Yakushima

32 things I loved about Yakushima

1. It’s beautiful! It looks like Hawaii.
2. The ancient, giant cedar trees
3. The macaque monkeys
4. The well-maintained network of mountain trails
5. The weather. We were lucky and had very little rain
6. The tame, beautiful deer
7. The quiet beaches and clear warm (East China) sea. Perfect for swimming.
8. The strange shaped granite rocks
9. The cheap accommodation. We stayed at mountain huts for free and paid just 3000 yen a night each for a comfortable, private air-con room in a family house on other nights.
10. The baby turtles we watched being released at night on Inakahama beach
11. The food: flying fish, smoked mackerel, chicken sashimi and tofu caprese especially.
12. The island colours at sunset: the sky, the sea, the clouds and the mountains.
13. The orange-coloured mineral bath in a private cave overlooking the sea at the ryokan we stayed at
14. Having a beer at sunset at Inakahama beach
15. Yaku Sugi (Cedar) land. Lots of paths and interesting trees.
16. The toad we encountered on our hike
17. Our Rent-a-car: it was only a sluggish Toyota with a slipping fan belt, but it meant we could explore the whole island easily
18. The bougainvillea
19. The views from the top of the mountains
20. The trendy restaurant with the wooden deck outside (next to the river in Anbo)
21. Swimming in the sea at Isso beach and realizing that the volcano on the nearby island was actually smoking!
22. The giant boulders in the rivers
23. The changing landscape in the mountains; one minute mossy dense forest, the next could have been the Rockies, the next could have been north Wales or the Peak District
24. The 2nd and 3rd generation cedars – younger trees growing on ancient stumps
25. Swimming in the river which runs through Yaku-sugi Land
26. Dinner at the up-market ryokan in Inakahama – lots of sushi and boiled lobster in broth
27. The strange banyan trees
28. The views along the coast
29. The views of the mountains from the coast
30. Waterfalls
31. Our favourite lunch spot; a Hawaiian-themed restaurant in Anbo overlooking the sea
32. The museums about the island and UNESCO

And a few things I am less excited about….

1. The mice that “haunt” the mountain huts at night looking for food
2. The shared bathrooms
3. Squat toilets
4. A week without my tea
5. A tropical island with no fruit? I was hoping for fresh passion fruit, oranges and mango, but only found them made into cakes and biscuits in souvenir shops
6. Sitting on the floor a lot














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