The Aso Volcano
The Aso Volcano Crater is an active volcano within a large caldera, and its access is controlled.
This was one of our primary destinations, and we were really looking forward to being here!
Blue light today! It can be a bit nerve-wracking to be so close to all these warnings...
Safety "bomb shelters" were available, in the event of flying rocks in an unexpected sudden eruption...
However... In an eruption, the ejected materials will be at a temperature of over 1,000 degrees C, and if there is a lot of material the shelter becomes a cooker...
The path along the edge of the crater provided good views!.
The surrounding ground water was being boiled off, making for a rather toxic hot tub!
The steam clouds seemed to be harmless, and there were no unpleasant odors.
This was a combination shelter and viewing platform!
Note the walkway's patchwork...
And the viewing platform damage...
Can you guess which side of the viewing platform faces the volcano? All the recent ejected material has caused damage everywhere, and scraped the black rock outer layer off the platform!
...next page.