Ibusuki and Kagoshima

Despite the heavy rain in Hong Kong, the flight could take off with a short delay. It was a small plane, housing 180 passengers, but the flight journey was not smooth at all. I later learned that a flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo was cancelled on the day, and I felt blessed that the small plane could land on Japan and enable me to meet my friend from Tokyo.  

It was a sunny day in Kagoshima and a lovely drive from this tiny airport. The airport seems to be located among farms here and there, so the highway embraces stunning views of greenery and mountains. It was a good start of my 5-day journey as I love mountains so much.  

We didn’t stay in Hiroshima or Kagoshima city but headed directly to Ibusuki, a small town in the southern end of Japan. Despite the short distance, half of the roads are along the seaside and not along the highways, so the drive takes as long as 2 hours.

My friend, who drives the car, found that there are few streetlights in Ibusuki, so she focused on her driving and aimed at getting there before it got dark as we were going to stay in a hotel located on the mountain.  

I brought her a small Bluetooth speaker which is useful to help her awake while driving a long way. It also gave us some good entertainment when connected to our phones or tablets.  These speakers were a new idea in 2010s. We could now enjoy music with just our mobile phone.

Driving in Japan is easy because the navigation system has become a popular feature in rental cars. It is very reliable despite my friend sometimes said, “Did the navigation tell a lie?”

You can key in the telephone number of the destination, and it will give you detailed directions to an unknown land, and update you the traffic condition of certain roads.

After exactly 2 hours before it got dark, here we were, on the mountain, at the Ibusuki Bay Terrace Hotel (hotel name seemed to be changed). Although rooms come in different sizes in either Japanese or Western style, every single room is spacious and is facing the seaside, so you need not worry about the view when you make a booking. All rooms are equally stunning!  The hotel staff are very friendly and polite. They helped us with the luggage, and set up the Wi-Fi router. They also gave us a carnation each as we checked in on a Mother’s Day.

I was a bit confused about the slippers, one pair for room use while the other is for use when walking around the hotel. Although it’s a Japanese tradition, I usually walk around barefoot within the room.

We planned the itinerary for the next day, but the heavy rain just ruined our well-thought plan.  

We hoped to see the lake, driving to the southernmost cape of the Satsuma peninsula, or try the hot spring next to the ocean. This all just didn’t happen as the rain was non-stop, so our new plan was to just stay dry in the indoor museums.

I have to mention that it is a lovely gesture that many hotels in Kagoshima Prefecture have spare umbrellas for guests’ use.  Alright, the mountain was so foggy. We could hardly see the roads along the mountains.

Thanks to my friend’s good driving skill, we could still drive around the windy mountain roads and go to several tourist spots.

Before we explored the area, we found a light therapy spot in the hotel which was set up by the cancer research centre. You simply lie on the ground in an enclosed “cage”.

Lights of different colours come in all directions and in different forms around the cage. Close your eyes and feel it for 20 minutes. I’m not sure about its effect, but it’s fun to do so.

I did not mean to wake up early, but I was awake early in the morning when I saw the bright light through the window.

It seemed to be a sunny day, and it was 5:10am in the morning. Since it didn’t look foggy at all, I stayed awake to wait for sunrise. Isn’t it cool that you can sit comfortably in a hotel room, watching the sunrise? 

I remember I had to wake up at 4:30am and rode up the mountains for 20 minutes before going to a spot waiting for sunrise in Nepal. And there was no guarantee of whether you could see the sun rise at all. 

The sun not only gives me a warm feeling but a happy feeling. How exciting to see the sun going up right outside the big window. The scenery was changing every single minute. 

Before breakfast, I also had a morning stroll around the mountain area. I wish I had more time to do a hike before leaving, since the weather was just perfect and the scenery is divine. 

We made use of the good weather to enjoy nature a lot on this day. We first passed by Lake Ikeda, a Japanese version of Loch Ness. Here you can see the Kaimon mountain (Kaimondake) from the lake.

We then headed to the southernmost cape at Kagoshima Perfecture – Nagasakibana. I could almost feel as if I were invincible being at the end of the Satsuma peninsula with the breathtaking view. No regrets making a trip to Ibusuki.

If Mont Saint-Michel is a popular tourist spot in Normandy, France, Chirin should be as popular as that little island. There is no church on the little island. But this little island, similar to Mont Saint-Michel, is connected to the main island of Ibusuki and accessible on foot at low tide, i.e. from around 9:30am to before 2pm in mid-May. We didn’t have enough time to walk to the island, but we could see it from a distance. I shall really either try walking to Chirin or Mont Saint Michel one day.

There is a lot to offer in Ibusuki, like the sand baths along the beach. I tried it once in Beppu and didn’t have the urge to try a second time. After my friend tried it, she thought so, too! It is an experience but just cannot be compared to hot springs.  

Those who plan to go to Ibusuki, don’t forget to bring a towel to enjoy the hot spring in Healthy Land. The outdoor onsen is small but so close to the sea. You will almost think the hot spring is connected to the sea when seeing it from a distance. It was my first experience to soak in a hot spring so close to the sea! Fantastic!  

We almost did not have time for lunch since we had to catch up with different tourist attractions before leaving for Kagoshima. Luckily, we could find a variety of food options in a service centre along the highway. The black pork ramen was very tasty, and was served separately with the sauce. Black pork is one of the local delicacies apart from taro, radish, tea and black beef.

As my friend is afraid of volcanoes, she skipped the trip to Kagoshima and made a stop at Shiroyama Observatory in Kagoshima city just before returning the car to the airport. 

Everybody told me that Kagoshima is not clean because volcano ashes were blown to the city from time to time. Well, we learned from a volunteer guide at the Observatory that there were fewer eruptions that year. Normally, the volcano has over 800 eruptions in a year. The last massive eruption was in August 2013, covering the whole Kagoshima city with thick ash. Maybe a calm, fine day like this is better for enjoying the volcano view.