Golden Week - Yakushima
Getting to the Island and Unbelievable Kindness
The beginning of the boat ride to Yakushima was slow. The whole trip from Kagoshima to Yakushima (via Tanegashima - home of the Japan Space Center) took less than 2 hours, but it seemed like much longer before the banks of the mainland (including the large volcano that looms over the water) even disappeared from site.
The boat reminded me alot of the ferry we took to get to Koh Samui in Thailand, just a lot more quiet and very clean. I chose the upper deck and was assigned a seat near the window. A businessman in a black suit slept in the seat next to me while most people just the nature show on the large, flat screen television in front of us. I had hoped to go outside while we were in the harbour, but it wasn't allowed.
During the trip, large waves shook the other ships as I watched - without luck - for the famous flying fish of Yakushima to appear.
When we arrived on the island, the information desk was already closed. I had a hostel reservation for the second night at Miyanoura Portside, but nothing for the first, so I decided to stop by the same hostel to see if they had any cancellations for my first night. The place was just a short walk from the port, but I stopped on the way to ask directions from a woman out walking her dog, now knowing how lucky it would be that I had stopped to ask her.
It turned out the hostel, as well every other hostel and hotel in the area, was full. Actually, it was the case on most of the island (literally must have called at least 8 places in addition to the ones I went to... ippai ippai ippai!).
I put down my bag near the road, took out my books and maps and started to consider spending a night outside (trying to ignore Lonley Planet's warning about the snakes!) when the woman with the dog whom I had talked to earlier walked past.
I had 2 of the big maps spread out on a bench, along with the Lonely Planet and my cell phone out, so the lady stopped to see where I was going now, seeminly surprised I wasn't at the hostel she had directed me towards a good a hour or so before. In very broken Japanese (but Japanese!), I explained the situation and she walked with me to a local hotel. They were unsurpringly booked, too, but then the greatest thing happened.
We stood and talked for a long time (me, the woman and the hotel owners) trying to figure out where I should go (they didn't seem to think camping without a tent was as good of an idea as I did), and the owners mentioned they had a cabin in the moutains for rent. They warned me that it wasn't quite a hotel, but it did have a bed with a bathroom and shower and they could bring me there. The woman (with the dog) volunteered to pick me up the next day. Then they asked me questions about my plans, and when I told them I was climbing & hiking the next day and hadn't ordered a box lunch for the trip yet (gasp... not very Japanese of me!), they brought out pictures of different lunches and asked me what I wanted.
And that's how I ended up sharing a (really nice!) cabin with a bunch of BBQing scuba divers - in the mountains- on my first night on Yaku Island. I had to be up early the next day (no really, 3:30 am since the woman with the dog was picking me up at 4 so I could catch the first bus to the hiking trails!).
The beginning of the boat ride to Yakushima was slow. The whole trip from Kagoshima to Yakushima (via Tanegashima - home of the Japan Space Center) took less than 2 hours, but it seemed like much longer before the banks of the mainland (including the large volcano that looms over the water) even disappeared from site.
The boat reminded me alot of the ferry we took to get to Koh Samui in Thailand, just a lot more quiet and very clean. I chose the upper deck and was assigned a seat near the window. A businessman in a black suit slept in the seat next to me while most people just the nature show on the large, flat screen television in front of us. I had hoped to go outside while we were in the harbour, but it wasn't allowed.
During the trip, large waves shook the other ships as I watched - without luck - for the famous flying fish of Yakushima to appear.
When we arrived on the island, the information desk was already closed. I had a hostel reservation for the second night at Miyanoura Portside, but nothing for the first, so I decided to stop by the same hostel to see if they had any cancellations for my first night. The place was just a short walk from the port, but I stopped on the way to ask directions from a woman out walking her dog, now knowing how lucky it would be that I had stopped to ask her.
It turned out the hostel, as well every other hostel and hotel in the area, was full. Actually, it was the case on most of the island (literally must have called at least 8 places in addition to the ones I went to... ippai ippai ippai!).
I put down my bag near the road, took out my books and maps and started to consider spending a night outside (trying to ignore Lonley Planet's warning about the snakes!) when the woman with the dog whom I had talked to earlier walked past.
I had 2 of the big maps spread out on a bench, along with the Lonely Planet and my cell phone out, so the lady stopped to see where I was going now, seeminly surprised I wasn't at the hostel she had directed me towards a good a hour or so before. In very broken Japanese (but Japanese!), I explained the situation and she walked with me to a local hotel. They were unsurpringly booked, too, but then the greatest thing happened.
We stood and talked for a long time (me, the woman and the hotel owners) trying to figure out where I should go (they didn't seem to think camping without a tent was as good of an idea as I did), and the owners mentioned they had a cabin in the moutains for rent. They warned me that it wasn't quite a hotel, but it did have a bed with a bathroom and shower and they could bring me there. The woman (with the dog) volunteered to pick me up the next day. Then they asked me questions about my plans, and when I told them I was climbing & hiking the next day and hadn't ordered a box lunch for the trip yet (gasp... not very Japanese of me!), they brought out pictures of different lunches and asked me what I wanted.
And that's how I ended up sharing a (really nice!) cabin with a bunch of BBQing scuba divers - in the mountains- on my first night on Yaku Island. I had to be up early the next day (no really, 3:30 am since the woman with the dog was picking me up at 4 so I could catch the first bus to the hiking trails!).
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 2:06 AM
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