Christian's Travel Blog

Yakushima, Japan's green hiking and hut-camping paradise, is known for its wet climate all year around ... so you'll better be prepared on a three to five days trail connecting the mountain huts. At least I was lucky, as I almost gave up to reach my last stop of my six week island-hopping voyage. Rain forecast already changed my plans, but arriving in Kagoshima - the gateway to Yakushima - a two-day dry weather window after a rainy day crossing made me rethinking: now or never! Luckily the ferry did not turn back after a rough crossing, as the captain informed that might be the case. And even better, the sun rose next morning to make my first trail up in Yakusugi Land on to Tenchuseki Rock on Tachudake a wonderful experience - hiking through ancient moss-covered cedar forest. Next day I was up early again to walk along the trails at the Shiratani Unsuikyo plateau in search for an encounter with the Yakuzaru - monkeys that live high up in the ...

Visiting the Amami-Oshima World Heritage Conservation Center located near the second largest mangrove forest in Japan gives a comprehensive introduction of the subtropical islands nature - forests and plants - and animals.     As Amami-Oshima is the second largest island in the Ryukyus, I decided to explore the island by rental car. There is a good public bus system, but as a one-time exception, the flexibility a car offers made it more convenient to enjoy the nicely arranged 'bucket-list' by Ryuko: mangrove canoeing, mud cloth-dyeing and subtropical native forest hiking. The authentic Amami-Oshima TSUMUGI high-quality silk fabrics are handcrafted with a lot of work, effort and time. A visit to the museum and especially to the weaving handcraft process by local women and men surely is one of the highlights touring the island. Up north there's another unique sight - up a winding road you'll reach an observation deck (that eventually is a starti...

05h30 ... the alarm clock signals time to get up and walk from the nearby Nest hotel to Naha port, boarding the daily A"LINE ferry. These days most people fly in or out, as airfares mostly are cheaper and of course flights save time. But still the ferries are the backbone to connect the scattered Ryukyu islands with "mainland" Japan, that itself consists of the four major islands - Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. When it comes to 'islandhopping' my choice was clear from the conception of this journey - it has to be by ferry! As any roadtrip, the goal is not to go from A to B, but rather the encounters along the way. As it turned out, I started my Ryukyu islands adventure not as thought from Kagoshima downward island by island, but due to seasonal considerations with a flight to the most southern Yaeyama islands and then hopping back towards Kagoshima. One month into my journey - visiting so far six islands - I decided ...