Satsumanosato Satsumasendai

... tässä kävellessä vastaan!?

Tämä tiistaipäivä aloitettiin heti komealla aamulenkillä, kiipeämällä ylös Shiroyama vuorelle. Ylös olisi päässyt myös bussilla, mutta eihän me mitään sellaista tarvita ...tai sitten ei vaan tiedetty? :-)

Aika harvoin on tullut näissä kiipeilyhommissa pettymystä ja nyt voi taas sanoa, että jumankeuta! Ylhäältä avautui siis niin huikea näky, ettei mitään rajaa! W-A-U! Aivan kaupungin edessä kohosi odotetusti, mutta paljon ...

Tämä yö meni aivan harakoille …tai siis KORPEILLE! En tajua mikä oli homman nimi, mutta korpit raakkui ja piti tässä hotellin lähellä koko yön aivan mieletöntä meteliä, joten unet jäi todella vähiin! Hiukan kävi mielessä, että olisiko kenties joku maanjäristys tulossa, mutta kyllä nämä korpit olivat muuten vaan kajahtaneita! :-)

Aamulla lähdettiin kello 09 aikoihin Ikebukurolta liikenteeseen, koska suurella viekkaudella ajateltiin, että ehkä pahin aamuruuhka olisi ...

GETTING LOST

I arrived in Kagoshima, and had a pleasant walk friom the train station to the area where my hotel is located. I had been warned by a tripadvisor.com review that the hotel has a narrow street frontage and is easy to pass by and miss. Then my difficulties began--I realized that every map I had showed south at the top, and that I had gone two blocks in the wrong direction. After correcting for that, my ...

... mich mit dem Hähnchenbräter..eh Toribrater unterhalten und da kommt dann noch ein Kunde dazu und der fängt auch mit mir zu reden an und ich antworte brav auf alle fragen und hin und her... Voll euphorisch gehen wir nach den Yakitoris weiter und ich frag in einen Geschäft was das denn ist (war ein Fischer der dick in Konbu eingerollt war) und ich sag gleich mal auf japanisch "Das möchte ich bitte probieren!" - die Dame schaut mich zuerst perplex an (da hab ich schon bemerkt das man ...

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 ...

... enough *nd it w*s now DEFINITELY time for dinner. We we*ved *nd st*ggered our w*y b*ck through the center of town to where we fin*lly found *n *uthentic rest*ur*nt suit*ble for us sophistic*ted types. We proceeded to h*ve crude convers*tions *t high volumes while continuing to drink *t excess. I think dinner w*s good. The rest of the night w*s * blur of b*r-hopping, loud t*lking, beer drinking *nd sl*p-fights in the street. Truely unbeleive*ble. Some people decided to turn in *nd ...

... on the property that is now the Ryokan. She said termites destroyed the house and that is why the built a concrete house. It's pretty clear though that she prefers the traditional and original house. I also found out she was born the year of the cow just like me and her husband was born year of the horse so they are always "butting heads". As a surprise, she give me a bottle of Mitake as a going away gift! If I'm in Japan ...

Welcome to our chronicle of Kagoshima, the southernmost city on the island of Kyushu in Japan. We arrived at the train station after taking the historic Kyushu limited express train, an old train line that crosses the mountains of the island. We figured out that this was a historic train when we saw all of the other passengers snapping pictures in front of the train cars....so ...

Woke up rather later than planned to a very blustery, cold and wet day in Tokyo-reminds us of somewhere else in the world! Worked out the chain of hotels we are staying in is near us so checked that out - very good, and free ...

... the mainland. At the Kagoshima port, we took a ferry to Sakurajima. Then we enjoyed walking to Karasujima observatory on the Lava Nagisa Boardwalk which had a lot of lavas along the way. I took a bath in the public bathhouse with a view of the sea. We were fully satisfied with the island. However, on the ferry to the mainland, I realized we were next to late for our flight, but fortunately, the departure was delayed and so we barely made it.