After a brief stop in Kagoshima, we took the ferry down to Yakushima island. Taking the ferry is a much nicer way to travel if you have the time (and we do to be honest). Stopping at Miyanoura, one of the main ports on Yakushima, we noticed that there are no other foreigners here. This is place where the Japanese go on holiday...
View from the ferry. With extra sea-gull.
Yakushima is a very remote island. They are heavily influenced by Korea (as is most of Kyushu) due to its geography. Because of that, they are more welcoming to outsiders, unlike the rest of Japan that still has a certain level of 'gaijin paranoia' (remember they went through a long period of self imposed isolation until not too long ago, and because of that its one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the world.) Also they are a little darker, due to being nearer the equator and people working outdoors, which makes me slightly less unusual than in rural Honshu. Having said that, a large number of people are actually tourists from Honshu anyway.
Starting in Miyanoura, we hired a tent and went straight to Nagata. Quick geography lesson: the island is roughly circular, all the campsites are located on the coasts. The centre of the island is filled with primeval forest, which makes for interesting trekking. It was the inspiration for the Ghibli movie 'Princess Mononoke', and contains some of the oldest cedar trees in the world. It also contains monkeys and deer in abundance, which have almost no fear of humans.
Nagata campsite was a little disappointing. You feel like you are camping in some womans back garden. This is because you are actually camping in some womans back garden. Her house is right in front of you and you have all her clutter lying around. On the upside, they have a nice beach nearby. The tides were a little strong for swimming, but it was great nonetheless.
Nagata beach
It was that night that we realised something. One important thing to remember if anyone is planning to visit Yakushima - there are no international ATMs except in Miyanoura. Therefore, you can't withdraw money unless you have a Japanese bank account. We counted how much we had with us, and realised that we are only going to make it back to Miyanoura if we eat bread and hitchhike.
So that's what we did. We made it from Nagata to Isso (which had free camping) hitchhiking with a pair of kind (and slightly camp) Japanese tourists, who then insisted on doing a crazy photo session. Isso campsite was an experience. Here you basically camp somewhere on a hill. There are toilets (worst squat toilet I've seen in Japan by the way, but it sufficed) and thats about it. However, you get a view of the sun rising and the sun setting from your tent. Also there are almost no other campers and a lot of wildlife very close to you. Its a bit of an uphill climb to get there, but it was worth it.
Emmie and the guys who gave us a lift.
Sunset and sunrise from Isso
Running low on water, we made a little trip to the small Isso port town, where the locals told us the shops were closed. Really thirsty now, with no water in the middle of the afternoon, we asked some old guy with our most pitiful voices if there anywhere to buy water. Taking one look at us, he actually invited us to his house and gave us two bottles of water and two bottles of green tea. Yakushima people are the nicest in Japan.
We then made it to Isso beach where the swimming was a lot easier and much needed after the midday heat. Going back to the campsite, we spent the night listening to monkeys and deer surrounding out tent. Hilarious when I get up in the night to take a pee and see them suddenly scream and run into the bushes. A lot of the time you will see them just crossing the road in front of you, minding their own business.
Monkeys, hanging out.
The next day we got to Miyanoura where we solved our cashflow issues. Having eaten a serious good meal we took a bus down to Anbo, from where you can access the hiking trails. Anbo campsite was a slightly more expensive site with better facilities and more people. We met a group of Japanese and Canadian tourists with whom we could have a drunken sing-a-long by the beach. One of the Japanese guys, called 'Rice' was very much into listening to CCR and drinking whiskey. I told him he should go to Shillong.
Monkeys, hanging out, part 2.
The moment was only slightly spoiled when a giant poisonous centipede started crawling up the back of one of the Canadians. When he got rid of it it decided to hide in the bushes right behind me. I would have minded more if I wasn't a little drunk.
They had a car with them and were kind enough to give us a lift to the forest trails. This was a nice walk, quite easy, in the primeval forests. Quite high up as well, so the air was amazing. Some good photos were taken. Having been getting all Shinto this month, we have a heightened nature appreciation I think.
The primeval forest
Behind the boulder, on the left...
Leaving Anbo, we got a lift with our friends down to Kurio, where they were going diving before they left the island. We stayed over another night however, and manage to see a few more monkeys, including one male who, after I pitched the tent, decided to run across the campsite rolling his shoulders before turning around to stare at me in challenge. Not knowing what to do, I considered peeing around the tent, but it would have upset the other campers. Then I thought about shouting and banging my fists on my chests but again the other campers wouldn't have appreciated it. Instead, I just stared him at him until he got bored and left.
Kurio beach was nice, if a little bit too full of stone and coral. It was a nice place to get creative with shells. This is the kind of thing you do when you have been on holiday for 4 months (yes I know, please don't kill me). In Kurio we went to one of the nicest Soba restaurants we have ever been to in one of the villages, where I decided that cold Soba tea is the perfect thirst quenching drink in the world.
Back to Miyanoura we took the ferry back with some sadness and stopped over at Fukuoka briefly before returning to Tokyo. There we spent the last four days just chilling out, eating good food (including some fine okonomiyake, a kind of japanese omelette that you cook yourself on a hot plate. To some it might seem strange to go to a restaurant to cook your own food... to them I say try it and see), and we visited the famous Tokyo fish market. Also we did some mad karaoke (3 hours of singing...). Fortunately for the locals, it was a private booth so no one could hear us. Also I managed to pick up a second hand 18-200mm Nikkor lens for our camera so we can get a decent zoom and wide angle for those Himalayan panoramas to come.
Our okonomiyake neighbours. Also you will notice his drink which is an ice tea sake. Mmmm.
And then we went back to the airport (Tokyo airport is by the way the best airport I've ever seen, everyone from security to customs is very polite, and it is spotless and incredibly quick to navigate.) Goodbye Japan.
Hong Kong and arriving in Nepal
We stopped over in Hong Kong for 2 days. This was more a moment to reflect and eat proper pizza (which you can't get in Japan). We were staying in a guest house in a high rise building in Kowloon which is quite central. The guesthouse itself was quite clean, but you notice on the way up to the 14th floor that you pass a floor that smells of piss and another where the hookers are hanging out (I know that some of you guys, who shall remain nameless, will say thats a good thing. It really isn't.) Outside the building it was usual big city madness, same as London, but a little louder and a lot of Indian touts trying to sell me a custom tailored suit.
Hong Kong. Yes we all know its Chinese but the photo looked cool anyway.
And that brings us to Nepal. We are staying in Thamel in Kathmandu, quite a tourist area but the facilities are good and its a good place to find your feet after you arrived. We met with a Nepalese friend of AT briefly and went walking around Durbar square and some of the smaller streets, getting used to dodging the cars, people and rickshaws. Soon we will embark on the big Tibet trip. More later I guess...
Man carries instrument. Durbar square, Kathmandu.
Sri
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