6th - 8th May 2011 (Yakushima-hiking to see Japan oldest tree, Jomon Sugi)
6th May 2011. We boarded the ferry just in time before it left at 13:10. If we were not able to board that ferry, the next one would be almost 4pm and stopped at another port in Yakushima island. So, we were very lucky. However, the weather was bad. It rained. So, after we paid for the hiking guide, we checked into the hotel and stayed there. If the weather was good, we would go the traditional craft centre that produces souvenir made of cedar wood. For the dinner, we went to the izakaya next door, this was the first time I had flying fish. It tasted like 'ikan kembung'. This restaurant's chopsticks were very long, around 30cm, I had a difficult time holding food with it and kept dropping the food stuff on the table. Slept early to wake up at 4am on 7th May because the hiking guide would fetch us on 4.45am.
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| A 30cm long chopsticks |
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| Fried flying fish |
At 7th May, woke up at 4pm and prepared ourselves. Our breakfast's and lunch's bento (弁当) were prepared and left on the counter already. The hotel would prepare the bento upon request. 4.45am sharp, our guide showed up and drove us to a bus stop. Inside the van, there were another 2 sets of couples. After that, we went to the Arakawa Tozanguchi by bus. We reached at around 6am and after finished our breakfast. The hiking start. Firstly, the trail was old rail track used to transport cedar log. It was easy because it was flat. The view was great. After that, had to climb up the path, that was very hard. I almost couldn't breath. There were 2 bio-toilets along the track, the smell was so overwhelming, that it made me 'energized', before that I was quite sleepy. At around 11am, we stopped at a rest area for lunch before continuing the hike. We reached the 'JomonSugi' at around 12pm. Since there were a lot of people, everybody got only one chance to take photograph with that tree. The view of that tree was not awesome, in face, one could only see the tree trunk, we just tortured ourselves for hours to see the Japan oldest tree! Along the trail, the guide told us interesting tidbits about the forest. He showed us the cedar tree, 3rd-generation tree, the methods of logging, etc. The interesting fact is that young cedar tree would grow on the logged stud, so we got to see many small cedar tree on the top of the stud, our guide called it Baby Cedar Kindergarten. However, my Japanese was not very good, so I have to guess the meaning, but coupled with the information board, I think I could catch around 70% of what's the guide saying.
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| One of the attractions along the track |
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| The old rail track starting point |
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| the rail used to transport log |
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| I kept looking at the signboard to gauge how much longer I have to walk! |
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| The JomonSugi is too tall for my digicam, so I just took the sign board photo. |
After around half an hour around the JomonSugi, we proceeded to go back. The route uphill was tired, but the downhill was very painful for the leg. I slipped a few times. By around 5pm, we reached the bus stop. SO TIRING! After got on the bus, directly fall asleep and I think almost all the people slept due to tiredness. After reached hotel, we just have dinner in a restaurant nearby. Then, resting and sleeping. The next morning, 8th May, we went back to Kagoshima port by ferry. Then, we went to a restaurant to eat a famous chicken dish in Kagoshima called 奄美鸡饭, recommended by the brochure. It was very interesting, the chicken was boiled, then, the meat was separated and cut into small slices, and the water used to boil the chicken would be used as soup. It was very delicious! The restaurant had very beautiful bougainvilleas too. They used the flower to decorate the table.
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| Ferry that fetch us from Yakushima to Kagoshima |
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| the 奄美鸡饭 chicken rice |
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| The chicken rice (enlarge) |
After that, we went back home. Tee drove me and Jack back to Kumamoto first, and then to Nakatsu, his own place. The end for our golden week holiday. It was a very interesting and memorable trip after spending around 90k yen and coming home with an empty pocket! haha!
Day 2: Nagasaki One day trip & another half
Day 3: Sasebo & Yanagawa
Day 4: Kumamoto
Day 5: Half day in Sakurajima
Day 6: Kagoshima
Day 7: Miyazaki
Day 8: Kagoshima half day trip
Day 8 & 9 & 10: Yakushima Hiking
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