Driving with Ms Higashi

Haruko let us loose this morning, to make our OWN way on the local bus service to meet her at Hita, a reasonable size town, about an hour and a half SE of Fukuoka. Luckily she set us up well, with strict instructions about platform numbers, tickets, times etc so we had no trouble making it. (In our defence Kyushu is not popular yet with Western tourists so no provision is made for non Japanese speakers (I know we are too spoiled every where else in the world)).

Haruko wanted to show us around some small mountain villages surrounding Hita today - in her cute little Japanese mini car.

First stop was the famous Onta village, home of rustic style hand made pottery decorated with geometric designs scratched into the clay. The English potter Bernard Leach spent quite some time here early last century, learning the skills of these traditional Japanese village potters.

 This village wouldn't have changed much over the past 300 years ......

We were fascinated by the way that water from the river is used to "drive" these "hammers" bashing the lumps of dry clay into powder. The water gurgling and the constant knocking of the big beams of timber is the soundtrack of the village.

 The village was full of these kilns - in various sizes.

 We stopped for a coffee at the village's only cafe. We sat outside because all the potters were inside smoking their heads off over their morning coffee and daily gossip.

 But the coffee, served in the local product, was very good!

 With all those kilns firing away the village certainly needs its beautiful fire bell.

 Next stop was the much larger village of Mameda Machi where Haruko had more treats in store.

 Another restaurant for us to try - but this time a simple local's place run by a mother and son team - and very well known in the region for the quality of their stir fried soba noodles (Haruko says the quality of the water makes all the difference in making noodles in this region!).

 These are like the pics I took yesterday waiting for our own private dining room at the Tofu restaurant in Fukuoka - except the ambiance is completely different!

 But our Yaki Soba lunch was truly beautiful. Chewy textured, smoky flavoured handmade soba noodles, crunchy bean sprouts, smoky chicken and lots of pickled ginger... and not salty or oily at all.

 We strolled around the village after  ......

 ... until Haruko led me to her favourite little designer fashion shop in the back streets ...... where we enjoyed a good session of shopping, trying things on and buying a few things too. We had a very warm relationship with Co Ma Me (co owner designer and maker) by the end of it all.

 What a fun experience - and another sign of the way Haruko and me are similar in our tastes!

 We even agreed to Haruko's request to pose for a cheesy photo for her! She deserves that at least!

 Haruko dropped us back at Hita in time for us to catch the train (by ourselves!!) a bit before 4pm to take us to our overnight ryokan stay in Yufuin, an hour or so east of Hita on the express train. We passed through some beautiful mountain landscapes, huge pine and bamboo forests, deep valleys and rocky river gorges on our way to Yufuin.

 ..and this spectacular waterfall ....

 Amazingly, we found our way to our beautiful Hinoharu Ryokan without too much trouble, and were immediately entranced by the exoticism (to us) of the experience. We were greeted with a cup of tea (of course) in our room.

 We dressed in our Yukatas and prepared for our first onsen experience ......

 a private onsen experience for us ... not a public one ..... we're still learning ....

 Well - 40 minutes later - and we're converts - not sure how hot that water was (directly from the mountain thermal springs) but you couldn't stand it too long before having to sit out for a while partly submerged to regain your composure - but what a wonderful feeling after - heaven!!!

Totally relaxed, we then had dinner.... another multiple course exquisite meal ...... and served to us in our room ......to keep the serenity intact!

First course .......(silken tofu and mushrooms and veggies in a broth) ....

 Second course - sashimi - how exquisite is that!

 Third or fourth course: "river fish" and tempura side dish ...

 This beautiful girl waited on us continuously throughout this amazing meal so graciously - on her knees!

 Second last course (after hot pots and noodles etc) - beef so rich and tender it tasted like smoky butter!

........ and after dessert, then to bed. We wouldn't have missed this experience for anything, although i am not sure how hard that tatami mat will be!!