Christian's Travel Blog

Iriomote-jima is almost fully covered by dense subtropical jungle. And one of the highlights to come that far south is the Iriomote Crossing Jungle Trail. The trail literally crosses the island from northwest to southeast, and its a full day hike in subtropical jungle conditions. Starting point usually is up north at the Urauchi river, catching the first tourboat up 4km along mangroves to the picturesque waterfalls. And here also ends the sightseeing trip, as from here the trail up along the wild riverbed will wind through dense jungle for about 13km and an additional 7.5km gravelroad to the opposite side of Iriomote-jima. Eventually you have to register and apply for a permit to enter and cross the National Park and Conservation Area. However, I was lucky to meet two young Japanese backpackers - Taketo and Yoshiyuki - that already organised their entrance permit and were ready to start early next morning. Kindly they accepted to join them ... and of...

2020 - when Covid19 crossed my travel plans and suddenly flights between Europe and Japan got cancelled - I thought it is a surprise invitation to discover some of the remote islands stretching from Kyushu down south close to Taiwan. Wishful thinking - the 'New Normal' asked people to limit movement within their own prefecture. Eventually, the remote islanders themselves asked not to visit. Probably the frightening images from Europe made them aware of their own situation - a mostly elderly small population on remote islands with limited healthcare facilities, hospitals not to mention. Well, the pandemic waves passed and the health system could handle the situation, as no tourists from the main islands were to show up for two years. However, small remote islands - green dots surrounded coral reefs in deep blue sea - these days mainly receive their income from tourism. So far, so bad, as on my visit now in 2023, a soft landing for local tourism by a natio...