Our last day at Yakushima was spent on the beach which was nice because it wasn’t too crowded. The only truly irritating thing was the repetitive message about not leaving your things behind and keep the beach clean… I think it was broadcast every 10-15 minutes or so. Bleah.
I didn’t bring my cossie so I lazed around on the beach and read and walked around aimlessly, but I went into the shade to hide after about 45 minutes because I’m not gonna repeat the Failed Tourist Fiasco of 2003(?) for sure!
After that, we headed to the other side of the island, to the Hottest Onsen EVER. Well, in my experience at least ;) I don’t know how hot it actually was, but I sat on the edge of the bath, inching into it, one toe at a time, and when I finally got in, I could barely stay in there for more than 3 minutes. After dipping in and out for about 10 minutes, I still came out red as a lobster. See??
It would have been great to be able to drive around the island or have more time there though. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, no matter where you turned. Imagine having this in your backyard…
I was amazed to hear this weekend from a client that she’d been there 3 times, but I can totally see why. I’d love to go back again, and mosey around the island for a bit. It has to be after Hokkaido though. Which I have no idea when either… we’ll see.