Japan’s biggest Camphor tree, bamboo charcoal-baked chiffon cake and an abandoned mountain pass in Aira

In the middle of a bamboo forest in Aira.

We spent 3 nights in Kagoshima, the southern tip of the Kyushu island. While that sounds like a long time, I was glad we took this “rest” before moving on. But resting didn’t mean we were deterred from exploring the region. One of the areas we wanted to visit was the Aira district for the biggest and one of the oldest Camphor tree in Japan, Kamoh no Ohkusu (蒲生の大楠).

A minute of sun on a rainy day

Yakushima after the rain and the sun just breaking through the clouds.

Wa no Cottage Sen-no-ie, Yakushima

Sen-no-ie is definitely one of the best lodgings we have had the privilege to stay at in Japan. It is a distance away from the port and a little out of the way from the closest town but the staff at Sen-no-ie were polite, generous and highly accommodating (read how Sen-no-ie helped us solve our luggage problem!).

Hiking across Yakushima: the Okabuhodo trail and the Kusugawa trail

Read about the 2nd day of the 3-day hike.

Or read about the 1st day of the 3-day hike.

The intense green from moss and trees along the Kusugawa trail! Simply spectacular!

We woke to the sound of movement from the other campers below us. Some of them had spent the night sleeping in big plastic bags…literally with plastic bags over their heads as well.

Hiking across Yakushima, Mt. Miyanoura dake

Read about the 1st day of the 3-day hike.

Or read about the 3rd day of the 3-day hike.

Our second day of hiking through Yakushima was GREAT! The weather was amazing! We could not have believed it ourselves after reading about how much it rains on this island! It was so much better than we had expected! Full sunshine with a gentle breeze! We couldn’t have asked for better! And the view! Need I say more?! 🙂

Deer spotted grazing at the highland marsh intersection.

Cedar tree in the fog

It’s strange to wander in the fog!
A lonely bush, a lonely stone,
No tree can see the other one,
And one is all alone.

extract from “In the Fog” by Hermann Hesse
Original text in German.

Hiking across Yakushima, the Yodogawa and Hana-no-ego trails

The road leading to the start of the Yodogawa trail.

Was this perhaps Miyazaki’s inspiration for the forest spirits in the Ghibli animation, Princess Mononoke?

Yakushima was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Its designated areas include the centre of the island and the highest peak of the island, Mt. Miyanoura (宮之浦岳)-dake, looming at a height of 1,935m. The Yakushima traverse hiking trail is an AMAZING 3-day hike that gives hikers the privilege to appreciate the island’s unique, well-preserved and ancient rainforest, much of which is within the UNESCO World Heritage boundaries.

Monte Fossa, the Fern Mountain

The view from the top of Monte Fossa. The town of Lingua seen in the foreground. The big ‘pond/lake’ looking thing is a saltern but is no longer in use. Lipari is the closest island to Salina, followed by Vulcano in the background on the right.

All the aeolian islands are unique from each other and one of the signature features of Salina is that it possess 2 mountain peaks (nearly 1000m high).

Amami’s forest and the black rabbit

Underneath the giant fern canopy in the primary forest of Amami Oshima, Japan.

We had planned to stay on Amami for only 2 days so we chose to stay close to Naze port.

Walking 3 Gorges

A Buttercup flower in the Black Forest.

Walking in the Black Forest has been something we heard to be great but failed to experience it ourselves. We did a weekend trip 2 years back in December but that didn’t really turn out very good.