Road tripping

On Saturday morning my friends Yukino, Ai & Emi took me on a two-day trip to Mt. Aso, one of the biggest volcano caldera's in the world. The weekend was a perfect girls' outing: heaps of chatting, sing alongs to great music & some more questionable tunes (I won't mention names!) in Ai's car, multiple stops on the way to taste every local dish imaginable, a night in a gorgeous tatami room, silly photo sessions and a heavenly soak in an onsen. Aah, pure bliss :-), thanks girls!!

Ai's ultra cool mini-van "The Classic"

Scenery along the road to Mt. Kuju: traditional farmhouses like these with thatched roofs are very rare these days - definitely worthy of a photo

Our first ice cream of the weekend - certainly not the last!

Emi looking all 'French & sexy' while smoking ;-)

Yep, even after 2 years in Japan I still take photos of rice paddies!

Our giant hotel room with a view of a traditional garden

Who says the Japanese don't eat a lot? This meal with local specialties (including raw horse meat) kept expanding as waitresses served us more & more dishes!

Getting ready to take a post-dinner bath. Wearing a yukata seems to inspire people to take silly photos (see my January Hakone post)!

Rainy & foggy Aso countryside on Sunday morning

On our drive home along the Soba Gaido (roughly translated 'Noodle Route') we discovered this gorgeous soba restaurant set on a lush hillside. We immediately decided to have lunch there, but not before I had my picture taken with these Buddhist prayer statues - I just love them :-).

A piece of apple pie in an orchard cafe near Kurume was the perfect way to round off two fantastic days. So what if I gained a few kilos; it was worth it ;-)!