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The awesome views at Daikanbo Peak.Learning to be a cowboy for a day!The handsome horses at the El Rancho Grande.Kumamoto Castle, one of themost impressive in Japan.To my surprise, our vehicle appeared to climb uphill in the neutralgear! Drivers of many vehicles around ours were also testing outthe phenomenon. If you were to be on the opposite side, yourvehicle would apparently be rolling backwards even though thedown slope was in front of you! Mysterious indeed.At nightfall, we arrived at Kumamoto City, a beautiful city knownfor its Kumamoto Castle. After returning our car at the rentalshop, we took a tram to our dinner place, which offered a fantasticview of Kumamoto Castle. Kumamoto Castle is a major landmarkof Kumamoto City, and is regarded as one of the most impressivecastles in Japan, together with the white-walled Hijemi Castleand the black-walled Matsumoto Castle. In addition, KumamotoCastle is considered a most impregnable fortress even until today.Its main defensive features include very high stone walls withwooden overhangs (originally designed as protection againstninjas), and a wide moat. There are many escape passagewayswithin the castle. At night, the castle is illuminated and the viewis breath-taking.DAY 3. We drove our cars to Kumamoto Port to take an expressferry to Shimabara Port en route to Nagasaki. We drove into theferry, parked and went onto the ferry deck to feed the seagulls! Itwas an exhilarating experience. You hold up the bread crumbs,and the nearest or fastest seagull would grab the crumbs withinthe next few seconds without hurting your fingers! I was hesitantof being bitten initially, but after seeing my fellow traveller usehis lips to hold the crumbs up and a seagull swooping in for thekill with nary an injury, my fear dissipated. The view of ShimabaraBay was fantastic. We reached the opposite shore in half an hour,and drove off the ferry.We drove up the mountain to Nita Pass (1,080m above sealevel), where we took a ropeway to the summit of Mt. Myoken.On a clear day, one can enjoy a commanding view of Shimabara4Peninsula and Bay. However, it was snowing that day and thesummit was fogged. At the Nita Pass, we could see the lava domeof Heisei Shinzan. It had been newly created in 1990 when Mt.Fugen erupted.Next stop was Unzen Hell. There were many pools of bubblingsprings dotted around the area, and the whole area was coveredwith white clay. The white clay is called ‘solfataric clay’. The clayhad been altered and decolourised by fumarolic gas, hot springheat and acidic water. The energy source is assumed to be themagma reservoir under the seabed of the Tachibana Bay. Thehighest temperature of the fumarolic gas, blown out with hissingnoises, can be 120°C. White and light yellow sinter deposits wereattached on the ground around the fumaroles. We bought hardboiledeggs cooked by the bubbling water and ate them with adash of salt. More delicious than usual!We drove on to Nagasaki. Nagasaki, capital of Nagasaki Prefectureand the fifth largest city in Kyushu, is an important port city withmore than four centuries of history. It prospered as Japan’s sole“window” to Western culture during its 300 years of nationalisolation. Nagasaki has thriving shipbuilding and fisheriesindustries and is especially noted for its marine products, suchas cultured pearls, tortoiseshell and coral works. To the world,it was also known the second city in Japan, after Hiroshima, toexperience an atomic explosion during the Second World War.We headed for the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and PeacePark. The Atomic Bomb Museum was built to show the world thehorror of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki and the need toeliminate all nuclear weapons. The Peace Statue in the Peace Parkwas constructed in 1955 by donations from all over the world,and is highly symbolic. The right hand pointing skyward warnsabout the threat of the atomic bomb. The left hand stretchingout horizontally symbolizes world peace. The gently-closed eyes