reading along

Me too.

Me too.

Congratulations, Ray, and a Happy New Year to you and yours. We are back from Hong Kong and South East Asia (you kindly helped me with some issues). Absolutely loved Hong Kong!

Great start, anxious to hear about the rest.

Yes, Fukuoka is very different than Tokyo in comparison. I know that ramen alley in Ikebekuro....they have a similar one outside Shinjuku station although Shinjuku alley's nickname is a more colorful one.

Everything is so laid back in Fukuoka and the rest of Kyushu for that matter as you probably found out. We stayed in the Grand Hyatt which is connected to Canal City last time there and it was moderately crowded in the fall.....maybe Christmas shopping was just over this time??

Did the JR rental have English GPS?

More, more!!!

Aloha!

hawaiiantraveler - Will get into the part about rental car very shortly.

Dec 28, 2012, am

Rather than having 2,000yen/person breakfasts at the hotel (discounted from 2,750), we checked out of the hotel, left our bags, and then headed back to Hakata Station for food. The whole basement level of the station complex is dedicated to food. We first spent 315yen on 3 pieces of rice dumplings; then we went to a Korean chain called "Shijan" in the section called "Hakata 1bangai" 博多一番街, which has sets for 480 and 380yens.

Filled, we went to the JR main information counter to do the paper work for our car, and were then sent to the 4/F of the Shinkansen Building of the station to get our car. We booked the car through ToCoo for 2 reasons. Their rate can be cheaper than through the rental companies themselves, and they have good English site. Not instant, but in general, I get email confirmation from them within a few hours, and never more than 24 hours. For our 60-hr one-way Hakata-Kagoshima S-Class rental, the cheapest was from JR Eki Kyushu. [Most rental companies only have Japanese language site, though Mazda has English, but their rate is higher.] We paid 26,500yen total, of which 12,000 was the drop-off fee.

The car we got was a 5-door Toyota Vitz (Yaris in N. America) with I believe 1,300cc (though could be 1,000). It has a Clarion GPS built-in. ToCoo has JR Eki switch the turn-by-turn guidance to English, and provided us with a English printout. But the buttons and menus are still Japanese only. We hardly needed that printout since we read Kanji, though we did have to go through the menu to switch the navigation to allow use of toll-roads.

[hawaiiantraveler - ToCoo list which companies have English guidances on their GPS, and JR Eki Kyushu is one of them. Our second rental from Orix in Yakushima in a K-Class Daihatsu Move didn't, but we hardly need a GPS there, and didn't bother to play with the settings.]

Final thing about using GPS in Japan. The easiest and quickest way to enter a destination is by using the business' phone number. Therefore, it's extremely crucial to find out the phone numbers of the all the hotels, restaurants and attractions prior to the trip.

The staff at JR Eki were very polite and helpful, and we were on our way pretty soon, first to go back to the Crowne Plaza ANA to pick up our bags, and then onto the expressway towards Kurokawa. In my original plan, I had considered visiting Dazaifu on our way, but since it was raining and already close to mid-day, we decided to skip it, but rather paid a quick visit to the Mameda Town in Hita instead.

For Bonny and I who live and drive in Hong Kong, driving in Japan was super easy. We can read kanji and English only, and doesn't speak Japanese. Signs are extremely clear, drivers there super courteous. I think even for those who usually drive on the right and doesn't read Japanese or Kanji, it'd still be easier than driving in, say, Italy. But the real shock was the cost of using the toll roads. The ~8km stretch of Fukuoka Expressway #2 cost 600yen; and from the Dazaifu IC to Hita IC on the Kyushu and Oita Expressways, it cost 1,650yen for 57km. Crazy expensive!

Bookmarking. And Congratulations and Best Wishes (I can never remember the correct Emily Post instruction)

I!m following and congrats on this blessed event in your lives.

amazing costs for the toll roads.... is the time savings worth the price or would normal roads be ok too?

Bob, that's why everyone travels by train in Japan and the train systems are so efficient. You can set your watch by their train systems time schedules it is often said. The areas that the trains don't cover well are usually the places that renting a car to tour around is a good option although there are always local buses that service those areas.

Tolls on major expressways and tollways are excessively prohibitive both to encourage commuting and tax you to death,lol. Travel in the countrysides for the most parts are toll free, note the most parts. I avoid driving in areas of expressways and larger metropolitan areas as often as I can.

Aloha!

Dec 28, 2012 pm

We got off the Oita Expressway at Hita, and drove to the preserved Mameda-Machi section, which is sometimes called "Little Kyoto". Nice to walk around, with some traditional stores. Bonny bought a pair of local-made geta (wooden clogs) for 2,200¥. Some cost over 10,000¥, and we shared a small dumpling for 100¥ as our "lunch".

From Hita, we took Highway 212, 387, then 442 to Kurokawa Onsen. Two-way non-divided highways along mountain valleys, but well maintained and easy to drive on. The section along lake formed by the Matsubara Dam before Tsuetate Onsen is particularly beautiful.

Finally, we arrived in Kurokawa Onsen at around 4pm. We were able to book a room at the Ryokan Sanga (山河旅館) for that night. The room we had was "Ho No Ki" that's 8+8 tatamis plus our own outdoor private bath. With the two meals, it came to 50,000¥ for two persons. Honestly, I didn't do too much research - I just found that Sanga has English website, and is rated #1 on TripAdvisor among those in Kurokawa, and #2 in all surrounding areas. With our date nearing the New Year holiday, I was glad to be able to find any room in Kurokawa at all, at around early October.

The short-cut bridge that cross the river west of Kurokawa was being rebuilt, so we had to drive through the main village to get back to Sanga. Immediately, we realized how Sanga is different than most of those we passed by. Because it's an 15 minutes walk west of the village, it is much more exclusive and quiet. In fact, during our stay, we found very few "outsiders" there to use the baths, only hotel guests.

The experience was amazing. Heading down the driveway, a staff came to lead our way to the main building, took our bags and then parked our car. After the quick check-in (no passport scans required), a middle-age lady with fairly good English took us to our room in the East Building, explained to us how and when to change to the sandals or getas. A electric-blanket provided warmth at the table in the main part of the room where Bonny and I sat while the lady went to make tea for us. Then she knelt by our table to explain to us the various public and private baths in Sanga, the map, and so on.

Besides the yukatas (in two sizes for the two of us), there were also thicker "haoris" to wear over the yukatas when going outside, PLUS scarves since it was quite cold. We would wear them anywhere inside the ryokan. And in Kurokawa, one can even wear these to the village and visit the other onsens. No need to change back into regular clothings.

Dinner can start at 6p, 6:30p or 7, and is served in the main building, not in our own room. We chose 7, so we could have a little time to figure out the place. We used that time to relax in our room and then to soak our feet in their dedicated footbath.

At 7, we went to have our Kaiseki dinner, which was a 11-course full Japanese dinner, that took about 2.5 hours to finish. They really emphasized local ingredients and speciality dishes. That include the horse-meat sashimi popular in Kumamoto, grilled local fish, steak from Aso and so on. It was really quite an experience.

And let me say something about the cost of the room. 50,000¥ (US$570 or HK$4,400) may sound a lot for a night's accommodation, but it was not expensive at all. The dinner alone will cost close to US$200 per person anywhere in the world, and there would be another amazing breakfast. And that a standard room without private bath would cost even less! In fact, I would almost call it a steal! [The rate is all inclusive - it includes all taxes and fees, use of all baths in our ryokan, plus the wooden passes to use at 3 other Kurokawa onsens. Only things not included are alcoholic drinks.]

Anyways, after dinner, we went back to our room. Our beddings were laid out, and we would use our own private outdoor bath. The temperature of that spring was quite hot as the source was listed as over 70C, so it would not be possible to soak our whole bodies in the water for too long. But the water here (and in all onsens we've tried in the area) are all very soft with no or barely noticeable smell of sulphur. Very very clean and comfortable.

I would highly recommend any visit to Kyushu to include at least a night in a ryokan in Kurokawa, and I can whole-heartedly recommend Sanga, unless you want to be right inside the village.

Dec 29, 2012 am

We got up early, as we wanted to try one of the reserved private baths at Sanga before breakfast. We had wanted to try the bath made of bamboo, but someone took our key, so we "settled" for a lined-stone bath. Didn't matter anyways, as this bath was super comfortable, with a slighlty lower temperature that's fine for soaking for longer. From the refraction of the bottom of the bath, it's apparent that the water has pretty high density of minerals.

At 8, we went for our full Japanese breakfast. With many many small dishes, along with soup and rice and all, it still took an hour to finish. Check-out time was an early 10a, so we only had time to soak our legs and feet back in our private bath before packing. Being greedy, we also wanted to use our passes to try out as many other onsens in Kurokawa as possible - but that meant we didn't get to try the several other indoor AND outdoor baths at Sanga. In fact, the outdoor ladies' bath at Sanga is the largest of all in Kurokawa. Well, there's always next time...

We parked our car in the free visitors' lot in the middle of the village and walked down to the "onsen row" along the river. Following the recommendations from our Taiwanese guidebooks AND the reception at Sanga, we decided to visit these three onsens witih our passes - Shinmeikan, Okyakuya, and Ikoi. First up was Shinmeikan (新明館), which is set out along the caves across the river from the main village with a total of 15 rooms. It has its own bridge and it's known for its "cave baths". However, we found it a bit gimmicky; but also, there are no bathing areas, and the changing areas are not very clean nor comfortable. Just not as relaxing as it sounds. The "fun" part is that the male/mixed bath (no women dare to use it) is outdoors and passerbys in the village can see the bathers (and vice versa).

It was already lunch time, and though neither the village or the baths seem crowded on this peak-season day, the restaurants were. We decided to go to another onsen and avoided the crowd. Next up was the Okyakuya (御客屋), the oldest ryokan in Kurokawa, founded in 1722. With just 10 guest rooms, it's a small inn, but very clean, very beautiful, very quiet. Even though we just walked in with our passes, we were treated like VIPs, and were led individually to our changing areas and so on. In fact, for the whole 45 minutes I was there, there was just one other male guest beside me in the very comfortable and beautiful outdoor bath. If one would stay inside the Kurokawa Village, I would highly recommend Okyakuya!

For lunch, we had curry at Warokuya. Not bad, and the portions are so large that one set lunch was enough for the two of us. 2,500¥ including drinks.

We then came to a realization that soaking in pretty hot onsens is tiring, as the circulatory system has to work hard to deal with the heat. So, it was not really just relaxing, and that the claim of weight loss by soaking in onsen can be true. Anyways, we decided that going to a third onsen right after lunch would not be a good idea. Instead, we would take it easy and just head out to our second onsen ryokan - Ayanosho (彩の庄) - in nearby Ota Onsen.

It was a short 10-minute drive from Kurokawa on an one-lane road over a hill. But the scenery and view of the two places cannot be more different. Kurokawa Onsen is in a valley with a winding river, while Ota Onsen is in a little quiet plain that's wide-open, with small farmlands. It's very quiet and the ryokan was very easy to find.

Following along. Looking for the next Ryokan.

now i am beginning to think that i should yield to one of these experiences...

It all sounds quite wonderful so far!

rhkkmk, yes you should, one night would be good for you.....


ray, loving this report. The wooden rotenburo is the best one imho at Sanga Ryokan. You are right above the river with a fabulous view from the bath. We also had a rotenburo attached to our room. As I understand there are only two at Sanga like that so we must have had the one you didn't. Our dinners were served in our room but breakfasts were in the dining room....we stayed two nights. Waiting for more!!!

Aloha!

Dec 29, 2012 pm

Like our stay at Sanga the previous night, I didn't actually "choose" Ayanosho. Rather, I just took whatever onsen ryokan was available nearby and easily bookable. I found Ayanosho on the big booking site JAPANiCAN for 40,000¥, which is a good 10,000¥ less than Sanga. Yet, it still offer a private bath in our "room", which turned out to be more like a tiny individual villa.

What's most unusual about the 14-room Ayanosho is that it has quite a bit of English/European elements, which is most apparent on their website. When we arrived, we realized why. In the middle of the complex is an old farm house, which was built exactly like a English home, sunroom and English-garden included. Ayanosho kept the western furniture there, and used it a gathering/coffee area for its guests, which is a nice little twist. In the main lobby and our room are more western furniture and stuff, but otherwise it's still a Japanese ryokan in practice.

Check-in was again very quick and the service was very attentive and friendly, if a little bit less formal than Sanga. Our room is a little bit smaller than the one in Sanga, but still very spacious, and the TV is actually larger. Like Sanga, our room is named after a tree, this time Nire (にれ) or elm. Again, a electric blanket is provided at the table to provide warmth, though we had to make our own tea this time. Our private outdoor bath is a bit more "artificial" than the very natural one at Sanga, and it's possible to adjust the temperature as there's also a cold water source. Again, two sizes of yukata were provided along with the haoris, though no extra scarves. The man's and woman's getas (wooden clogs) were, on the other hand, nicer than the generic Kurokawa ones at Sanga.

After settling in, we first relaxed in the sunroom in the English farm house and drank fresh coffees. Then we decided to use the large shared baths before dinner, and save our own private one for later.

The public baths are the same on the men's and women's side. Large and clean bathing areas, a very nice indoor bath and sauna, and then two levels of outdoor baths. Water was very very nice and the two levels of the outdoor pool provide some temperature gradient so we could find one that's comfortable. Neither the men's or women's side was crowded, and both of us enjoyed the onsen a lot.

Our Kaiseki dinner was served at 6pm (no choice) in our room private room in the dining area. This time, there were "only" 9 courses (vs 11 at Sanga), but just as amazing. Again, they emphasised local ingredients, so some of the dishes were similar, but never identical. In fact, they were a bit more "free" in creating the meals with a bit of western touch at times, including the dinnerware, while Sanga was 100% Japanese. And, somehow, they "guessed" that we were on our honeymoon, and gave a complimentary half-bottle of sparkling wine.

Having soaked in 5 different onsens during the day, both of us were actually very tired. As a result, we had to take a nap before we could go enjoy our private bath. The bedding, which was laid out while we were having dinner, was again very comfortable. There was no issue with sleeping on the tatami for two nights in a row.

It'd be hard not to compare the two ryokans, which are very different. As a foreign tourist staying in the area for one night, of course the clear choice would be something like Sanga for its 100% Japanese experience. But in our case, a second night at the vastly different Ayanosho was surprisingly fresh. No regrets at all for having to move away from Kurokawa. And this also lead to another realisation - while it would be nice not to switch accommodations, staying at the same place for two nights in a row would mean eating the same kaiseki meal twice. From what we observed, most of the guests at either place (and most of them Japanese) were staying only for one night.

hawaiiantraveler - We didn't have the option of eating in our room. But I figured that neither Bonny & I would be very comfortable sitting for 2.5 hours at the low table anyways.

Also, did you have basically the same meal two nights in a row then? Did they change anything in the menu for you?

Continue to read along with great interest...

rkkwan-some of the appetizers were similar like the sashimi and the basashi(raw horse meat) but the main dishes were all different. The first night was a seafood theme with a whole baked salmon and more seafood along with a wagyu steak dish as the main dishes while the second night it was more chicken and pork and a delicious beef sukiyaki dish complete with the fire and hotpot, vegetables, etc to cook it with. In all the ryokans we have been in the second nights meal has always been the best as they will be always trying to impress you.

Our breakfasts in the dining area were served traditional style on the floor with the low tables. Did you get to eat at a regular table for dinners? That would have been much better. Although in the comfort of our rooms we could get up and stretch or lay down in between servings. We would get back up to the table when we would hear our next serving being wheeled down the wooden hallway

Aloha!

Another good thing about staying two nights is that you can get the mixed rotenburo all to yourselves after 1:00pm or so. Sanga has a mixed rotenburo that was always occupied by several guys only throughout the normal ryokan day. We could enjoy those facilities and virtually the whole ryokan including the baths that had to be reserved to ourselves after we returned from our day trip and before check in time. You are right about hotsprings making you tired and relaxed. Wish I were soaking in one right now. What a stress buster.....

Many thanks! My cousins are thinking about Kurokawa, so I can tell them about staying for two nights vs one.

For our meals in the dining room at Sanga, we had a regular table. At Ayanosho, we had a private room with raised tatami and footwell under the table.

rkkwan,
Congratulations and thank you for your very interesting trip report.

I have rearranged my photos a bit. The overall folder is still:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/kyushu1212

Direct link to Part 1 - Fukuoka and Hita at:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/fukuokahita1212

And OVER 50 photos just at Ryokan Sanga, including some of the meals at:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/ryokansanga1212

Dec 30, 2012

We had another great breakfast at Ayanosho, and then checked out fairly early as we'd have a long travel day. Ayanosho's check-out time is actually noon, much later than the 10am at Sanga. We drove back to Kurokawa Onsen to visit the 3rd onsen using our passes - at Ikoi いこい. This ryokan is very popular, as well as highly rated on TripAdvisor as well (and so is Okyakuya next door). Their ladies' onsen is supposed to be very good for their skins. We found the baths very nice, but just too many visitors. Before we left, we left 50¥ for a hard-boiled egg outside the main entrance.

So, that was the first main highlight of our honeymoon trip, and we said goodbye to the Kurokawa Onsen area. We went east on Hwy 442 and picked up the scenic Yamanami Highway (Rte 11) to head south to Aso. Unfortunately, it was foggy and rainy. Still, with all the gold-colored fields in the winter, it was still quite pretty. We stopped at one of the road-side stalls that sold soft ice-cream (350¥), as the area is famous for its dairy farms.

Though we know the weather was lousy, we drove up to Mt. Aso anyways. I visited it before, in 1985 with my parents and sister in a tour group, but all I remembered was the aerial tramway ride. This time, we skipped the tramway and just paid 600¥ to drive to the top. As expected, couldn't see much, though we could smell the fumes. But what wasn't expected was the sudden change of weather, as a snowstorm blew in. A park attendant actually came to tell us to leave quickly. In under an hour, the road went from just wet to having an inch of accumulation.

Back in the valley, we picked up the busy Highway 57 towards Kumamoto (an expressway is just now being constructed to go across central Kyushu), and then got back on the Kyushu Expressway. The mountainous section just south of Kumamoto was very scenic with many long tunnels and bridges. What's weird about it is that the speed limit is a very low 80km/h (50MPH), though everybody drives around 100-110km/h. We made it to Kagoshima in about 2 hours, including a short break for some chicken yakitori BBQ. Toll for the 170km was a whopping 4,150¥.

The phone number I have for our hotel - REMM Kagoshima - wasn't its main one, so I couldn't locate it on the Clarion GPS, but it is on the main road with the streetcar, so no problem finding it to drop off our luggage. And no problem finding a gas station to fill up the tank and finding the JR Eki Kyushu car-return lot right behind Kagoshima-Chuo Station. One thing that's required in Japan is to have the gas station put a stamp to certify that they topped up the gas tank on a rental car.

So, final tally on the Toyota Vitz. Exactly 400km. Filled 24.51L at 153¥/L, for total of 3,938¥. 6.1275L/100km, or about 38MPG. Total toll we paid was much more, at 7,000¥. Incredibly we didn't pay for any parking. So, total cost of the car was about 37,500¥.

Loved the pictures, Ray. Your bride is lovely. Much happiness to you both.

Dec 30, 2012 pm

After we dropped off the car at JR behind Kagoshima-Chuo station, we walked through the station, shopped for a new camera bag at BIC Camera, and then took the streetcar (160¥) for 4 stops to our hotel, Remm Kagoshima, which is just one block from Tenmonkandori, the main shopping/dining street in Kagoshima.

Remm is part of the very large Hankyu group that also runs all the Dai-Ichi hotels in Japan. Very new property, great location and very inexpensive at only 6,100¥ for the room (no meals) when booked directly through their website. They're rated #5 on TripAdvisor for Kagoshima. Our double room has one full-size bed, and pretty well appointed, and a bit more spacious than than the "b" Ikebukuro I stayed at during my last trip to Japan. Yet, Bonny immediately noticed how small our room was (compared to all other places we'd stayed in), and that the only windows (2 of them) were in the bathroom. There are indeed no windows in the main room area.

I seriously thought about booking the Shiroyama Kanko on the hills above the city, as that was where I stayed in 1985. Very memorable stay that time, and it's still THE place in Kagoshima. But the rate was high and we were just staying spending the night before taking the ferry the next morning.

We made a mistake by asking the reception where to find "cheap" sushi, as we were told to try Mekkemon right across the street, a conveyor belt sushi place that's kind of quiet at that time of the day. Well, here we found that it's indeed possible to get mediocre sushi in Japan. Not that it was bad, just mediocre. Anyways, besides the ones on the conveyor belt, we could also order from a touchscreen, and a "shinkansen" on a separate track will deliver the ordered items. Tacky, but efficient.

Not satisfied with this dinner, we wandered around the Tenmonkan area. Lots of bars and clubs and general Japanese eateries, but only real sushi restaurant we saw was one called Sushi "Gin" or "silver" 寿司銀, one block behind the main road. Tiny restaurant with just 2 tables on tatamis and the stalls along the sushi chef's bar - very traditional. Good quality sushi but also very very expensive. We had like 8 pieces of sushi total and one drink and that cost over 4,000¥.

We quest for inexpensive, but good quality sushi in Japan would continue...

next time bring a fishing pole, ray

Don't worry, we eventually found some cheap good sushi...

Anyways, just posted 3rd album. At Kurokawa Onsen as well as our second ryokan - Ayanosho at (彩の庄) in nearby Ota Onsen (小田溫泉). Includes our 9-course kaiseki dinner and the menu (in Japanese only).

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/kurokawaotaonsen1212

Also, added to the previous album - photo of the menu at Sanga, as well as a couple of missing photos from the 11-course dinner and breakfast next morning:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/ryokansanga1212

Lovely pictures!

Your photos are very nice. And they make me hungry.

Dec 31, 2012 am. New Year's Eve.

From our room, we could see Sakarujima at an angle. The volcano was very quiet with no ashes coming out of it; unlike my visit in 1985 when I recall seeing locals carry umbrellas during the day in the city.

We had a cheap breakfast at the chain Tully's Coffee in the ground floor of our hotel. There's also a local bakery attached to it where we bought some baked goods. For the record, a tall latte cost 370¥, about the same as in the US or Hong Kong.

After checking out, we walked a block to catch bus #150 (150¥) at exactly 9:06a as scheduled, to the Kagoshima South Pier, for the 10:00a jetfoil to Yakushima. Well, that was the sole reason why we came to Kagoshima and spent the night.

I booked the tickets (7,700¥ per person) on the day it went online - Dec 1, two months before sailing. The website is in Japanese only, but I managed to book and pay for them with only minor problems. When we arrived at the pier at around 9:20a, it was already quite packed. We stood in one line to pick up the tickets, and then to another line for seat assignments. There are 6 jetfoil sailings to Yakashima daily in the winter - 4 to the larger port of Miyanoura, and 2 to Anbo. Our 10:00a ferry was to Anbo, via Tanegashima, an island to the northeast of Yakushima.

I am certainly no stranger to the Boeing 929 Jetfoils, growing up and living in Hong Kong. But this was my first ride of it outside the HK-Macau route. Our ferry was "Rocket", built by Kawasaki under license from Boeing in 1994, and is the newest of all jetfoils built by Boeing or Kawasaki. However, the interior looks like it has not been refurbished since new. While the agent for the route is "Tane Yaku Jetfoil", our ferry is actually owned and run by Cosmo Line.

We left Kagoshima right on time at 10, and from our right side upper-level window, we could see the town of Ibusuki as we passed it at around 10:40, and the prominent Kaimondake behind it. After that we were in open seas with fairly rough seas. No wonder the jetfoils are used here rather than catamarans. At 11:40, we dropped off about 70% of the passengers at Nishinoomote on Tanegashima, and finally arrived Anbo on Yakushima at 12:45p. 5 minutes late, probably due to rough seas. Before arrival, they stopped the live TV to show us a nice video about Yakushima and hiking on Yakushima.

While approaching Yakushima, the view of the island reminded me of another island paradise I've been to, which is Kauai; but Yakushima seem more mysterious. It is about 60% the size of Kauai, but has only about 1/4 the population. Its highest peak, at 1,935m, is also about 300m higher than that on Kauai. But when we walked out of the quiet pier, what came to our mind was the village in Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" 崖の上のポニョ.

loving all the details and photos..

Looking. For more.

Your delicious beef Sukiyaki brings back very happy memories of Japanese food.

I think it's got to be my favourite dish.

And many congratulations to you both !!!

Muck

Dec 31, 2012 pm

Anbo is a very quiet fishing village and port. Few reasons I pick the ferry here - the 10am departure from Kagoshima seemed great, our hotel is closer to Anbo than Miyanoura, and we got to see Tanegashima during the stop. But I didn't do my homework very well in printing out directions to get to Orix Rent-A-Car from the port. Our ferry only has about 40 people on this second leg arriving at Anbo, and 5 minutes after we get off, the pier was deserted. And the local posted map didn't show Orix.

We walked up from the pier to the village on the bluff, and had to ask 3 times where Orix is. But this being Japan, everybody was very helpful in guiding us. Took us about 20 minutes total to get the rental place. Then, we had a second problem - the one-and-only clerk there was not there. We walked into the travel agent next door, and they kindly called the Orix lady on her cell to get her back to the office.

This place was really THAT sleepy - I'd bet that we were the only rental from this location for them all day! Anyways, she came back within in a few minutes, did our paperwork, but then we had our ONE AND ONLY problem with language during our whole trip. This lady doesn't speak any English at all, and while we understood that she told us their office doesn't have a credit card machine to charge us, we didn't quite understand what she wanted to do. (Actually, she wanted us to drive with her to the airport location about 15 minutes away to run the card). After a while, we realized the problem, and Bonny pulled out a stack of cash - problem solved.

The car we rented is a 660cc K-class Daihatsu Move. This one was quite old, with 100K km, and rust and dents all over. Apparently, they'd run the cars to the ground before replacing them on the island. It came with factory GPS (Japanese only), but on this island it wasn't really necessary. Like our rental from Fukuoka to Kagoshima, we booked via ToCoo. Total cost 13,500¥ for 48 hours.

First time I drive a K-class vehicle. Pretty fun, though the engine was loud whenever we went up the smallest incline. On Yakushima, aside from taxis, there are really no cars larger than the K-class or the slightly larger sub-compact. Even the fire trucks seem miniaturized. We stopped at Mosburger in Anbo for a quick lunch and then followed the circumferential highway clockwise towards our hotel. It was about 15 minutes from Anbo.

---

Now, let me back up a bit and explain why and how we decided on coming to Yakushima. Even though we decided to honeymoon in Kyushu early on, I didn't actually plan on the detail until start of October. I bought a couple of Taiwanese guidebooks and didn't think about Yakushima until Bonny flipped through the pages and showed a lot of interest. Jetfoil in, plane out, rental car were decided, but the 2-night lodging became a problem.

There are very few hotels bookable online from any of the major international AND Japanese booking sites, and for those handful bookable, they don't look attractive or the prices seem prett high (being huge holiday in Japan). Then I saw the Sankara Hotel & Spa, basically a Bali/Malaysian style resort with just 29 rooms total. Clearly the most expensive place to stay on the island by a mile, but this was our honeymoon and Yakushima was going to be our 2nd highlight of the trip, so I decided to give it a shot.

I booked 2 nights in an upper-level villa. Website said 53 sq meter (570 sq ft), but it seem much larger than our 700 sq ft home in Hong Kong. Cost was 80,000¥ per night, including dinner at their casual French restaurant and breakfast. About 10 days prior to our arrival, I got an email from them telling us we could upgrade our dinner to a full tasting menu dinner in their haute French restaurant for 6,000¥ per person extra. We decided to do that for our first night, which was New Year's Eve.

Then just a couple of days before we left Hong Kong, I got a personal phone call from a butler there, asking about our flight into Yakushima so that he could arrange for the complimentary transfer! Now, that is service! Regrettably, I told him we would not need that.

Dec 31, 2012 evening

Our villa was magnificent and service was amazing at the Sankara. Everybody stopped whatever they were doing to greet us wherever we went. We had our own butler who took care of everything and suggested us what to do on Yakushima. Our dilemma how had become whether we should spend more time enjoying the hotel, or to enjoy the rest of the island. Only thing was that we didn't get much of a view from the balcony of our villa - had to go up to pool deck of the main building to really enjoy the view of the Pacific. Eventually, we got ourselves together and drove to the nearby Senpiro-no-taki Falls (千尋の滝), one of the two main waterfalls of the island. Very nice and most importantly, very quiet. Only a few visitors to this main site on this New Year's Eve.

We went back to our hotel, did our laundry (3 washer-dryers to use, with complimentary detergent and softener), and then went to the restaurant Okas for our 9-course tasting menu (6,000¥ extra per person). What's most special about the meal was that, not unlike at the ryokans in Kurokawa, they really emphasized on using local ingredients. That's different from having French in Hong Kong where they just do French, since there's nothing local a chef can use. Examples include the fishes from nearby and Kagoshima; local sweet potatoes, shiitake mushrooms and the Ponkan oranges.

We were given a very private table by the window; more interesting would be a table with a view of the open kitchen. One thing expensive was the wine. They stock very expensive stuff, with no bottle of red under 10,000¥. And glass of house red is 2,500¥.

An interesting touch was that before we were served coffee and petit fours, they gave us a special course - a bowl of Toshikashi Soba (年越し蕎麦). Turned out it's a tradition for Japanese to eat soba just before midnight on New Year's Eve. Very nice touch.

4th album - Mount Aso, Kagoshima and the Jetfoil ride to Yakushima posted:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/asokagoshima1212

rkkwan
Great slideshow, I'm following along closely as my wife and I will be tracing some of your footsteps in May. The disappointment at not booking the Sankara has been assuaged by knowing the price of their house wine. We're in the Yakushima Iwasaki for two nights in May, hopefully...

You and HT's description of renting a car in Kyushu/Yakushima makes me want to do it although it has been hard to convince the person I'm related to by marriage to ride along.
I live on Kauai and one of the reasons of our wanting to visit Yakushima is the similarities of the two islands although I'm sure they are totally different.

Thanks for taking the time to do this trip report.
It definitely makes planning easier to see the trials and tribulations of those who have gone before.
Your description of the rental situation at Anbo makes one realize the thin line between travel serendipity and waiting 2 hours at a rainy bus stop while your pre-paid kaiseki dinner gets further and further away.

Sorry for the delay. Busy over the weekend and having a dental surgery done. Continuing on...

Jan 1, 2013 New Year's Day

After a great night sleep, and we headed up to the main restaurant in Sankara for our breakfast. It's buffet, with made-to-order eggs, plus a platter of Japanese breakfast items. Buffet has both western and Japanese items as well, and their baked goods were phenomenal.

Following the advice of our butler, Aki-San, we decided to go hiking at Yakusugi Land at the end of one of the few roads into the mountain, elevation of about 1,000m, and about an hour drive from our hotel (or 45 minutes from Anbo, where we stopped for some pictures). The road was probably used for lodging in the old days, and part of it quite narrow (and being widened). We started to see the indigenous Yaku Macaque monkeys along the roadside, and when we got up to the parking area, there was a young Yakushima Deer (Yakushika) hanging around. Not afraid of humans, we took a bunch of pictures of it (more about it later). We are now in Hayao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" environ.

Yakusugi Land is a small area inside the National Park as well as the UNESCO World Heritage site, that is better maintained with well-marked trails for the casual hikers and visitors. Fee is a very modest 300¥, and bathroom at the visitor center is 100¥ donation. There are 4 marked trail-loops, for 30, 50, 80 and 150-minute hikes. The first two loops are much easier, but since we had the time, we chose the 150-minute one. Busy taking photos of the cedar forest and the streams and suspension bridge, I forgot to check our GPS for altitude, but I suspected we climbed for about 200-300m at the top. With a break for snack, it actually took us about 210 minutes to finish the 150-minute hike. Very well worth the trip.

When we got back to the parking lot, we saw that young deer again. We figured that it couldn't have been lost, but was probably orphaned and were fed by the park rangers/workers, and actually live right there and become a mascot for the park.

Tired but very happy, we drove back to Sankara for a Thai massage. They had emailed me information about their spa, but we didn't commit until arrival. They actually had very experienced Thai masseurs on premise at that time doing training. My first time having an authentic Thai massage (where I was bent into a pretzel), and it was awesome. Cost was a very reasonable 16,900¥ per person for 90 minutes, but in reality it went for almost 2 hours.

Dinner was at the main restaurant with 4-course casual French, and included in the room rate. One choose from one of 5 appetizers, soup or a pasta, about 10 entrees, and 5 desserts. Some of the items have extra - like the 880¥ soufflé I ordered. Again, drinks are fairly expensive - 2 glasses of red and a beer cost 4,400¥.

Also, just posted first album of Yakushima (and 5th album overall):

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/yakushimaone1212

Jan 2 am.

Very sadly, we had to leave the beautiful Sankara soon after breakfast. Breakfast was similar to the previous day, but apparently the Japanese platter was only for the first morning of a stay. Some of the buffet items were also a bit different from the morning before. At check-out, we were given a gift - which was a loaf of bread. Perfect for our lunch.

We picked up the circumferential highway once again, and drove clock-wise to explore the west side of the island before returning to the airport. Along the way, we passed through a few towns and realized there are actually a lot of minshukus (民宿), the Japanese B&Bs along the way. Apparently, most of the Japanese visitors probably stay at these places rather than the few hotels on the island. If I had spent more time in doing research, I probably would be able to find a few online. In fact, some of the signs we saw were in English.

Along the way, we stopped to see the Kaichu Onsen in Harauchi (平内海中温泉), which is right next to the ocean and is only accessible during certain levels of the tide. Then the magnificent Oko-no-taki Falls (大川の滝, Big River Falls), which is the largest on the island, on the SW side. After that, the roadway narrows to single-lane, and we were again inside National Park and UNESCO World Heritage boundary. The Seibu-Rindo or Western Forest Roadway (西部林道) was the highlight of the round-island highway, as we saw numerous macaques and deers along the way. Most significantly, both species and the humans (i.e. the few cars along this little road) seem to be co-existing happily.

Soon, we were out of the woods and saw villages and towns again. We stopped briefly at the beach at Nagata (永田), where turtles eggs are hatched in the summer. Finally, we drove through Miyanoura, the largest town and port on Yakushima, and arrived soon at the airport. There was one more place I would like to visit, which is Shiratani Unsuikyo (白谷雲水峽), the ravine that inspired Hayao Mizayaki in "Princess Mononoke". But I saw that as a very good reason to come back to Yakushima in the future.

We drove for exactly 150km on the island and used exactly 10L of fuel. Gasoline is more expensive on the island, at 174¥/L. So, the cost was 1740¥, and the little Daihatsu used 6.66L/100km, or about 35.3MPG, which is not so great, since it's actually less efficient than our trip with the Toyota Vitz.

The Yakushima airport is a tiny building, with no jetway, and basically just a single waiting room. We took the once-a-day Japan Air Commuter (JAL affiliate, based in Kagoshima) Saab 340A flight back to Fukuoka. My first flight on the Saab for the 63-minute flight. Only service on this flight was a couple of Okinawa candies. No drinks no nothing. Yet, because it was during peak season, we paid full fare of 25,900¥ per person.

[Alternatives I had considered include taking the jetfoil back for 7,700¥ plus about 10,000¥ for the Shinkansen back to Fukuoka, but that wouldn't be cheap either. Or keep our first rental and drive it back to Fukuoka - while that saves the steep dropoff fees, it means gas, the high toll, extra rental cost, and the long drive back north.]

Posted another album. New Year's Day. Our full day on Yakushima with hiking in Yakusugi Land, Anbo, more Sankara, and our "casual" dinner there.

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/yakushimatwo0113

Posted another album. Will finish off the TR and post last album shortly:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/yakushimathree0113

Beautiful sunny day and lovely pictures. Looks like you two had a wonderful time and many fond Yakushima memories. Thanks for sharing!

Aloha!

Jan 2 pm.

Beautiful day for flying, and we got good views from the left side of the Saab 340B for the 63 minute flight back to Fukuoka. On approach, we flew right over the Tenjin area of Fukuoka and had a good view of Hakata station as well.

Took the subway back to Hakata and checked-in once again at the Crowne Plaza ANA. Again we spent 25,000 Priority Club points, but this time they didn't offer us to upgrade and we didn't ask. The standard twin room is a bit on the small side, but still quite decent. Up to regular 4* standard in the US, I will say.

And like a week prior, we took the 100¥ bus to head to Nakasu (中洲) as we wanted to eat at a yatai once again. The bus was extremely packed on this huge shopping day in Japan. And traffic was bad as well. We should have just walked over. Anyways, the riverfront was much busier than a week ago, and most of the yatais were full. Some put out extra tables outside, even though it was a very chilly evening. We found one named Sanyu (さんゆう) that served mainly ramen with a couple of open seats inside. Besides ramen, we also had "oden" (おでん), the stew with daikon, konjac, and other stuff. Total cost: 2,400¥.

Still a bit early, we decided to walk along the main Kokutai Road towards Tenjin. Then we saw this "standing sushi bar" called Shogun, with lots of sushi starting at 75¥. We decided to try it, and ended up having a whole bunch (still only 1,150¥). Very fresh, excellent quality and decent size. So, finally, on our last night in Japan, we found that elusive "good and cheap" sushi.

We continued our walk to Tenjin, but was very disappointed to find that all the major stores, including the huge Daimaru and Seibu department stores, close at 8p, even on Jan 2, the big shopping day with the "lucky bags" being on sale. And most of the stores in the Tenjin Underground City were also closing. We still strolled along the underground and then took a 100¥ bus back to the Crowne Plaza.

Jan 3.

Last day of our trip, we passed on the expensive breakfast at the Crowne Plaza ANA once again, and decided to just grab whatever we passed by while walking to the Kushida Shrine (櫛田神社). On the main street leading from the Hakata Station, we saw the chain beef bowl restaurant Matsuya (松屋), which I had eaten before in Kyoto. Our breakfast set cost 390¥ and 440¥ respectively.

Continued to the Kushida Shrine, which is the home of the patron saints of Hakata. On this 3rd day of the year, there was a long but moving line to ring the bell in front of the main hall. Even though it was cold with flurries, we decided to do it as well. The wait was around 20 minutes. Lots of worshippers getting their 50¥ fortune slips as well as buying various blessing ornaments and stuff. Quite interesting. And in the back of the shrine are a bunch of food stalls. We had some yakitori BBQ.

We walked back to Hakata Station and did some shopping at the food section in the basement of the Hankyu department store. They sell really amazing stuff there. We just bought a little for some friends and my parents there, as well as a couple of lunch boxes for ourselves. After check-out, we took the subway back to FUK. Our Dragonair flight was delayed for about an hour due to late arrival caused bad weather in some parts of China - more time for us to shop at the airport. But otherwise, it was an uneventful flight back to Hong Kong.

Thanks for reading, and I will post the last album shortly.

Here's the last album. Back in Fukuoka.

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/fukuokatwo0113

And this is the link to the overall folder with all eight albums:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/kyushu1212