovered that supermarkets sell strawberry and cream sandwiches. Inotice a big sign in the window of Vegetbar that says, PancakesMeet Vegetables. I go inside and order them not really knowing what toexpect.nnWaiting for my food, if the anticipation doesntkill me then the food just might. A plate comes out and I like what I see. Vegetables have been blended up and added to the pancake mix. The green one was my favourite. Served withthe pancakes areraspberry sorbet, whipped cream, and a pile of fresh fruit. After I while Iforget that Iam eating vegetable pancakes. Meal and a drink,1280.nAs I head out of the arcade, I watch a Japanese woman running to give another woman her change. In Japan, it is customary not to leave a tip. The service is almost always exceptional; the service cost included in the price. Boarding the train, I realise that today is the first time since Sunday that I havereally seen lots of people in one place. I also notice how good my skin feels; the healing power of onsen having the promised effect.nnBack at Beppu, the rain has stopped.Idecide to see what theindoor shopping arcade here looks like during the peak lunchtime rush. As you can see in the photograph above, the arcade is full of closed shutter doors and an absence ofpeople. The most interesting thing about the Beppuindoor shopping arcade is probably the Boss Coffee vending machine at the entrance.Theboss of them allsince 1992.nI head back to Beppu Station and hop on a bus bound forKintetsu Beppu Ropeway. The Ropeway starts at503 meters above sea level and is a cable car that takes you to the top of MountTsurumi, 1300 meters highwith excellent views. On a clear day, you can see Shikoku, the smallest of Japans four main islands. The bus twists and turns as it climbs up the mountain and eventually arrives at the Ropeway some twenty minutes later.nnClosed. The driver of the bus apologises and tells me where to standfor the return bus. I try to pay him the420 for the fare but he refuses to take anymoney. Even the bus drivers are nice in Japan. I have to wait 25minutesfor a bus back to Beppu. The vending machine outside the closed Ropeway sells Boss Ice Creamy Latte in a big can for 130. Every cloud. Speaking of clouds, it starts torain again.nWhile I sit in the rain waitingfor my bus, thecafacross the road isblaring out Japanese pop music. A few cars drive up to the entrance of the Ropeway, the passengers peek at the closed sign before turning around and leaving. A wasted journey if not for the view. I take a bus back down the mountain and take in the beautiful scenery.nnAt the hostel I am surprised to see that working on thereception desk is my old friend Yojiro; a Japanese guy I met a few times in Tokyo. He arrived back herelate yesterday evening and ishaving a party tonight at the Hot Bepper bar. I still havent been to thisbar yet; it only opens on Friday and Saturday nights. He gives me a token for one free drink.I think about boiled eggs and wonder how real this free drink will actually be.nI eat supermarket bought prawn tempura for dinner.Prawn on the Fourth of July. Brilliant.It gets to 6 pm andfeeling that Ive alreadydone enough on what has been a very long day,I now have to get ready for a party.nRead the next part of my Journey in Japan, where I decide to visit a monkey park by clicking here.