Blogs from Kagoshima, Japan, Asia - page 2

Thursday, 22nd October 2015 For my day trip from Kagoshima to Ibusuki city today, I booked my train seat on the Ibusuki No Tamatebako Express. The train plies the hourly journey between the two cities three times daily. This is a really popular sight-seeing train which I soon realised as it was filled with excited passengers who were busy snapping pictures. The interior of the train is made up of premium teak material (which created a really warm atmosphere) coupled with unique swivel chairs that resemble that of a hair salon. I made my seat reservation for the 9.58am train the day before at the ticket office with my Kyushu Pass. This was easily done and as the train started making its way towards Ibusuki, I was pretty sure that the journey was as interesting as ... read more

Wednesday, 21st October 2015 I have a full day in Kagoshima today to explore the city proper. With sights scattered along the major public transportation points, this was an easy journey that allowed plenty of time for me to reflect in between places of interest. Starting from the JR Kagoshima Station, my first stop for the day was a visit to the Museum of the Meiji Restoration. Located along the Kotsuki River, this was a mere 5 minutes from where I started. Other noteworthy sites around the vicinity included the birthplace of Saigo Takamori as well as a replica of the Samurai House which was a common sight during the pre-Meiji Restoration era. After immersing myself on some Japanese history, I took to the Shiroyama Observatory which commanded a great view of downtown Kagoshima and Sakurajima ... read more

Day 10 Yakushima Today was another day of surprises with a bonus of a beach Onsen’ at a third of our way around the island. Since the Onsen pools were quite small, with males and females separated by a flimsy fence we retained our modesty in our shorts and bikinis. The hottest part was the pebbles leading to the Onsen. Martin set off with a will out of town first thing and a breakaway of four soon dropped the group and with a tail wind, despite some steep little hills, we averaged 15mph until the Boulangerie at 11am. The roads after this point were very traffic free and we encountered several deer and some macaques doing their ablutions in the shade. As usual for the coastline of Japan the road was rather lumpy and we soon ... read more

Day 8 Makurazaki to Ibusuki Dist 39 miles. Ave. 13.5. Ascent 687m Today was a relatively low mileage but was packed with activities. Straight from the hotel we were faced with a steady gradient for one mile before being brutally assaulted by a harsh climb up through the tea plantations which started at about 100 m above sea level. We were amazed how wide the bushes were and the narrow gap between them, in contrast to those in India and China. We were soon to find out why when we saw a track laying machine cutting the leaves in fine fashion at walking speed and blowing them into a hopper. We were informed that this is done every four weeks and produces a lower grade tea than the hand picked leaves since they cut a bit ... read more

A one hour drive to Chiran to see the well-preserved residences of Samurai warriors. The houses are occupied and several of the owners allow garden visits. One lady did let us photograph her living room from outside. Another resident served us green tea in her garden. A couple of miles down the road we visited the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots. A very sobering experience and a beautiful tribute to brave young men.... read more