They say that in the beginning of time when the gods were creating the earth, a god cried five tears which became the five islands of Japan. I think that god must have really felt for that last southern tear of Yakushima. I recently visited the island and I know that its creation, via tear, god, volcano or other, was certainly inspired. It was so beautiful. We had a three day weekend, and a very nice, generous friend invited me on a journey to the southern reaches of Japanese civilization. I didn't know what to expect, but I certainly got way more than I expected! We left my apartment at 6am and drove 2 hours to the southern tip of the mainland, Kagoshima. There we met another member of our party and departed on the ferry for Yakushima. The ferry took two hours and we arrived to find beautiful sunny, breezy, island-y weather. It was so refreshing to walk up and down cobblestone sidewalks, chatting in Japanese with new acquaintances, and taking everything in. After some tea and brunch at a cafe, we departed for our hotel by taxi and arrived to find a charming flower garden, accompanied by a charming gardener who happened to be the owner of this charming hotel as well. (By the way, while we were in Yakushima, we ate at our hotel too. Everything was homemade and delicious and there were ten dishes to every meal. We were so incredibly full!) We got checked in and after a few moments, left again for our first adventure: kayaking. It was such a great time! I'd never experienced kayaking before, but I really enjoyed it and found it was a lot like canoeing. Same basic principles, only with more conveniently engineered "oars". We floated (well, my partner and I had a little trouble and we zigzagged instead...) down a river gently carved between extraordinary green giants. My favorite parts included a giant red bridge we floated under, trickling waterfalls, getting caught in the rain and the occasional monkey chattering. On our return trip, we stopped for snorkeling while our guide made trail cakes with honey and hot tea. MMmmm. Our second day in Yakushima was SUCH a challenge, but I will remember it for as long as I live! It is truly one of the things that made the trip special for me. As you recall, our first day started at 6am and was full of activity and we were all a little tired. Well, our SECOND day started at 3am and I've never had a day so chock full of exercise. We were greeted by our guide for the day at 4am, we picked up two more members of our hiking party (from Tokyo), then chugged our way up the mountainside in a gas guzzling van. We arrived around 4:30 and ate breakfast amongst thousands of stars. We were some of the first people there, though we were surprisingly not alone. After some stretches and edible fortification, we commenced what would be a challenging, memorable day. Our hike included lots of trips and tumbles, green, trees, monkeys, deer, mountains, and moss. We walked through a forest, along a river, and our final destination was the oldest tree in Japan. It was certainly a day of immense proportions. Afterwards we retreated to our hotel's hot spring bathroom and soaked then ate ten courses at supper and to round it all off, drank a healthy amount of alcohol and conked out on our futons. Our last day was also lovely and enlightening. We started by making our very own chopsticks! I'm afraid that I found I have no talent for this particular craft, and no particular enjoyment for it either, but we have lovely souvenirs that will likely give us tongue slivers evermore. :P Our second task was to find the biggest waterfall in Yakushima. To get there we had to rely on the trusty driving of our comrade through winding mountain paths. Along the way we saw more monkeys and deer and Shelby almost got car sick. We managed to avoid regurgitation and road kill and found our way to a lovely little waterfall with picture ops abounding. The waterfall itself wasn't really huge, but it was hugely lovely and we sat on the rocks at its bottom and enjoyed feeling the rebounding spray on our tired skin. Next, we visited a fruit farm for brunch. They gave us a plateful of fruit and a tour of their facilities for $5 each. A bit of a rip off, but fun nonetheless. Finally, we scrounged around in town for some souvenirs, ate the most delicious soft-serve, green tea ice cream, and almost got left behind by our ferry. Everyone slept on the return voyage. :) Our final little adventure was on the mainland where we ate dinner. There were some live musicians playing and we gladly took part in the "local" dancing and singing. It was so much fun! I felt really lucky to visit such a cool place and the people I traveled with were so kind and generous. It's a week later and my leg and arm muscle pain have finally subsided. However, my heart and mind muscles will be churning from my experience for some time to come.
