Kagoshima (17th to 20th January)

We headed south to Kagoshima, a few days earlier than originally planned, with the intention of heading down to the islands in our minds. It was time for a bit of warmth and some outdoors adventure and the islands looked set to promise that - not extreme heat, just jeans a t shirt kind of weather - just what we are after. Kagoshima, itself, delivered lovely weather upon arrival. Gorgeous sunshine shone down on us as we checked into a cheap little hostel and trekked down to the port to find out about our tickets. I have picked up some kind of virus and have been quivering and shaking for a few days, so the sun on my face felt lovely. We managed to find out all about the ferries and were fuelled with excitement at the prospect of heading south and more so that for the first time in 60 years China and Taiwan have opened up their flight and ferry routes so we would be able to sail all the way down to Taiwan and on to China, perfect. Sadly, the next day we find out that yes China and Taiwan have opened up but Japan and Taiwan have closed their ferry route, so our travel plans are thrown up in the air completely.

No worries, we’ll go to South Korea instead. Ok so it will be freezing, but it will be worth it and we can put up with cold for a few days. So straight on the phone we get to book our ferry from South Korea to China, in order that we have all our papers in place to book our ferry into the country. Luck is not on our side though, there is a national holiday and so no ferries for the whole week that we are looking to leave Korea, which means we would be there for about two weeks, when we were only after one. Ordinarily we wouldn’t mind but it will be bitterly cold and we know nothing about the country and can’t get much guide info online so with this in mind it seems that we are opting to head straight to China. We are disappointed as all our exciting plans seems to have sizzled away but then we will end up with more time to visit Vietnam, maybe pop into Laos and ultimately have more time in India and we are thinking now that it might be possible to get over to Dubai by boat before we head home. (Looks like we are flying as the Central Asia route is not possible due to weather, the Middle East route not possible due to politics and the Africa route a little dodgy due to Somalian pirates!)

Anyway, with all routes blocked and all plans changed we can at least enjoy a few days on relative warmth in Kagoshima right? Wrong! We wake up to the worst rain imaginable and my virus is well and truly trying to kill me! Well, maybe not quite that bad, but it sure is working against me! We decide to jump on the train to Ibushki, where there is apparently the world’s only natural hot sand bath. It takes over an hour and all the while I am burning up and coming over all shivery! I’m thinking burying my already more than slightly claustrophobic self in heavy sand, when feeling quite so dodge, is not the best idea! None the less, if this is the world’s only natural hot sand bath I’m clearly not going to give it a miss. And actually it turns out to be ok, well more than ok, it turns out to be wonderful! We start off in glorious hot baths (separate men’s and women’s of course) before donning our Yukatas (Stu has on my short one, and I his long men’s one by mistake, and everyone is laughing - at him though, not me!) We walk out into the cold sea air and quickly totter to the sand bath, where little old women are waiting to bury us deep in the gorgeously warm rough sand. I whimp out to start with and keep my arms out and get buried so super shallow that I get cold so I call sweet little old burial women over to cover me up more! It’s actually a great feeling and the heat does wonders for my burning back. We can hear the waves lapping the shore, though can’t quite see them as the sand has been sheltered with bamboo coverings for the winter, whereas in the summer, it’s open to the water front. After half an hour of steaming away, we head back indoors for more hot bathing before heading back to the station, where we have time enough to kill for Stu to boil an egg in the station’s hot fountain (!) before we jump on the train and head back. And straight to bed for some TLC it is for me. That is after we enjoy another Mexican wrap from the shop we found the night before. Stu said he wouldn’t worry about me until I went of my food and when I couldn’t force down the delicious wrap, he knew something was seriously up! Me not eating - this is major!

Next day, feeling a lot better, we head to Sakarujima, on the Satsuma Peninnisula, home of one active volcano, a very cool lave field, lots of satsumas (hence the name), a lovely public foot spa and a cracking onsen. The onsen was divine. As it is within holy grounds you have to go through a tora as you walk into it and also it i, unusually, mixed. As such you have to wear a dressing gown . Nestling under a holy tree with a shrine and right on the ocean’s edge it was so picture perfect, especially as the sun set gloriously over the sea, with reds and oranges splashing across the sky and sparkling in the water’s shimmery reflections. For dinner we headed into the backstreets of Kagoshima, trying to find a local little joint to enjoy local treats. After an age of looking for a cheap sushi joint we opted for a quaint little place that looked like it had never changed in all of it’s working years. With a few options presented to us in pictures we ended up with some obscure dishes including chicken sushi - otherwise known as raw chicken. So when in Rome and all that.... it actually wasn’t so bad, in fact rather tasty which goes to show just how pathetically cautious we are in England! The restaurant was a riot. A team of local business men ordered us local firewater and when they left and a drunken group of friends came in they tried to get us drunk along with them, buying us beer. The Grandmother who cooked (or served up, in the case of the raw chicken) seemed quite famous with newspaper cuttings about her up on the walls and everyone delighted in having some foreigners enjoy the atmosphere of this very local place! Finally, plenty of laughs, loads of photos and a few drinks later we headed back, feeling lucky in our local find!

After the beauty of Satsuma we headed for the not so beautiful port town of Shimoneski, home to the famous blow fish meal which done wrong can kill you pretty darn quickly. Done right or wrong, there was no chance of us trying out the local food on this occasion! Shimoneski has little of any interest, aside from a booming Pachinko and gambling scene and so we spent the afternoon in the less than exciting local shopping centre and post office, while our night was spent in an odd little guest house full of ferry workers and grumpy old women!