After being delayed by the Typhoon, I eventually made it to Yakushima, which is basically famous for being the inspiration for the setting of the Ghibli movie: Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫).
On the first day I decided to check out a beach as half the day was already over, the ferry (the one you can take your bicycle on) takes about 3 hours and leaves at 8:30am. I went to Isso beach which looks okay.
But the real crowd puller is the chance to see some turtles. I Snorkelled here at the normal beach and saw nothing.
But you have to go over to the other side of the peninsula to see the bad boys.
I then rode 20ish kms to my hostel near the airport. To be honest I wasn’t so impressed. It was like jumping back 50 years. The owner was very nice but holy bloody smoke she worries wayyyy too much. Wasted liie 2hours of my time saying I can’t possible do ‘that’ and ‘this way is better’. Then she wants you to fill out all these hiking detail things. My real mum doesn’t worry anywhere near that much. So I really wanted just to get away.
This was actually my birthday night and although I met a nice person or 2 I kind of just wanted to be alone and pity myself. I was lonely and just wanted my gf, friends and family more than ever. I’m actually so over travelling now I wish I booked my original flight home on my bday.
So the next morning was bloody pouring down and I rode my bike the dumb way up to Shiratani Usuikyo (kanji), this is basically the forest-like setting of the movie. It was just as expected, really great so I’m glad I put myself back into gear and went.
Saw some made trees
And rocks
I slept in the mountain hut (山小屋) for the night.
The next morning I hiked through the green moss forest and the beautiful cedar forests to Jomon Sugi (Kanji) which is believed to be the oldest tree in Japan. Usually I would say things that are so super hyped up are usually a disappointment, but this is for once not the case. Even with the rain and some crowds it was still worth the effort, really.
I
made some comparisons to Princess Mononoke environment as well:
I finally remembered to strap my camera to my bike on the very last mountain to make a video. This is definitely the best part of going up a mountain.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LeE7H4drRwZZU2hy9
I snorkeled away the next day with some more turtles and baby clown fish. I made a new baby turtle friend and called him flappy because he was still kind of learning how to swim and was flappin about like a sausage. Then made my way to the final bonus map: Tanegashima.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1831419883
Cycling Around Japan 