Ibusuki Seaside Hotel

... Tuhkaa täällä ripottelee taivaalta hiljalleen ja melkoinen urakka on pitää kaupungin kadut puhtaana. Hauskasti on tupakointikieltoja maalailtu joka puolelle katuja, ettei vaan tulisi lisää tuhkaa ! :-) Mutta Japanityylisellä tehokkuudella kruisailee lakaisuauto jatkuvasti ympäri korttelia, joten se asia on hyvässä hoidossa. Huomattiin kyllä tuossa kävellessä, että valkoinen auto ei välttämättä ole mikään kauhean hyvä idea täällä! Eikä juuri eilen pesty valkoinen paita tai ...

... pahimpaan nälkään. Tällaisia Lunch bokseja kaipaan aina Suomessa, koska näissä on ihan kunnon ruokaa, eikä mitään hirveää, epämääräistä, rasvakamaa! Halpaa, hyvää ja terveellistä, se on matkamiehen valinta!

Nyt väsyttää aivan järjettömästi ja on jo niin pimeää ettei Sakurajima vuorta näy, mutta aamulla varmasti odottaa huikeat maisemat! Tosi mahtavat ja odottavat on tunnelmat! Pakko tässä on kuitenkin käydä vielä hotellin pesukoneella pesemässä pyykkejä ennen nukkumaanmenoa!

... problem was that my map of the hotel's location showed only the major streets, not the minor streets, but I didn't figure that out until an hour later. I also got confused by which of two possible symbols on the map was the hotel's location. The landmarks shown on the map just weren't appearing where they were supposed to be. I got more frustrated and more disoriented, and found myself at noon in a nightclub district ...

... Ja, es ist heiß aber angenehm. - Nicht wahr. Fühlen sie mal hier das Wasser. - Ah, es ist kalt. - Ja, genau.
Jaaaa jaaa sowas nennt man richtig wichtige Konversation.. Onsen Konversation... Raus aus dem Bad, Blicke der vor allem jüngeren Mädels ignorier und Bauch einzieh...jaja mein Wald ist abgeholzt....Die dreckige Yukata wurde am Eingang weggeschmissen jetzt hab ich nur ein kleines Handtüchlein...und geh wieder retour... aber da ist der Gang wo sich Männer und Frauen trennen... え ...

After catching an early train out of Hiroshima - arrive in Kagoshima around 12 noon and make our way to the traditional Japanese Ryokan we're staying at there. In Tokyo we picked up a free magazine which mentioned sand baths just outside Kagoshima so after dumping our bags we decided to head out to Ikubusi to check them out. The baths involve wearing a hakata (a traditional Japanese robe) and nothing else and heading out from the public baths to the beach where ...

... wh*t you c*ll * buzz kill. We c*lled *ll the phone numbers we h*d but nobody w*s up. App*rently *ll of the previous c*bs h*d m*de it through the g*te but it h*d closed for the night before we could m*ke it through. We *n*lyzed the situ*tion *nd fin*lly we *greed th*t if nobody w*s *round to *nswer the phone, nobody w*s there to bust us for hopping the fence. One by one we m*de our drunken w*y over the cyclone with b*rbed wire. Mikey slipped *nd on his w*y over *nd l*nded on his b*ckp ...

... and home made fish cake. All was delicious. After reaching an elegant sufficiency and a buzz from the shochu, we said our good-byes to the Kagawa family as they were staying at extra few days and we caught and early flight to Kagoshima for our one nite in Kagoshima. Iida-san and Ohma-san planned our dinner in Kagoshima. Basically, we had two dinners: Kagoshima "kuro buta" - black pig shabu shabu and Kagoshima ramen. Iida-san ...

... awesome onsen on the Sakurajima island with magma heated waters that are supposed to heal cuts and skin problems, improve digestion, and I heard it even makes people taller (unfortunately it didn't work for Matt, he is still only 5'10", or so he claims)!! It was glorious! Matt did do a lot better this time, successfully staying in there for almost an hour. The view is beautiful ...

... hotel ok (via a tram ride). Hotel is so good we have decided to use these in every city. Kagoshima is south so hot - 20c today! Here for 2 nights, then our first bullet train experience - can't wait. Both ok, Dee bit ratty ...

... cedar, we visited Kigensugi cedar, which was about 3000 years old and it was very easy to access, but impressive enough. Near the cedar, Yakusugiland Park was located. It was a park for everybody including seniors and small children to enjoy seeing some Yaku cedars which lived more than 1000 years. By the way, only the ceders which are more than 1000 years old are called Yakusugi ceders in Yakushima. We stayed in Minshuku Hanasatsuki for 3150 ...