We proceeded on our day trip to Takachiho on the second day of our Kyushu trip, after checking out of Airport Hotel Kumamoto.
Since there was no hotel breakfast, the first order of the day was to look for coffee. After consulting Google Maps, we decided on the bakery Bread & Coffee BeTree, which was located not far away from us.
Breakfast from BeTree
It is a single-storey building in the middle of farmland with plenty of parking space.
We had to wait a while as it just opened for business and the bread were all freshly baked.
Garlic bread anyone?
We picked a few breads for the drive ahead.
Some of us also grabbed coffee as well.
On our way to Takachiho
There was a fair bit of construction en-route from Kumamoto to Takachiho. Do anyone know what the construction is for?
Nearing Takachiho, the surroundings became more lush. Takachiho is a small town in northwestern corner of Miyazaki prefecture, best known for Takachiho Gorge.. However, it’s actually closer to Kumamoto than to Miyazaki and it’s easier to access it from the former.
Hike to Takachiho Gorge
The GPS directed us to the carpark located at the start of the trailhead.
The map indicated the trail along Gokase River.
Here we go.
The trail follows Gokase River and there were many other tourists like us along it.
An elevated bridge in the horizon:-
Someone forgot his / her Korilakkuma:-
The trail wasn’t too long and we probably took around 30 minutes to reach the gorge with stops for photos along the way.
A more colourful map of the trail: –
And we found the spot to take the classic photograph of Takachiho Gorge and Manai waterfall.
View from the other side of the bridge: –
A large rock with the inscription of “Takachiho Gorge – famous attraction”
We thought that we deserved an ice-cream to cool ourselves down.
There was a trail down to the banks of the river and I was surprised to see such a long queue for paddle boats on a Monday. All of us agreed to give boating a miss.
There was an area where tourists leaving their heart-shaped wooden pendants filled with well-wishes:-
There was also an interesting shrine as well and I wasn’t sure what it was for exactly.
Lunch at Zipang
It was drizzly while we made our back to where our car was and the skies opened up just as we decided to have lunch at Zipang.
As usual, we depended on the reviews on Google Maps and the barbecued meats and tofu soup didn’t disappoint.
Kunimigaoka
The rain had stopped by the time we were done with lunch and we discovered the observatory of Kunimigaoka wasn’t too far away.
We were the only there when we arrived; apparent the best time to see the sea of clouds (unkai) was early morning. Well, we could still see the rolling hills of Kyushu in a distance.
There is also a Shinto shrine which I believed to be dedicated to local deities.
Afternoon tea in Takachiho
After the visit, we reckoned that it was time for afternoon tea. The town seemed to have a few cafes; we first went to Cafe Terrace Takachihoya, where we had some drinks and waffles.
Then we walked a few hundred metres down to get some Ohisama manju (dumplings), a Takachiho specialty. We tried both cheese and matcha flavours.
Interesting souvenir shop
By mid-afternoon, all of us agreed that we were done with the town. On our way back in the direction of Aso, we were attracted by a souvenir shop with interesting displays in its carpark.
For instance, a fake black horse at the foot of a waterfall.
A train locomotive on display; I wondered if it was from the disused Takachiho Railway line.
Colourful pallets made good pictures.
Guess these displays work in attracting customers, we did end up buying some souvenirs there.
Final Thoughts on Takachiho
Takachiho is a nice place with enough things to occupy visitors for a day. However, I may give it a miss if we didn’t have a rental car. Being in Miyazaki prefecture puts Takachiho in the South Kyushu zone for both rail and bus passes, necessitating extra costs if we were traveling by public transport.
