Super active trip to Yakushima

[JupiterStar]

Hey guys! One of the reasons I've been gone so long is because we finally made the trip to Yakushima, the island that was the inspiration for Princess Mononoke. I had a goal of hiking the Shiratani Unsuikyo trail there and checking out some of the oldest trees in the world but otherwise I was a bit worried about what would happen during the trip...it's a very, very tiny island with limited public transportation and bike rentals, I don't have an international driver's permit for renting cars, and the walks between areas are quite intensive. 

 

In the end, though, I sucked it up and decided to just have a very active vacation! We walked the full distance from our Airbnb to the ferry port to Yakushima, and from the arrival port to our hotel with luggage in tow (no small feat, since it was 40 minutes in the middle of the day on a tropical island, mostly uphill!), we walked basically everywhere around town, more than we needed to really, we went snorkeling and swimming for most of one day and ended it with an impromptu trip to one of Japan's most famous waterfalls without worrying if the hike would be too tricky (it wasn't, but still gorgeous!), we did the full-day hike I had hoped for and got to check out Yayoi Sugi and Jomon Sugi, and on the last day I did my first kayaking trip from the ocean bay up the Anbo river until we hit a spot to go snorkeling and swimming before our trip back. We even did a late night hike to the outskirts of town to watch the Perseieds meteor shower at midnight (which we hadn't known was happening until it started MID-FIREWORKS FESTIVAL IT WAS SO COOL).

 

I've never gone kayaking before, much less in a river with such a strong current, I've never done a forest hike before (mountains yes, forests no), and this was only the second time I've hiked up to the base of a waterfall...I feel quite proud of myself! And we even walked our way back to the ferry port and the airport shuttles with luggage in tow, so...yeah, I feel strong and accomplished. Also, I got to check my Overnight at Summer Sonic goal off of my list as well as Yakushima, and got through that festival with no injuries or heat stroke, so I haven't felt this good about myself in a while. I hope I can parlay that momentum into getting back on track overall now!