A major plus to living and working in Japan is having extra holidays such as Golden Week! I love the name! It's a string of
Japanese holidays. Basically, the entire country is on holiday so it's not a good time for foreigners to come visit. It's also like having a second Spring Break! Pretty awesome, if you ask me!
Golden Week was April 29-May 5, so yes, I'm a bit behind, as usual! Our friends Dayle and Maureen joined us on a trip down south to Kagoshima, Yakushima, Ibusuki, and Sakura-jima. Tim and I left on the evening of April 28 to head to Kagoshima via train and Dayle/Mo joined us in Yakushima the following evening. We wanted to get the first part of the trip over with since it was kind of a long haul to get to Yakushima. We enjoyed a Korean dinner and slept at the cheap, somewhat comfortable Toyoko Inn.
Travel in the evening and Day 1
In the first map below, you can see Fukuoka (where we live, directly north of Kagoshima at the top of the island) and Kagoshima.
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We woke up early to catch the Toppy jetfoil (fast ferry) that took about 2 hours to get us to Yakushima. As you can see,
Yakushima is an island south of Kagoshima. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I should mention that it rains most of the year in Yakushima but somehow we had blue skies and low-mid 70s the whole time we there!!!
After arriving in Yakushima, Tim and I grabbed a bite to eat and chilled while waiting around for the bus, that only comes every now and then. It was a very interesting bus ride since we had way too much luggage, as usual, and the bus didn't have much room for the luggage. There were also far more stops than listed. It was also the only mode of transportation for students to get to and from school. Luckily, some of them spoke English and were able to help us know where to get off.
When we finally got off 45 minutes later, we were in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully, the sign for our hostel (yes, I said hostel!) was right at the bus stop. Most of you know that I am NOT a hostel girl! However, I agreed to this one because I knew it would be clean since it's in Japan and it was made of cedar. It was the nicest hostel (of 2) I've ever stayed in! Felt like what summer camp would feel like since I was never brave enough to leave home for camp! But, yes, I am brave enough to live half way across the world from family and friends! And, I LOVE it! Maybe Mom and Dad should have forced me into going to summer camp! I probably would have loved it!
We checked in and then enjoyed the peace and quiet while enjoying a nap. After our nap, we took a walk to explore the area around our hostel. Such beautiful scenery!
We also explored the main road, looking for a 7-11 type store. We managed to find a tiny store but it did have breakfast type food so we were happy!
When we got back from our explorations, Dayle and Mo were there to greet us and then we enjoyed a Bento box with delicious sashimi for dinner before heading to bed. Not such a great night of sleep since it seemed the elephants were storming the hall beginning at 3am getting ready for their hiking! Serious hikers indeed!
Day 2: Wildlife West Coast Drive (There is only one road that goes around the island!)
What a fun day! We rented a tiny car from the hostel and drove through the wildlife area. Buses are too big to get through this area. Tim had a great time driving on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road. I even tried! It was fun to be behind the wheel of a car again even if I did turn the windshield wipers on numerous times instead of the turn signal.
First stop: Otonataki Waterfalls...GORGEOUS!
We enjoyed seeing LOTS of monkeys and deer in their natural environment as we drove along the beautiful coast!
Second stop: Lighthouse
Third Stop...Emergency Stop: We stopped for lunch! I think it was the only restaurant for miles and miles. Good thing we found it because our driver (Tim-san) was Mr. Grumpy Pants!
After lunch, we headed to the the Sea Turtle Museum (one room) to find out about sea turtles on Yakushima. It was all in Japanese so we didn't learn much! We walked and relaxed on the Sea Turtle beach for a while afterwards. Too bad we were one month too early to sea any eggs or sea turtles. Bummer!
Last stops of the day: Some little park (with beautiful flowers and a tree house for Tim) and a coral beach with tidal pools.
We got into a bit of a traffic jam on the way back to the hostel!
And then, dinner and a little R&R!
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Day 3: Yaku-sugi Land and Hirauchi Seaside Onsen
We spent our last day in Yakushima hiking in Yaku-sugi Land. We opted for the longest hike which was supposed to be a 2.5 hour hike. Of course it took us longer because we had to stop for photos and to enjoy the scenery! Japanese hiking is hilarious! For much of the hike, the path was very well groomed. It wasn't until the latter part where it actually started to look like hiking. We saw plenty of huge cedar trees, many were thousands of years old, went over suspension bridges, and saw streams and waterfalls. We're glad we chose the longest hike because it was just challenging enough and we got to see more!
After hiking we drove to Hirauchi Onsen (You'll have to scroll down in the link to where it talks about Hirauchi Onsen). There are only a few hours a day when you can enjoy the onsen (natural hot springs) because it gets covered up when the tide comes in. Tim and I were the brave souls who went bathing. Mo was brave enough to sit in the foot bath with all of the naked men and woman (me!) around her. Dayle relaxed up closer to shore and enjoyed the scenery. Besides stripping down in front of a bunch of men, it was truly relaxing and we had amazing views of the sea! So nice on the weary bodies from hiking! Definitely glad we went!
Dinner, hanging out with new friends, looking through records with the owner, and a good night's sleep followed a great day!
We highly recommend Yakushima!!!
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