Yakushima: A Cool and Rain-Free Trip!

I have talked a lot about different countries I've visited, but I should write something about Japan! Of course I love traveling in Japan too, so I'll write about a cool trip I took here last year. Before I finally someday leave Japan, I would like to see as much of this great country as possible. For some reason, I am especially attracted to unusual or hard-to-get-to places. That is why I finally took a trip to Yakushima this past summer. Of course Yakushima is not unusual, as it gets hordes of tourists, but almost none of my Japanese friends have been there.

I was also attracted to Yakushima because I'm an outdoorsy person. Two of my biggest passions these days are hiking and mountain biking. This might sound boring to younger people, as I also wasn't into activities like these at all when I was a student. But these days one of the most important factors in my travel plans is finding places with big, beautiful mountains and breath-taking scenery. Of course Yakushima has both!

I was incredibly lucky during my stay in Yakushima. Yakushima is known as the rainiest part of Japan, and the locals even joke that it rains 35 days a month! When I was there, however, I was blessed with three days of gorgeous, non-stop sunshine. I had the perfect lifestyle on Yakushima. I woke up by 7 AM, had a nice breakfast at my inn, and then I was riding my bike or climbing a mountain by 8 or 9. Then, after a hard day working my body and taking in awesome views, I could kick back with a big cold beer and then a filling dinner.

What I probably liked most of all about my stay in Yakushima, however, was the lodging! My travel book highly recommended a little place called the Chinryu-an Guesthouse. I don't always like to listen to guidebooks, but it seemed like a cool place. Well, the guidebook definitely hit the nail on the head this time. When I stay somewhere, I am most concerned with comfort and atmosphere. Chinryu-an absolutely had both. It looks like a tiny log cabin from the outside, but it manages to somehow be both spacious and cozy on the inside. Plus, I could sleep on a cool bunk bed that was like 10 or 15 feet high above the ground. I felt like a kid again, even though it was such a pain climbing up and down the ladder whenever I forget something.

One of the cool things about this guesthouse was the host, Chinryu. He used to be a Tokyoite, but has now settled for the more peaceful pace of Yakushima. He definitely made me and everyone feel right at home. He gave me tons of useful information about the local mountains and other interesting spots. What I liked most about him was he wasn't afraid to give his honest opinion. After he warned me not to go to a certain place because there would be too many tourists, I had a lot of respect for him. He definitely knows the island like the back of his hand, as he told me, "if you go hiking in this place, you'll only see about 5 people all day." And I ended up seeing exactly 5 people. It was a little creepy but very very cool!

Another good thing about the guesthouse is that it's an interesting mix of Japanese and foreign guests. So, I got to chat with an Italian who was traveling around Japan, meet a nice British couple who were working on organic farms in Japan, and also meet nice and interesting Japanese people from all over the country. I even talked to one girl who had stayed in the same guesthouse more than 1o times.

Anyway, I have a lot of places left to see in Japan, but hopefully I'll find time for Yakushima again. My goal next time is to cycle all the way around the island, which will take around 8-10 hours. That will be quite a feat, but with cold beer, great food, and Chinryu's big, crazy smile waiting for me, I'm sure I can do it!
(I'll add some pics of my trip later, but the server is a little slow right now, so stay tuned...)