In the Aso Caldera

Mt. Aso is the largest volcano in Japan and the largest caldera in the world. So far, this may possibly be my favorite place I've visited in Japan. I was so impressed with this place. The area was so beauty, and to get as close to a volcano as we did was an experience I'll never forget.

I want to give you a little history info, so this is straight from Wikipedia, "The present Aso caldera formed as a result of four huge caldera eruptions occurring over a range of 90,000–300,000 years ago." The caldera itself contains the city of Aso. That's how big this caldera is!
In the distance you can see the steaming active crater. Wow, that was a lot of steam!

Here I am posing by the side of the road with the active crater in the background. Wow, it was really windy out there!
The park sign reminded me of being in the US. Lame I know.
We are trying not to be blown away by the wind.
I thought the landscape wouldn't be so pretty because it was winter, but it was even more beautiful. Everything was a beautiful golden wheat color. Markian seemed impressed too. I couldn't stop taking pictures.
Isn't it beautiful?
The small town of Aso is below.




Look at this small cone. It almost looks like a burial mound or something. There were lots of these around the area. We tried to go up to the steaming, active crater, but the wind was so bad that they had it on danger level red, which means you can't go up there because the gases are too toxic. As soon as I stepped out o the car in the parking lot I felt like I couldn't catch my breath and stop coughing. The sulphur smell was horribly strong. But don't worry, we did eventually get up there. Much more to come on Aso when we make our second attempt to visit the crater on Christmas Day.