Days 19 & 20 – Back to the Beach & Lost in Japan

After Mr Goni the Typhoon had now moved onto bigger and better things, I was free to venture outside again and was adamant I’d get to the sea.

It was as humid as ever although the sun was not blazing out today.  In the early afternoon when the winds had truly gone, I headed to the beach close to my hotel just to wander by the seal wall and chill out for a bit.

As usual, there was nobody about and it was proper relaxing.  I just hung about on the pier type thing for a couple of hours and then headed back.  I planned to head to the last beach on my list, Yoshino tomorrow.

I went for dinner at my favourite place tonight.  I had the Miyako beef this time and it was nice but no where near as good as the famous Hida Beef (in Takayama) and Kobe Beef (in Kobe).

The day had partly been written off by Goni saying its farewells but I am glad I actually managed to get out today.

The rest of the evening consisted of watching ‘American Horror Story’ Season 1 and watching The Arsenal at 4a.m after a few hours kip.

Today, day 20, was interesting! The bus service here is very infrequent (every 2-3 hours) and Yoshino beach was too far for even me to contemplate walking it so a bus it was.  I headed towards where I thought the bus stop was according to Google maps and when I’d got there (25 min walk) I’d realised it was not the place.  Yesterday, on my wander I had noticed a bus station by the port so I headed there.

When I got to the port, I found out that was actually the station I was looking for and Google Maps just sold me a stinker.  The issue was as I rocked up, the bus passed me on the road further up so I knew I had missed it.  I checked the timetable and the next one was 2 hours from now so I went back, got some lunch and returned at 2pm.

The bus took a fair amount of time to get to the bus stop, because this beach was the other end of the island, right at the corner of the island in fact.  The bus drive told me my stop was here and the beach was down and right, it seemed a bit odd because there was no sign of the sea.

So I followed his direction and it quickly became apparent that this was not going to be a short walk.  I was walking through concrete roads but in the middle of a network of fields with high crops.  It was full of dragonflies, frogs and butterflies the size of ravens.  After about 30 mins of walking I was getting a bit irate but it was only going to get much much worse.

When I got to the end, I could see the see and more worrying, the lighthouse at the end of the island.  I had read about this but did not intend to see it as I thought it would be too far.  When I got to the end of the particular concrete track I was on, I came to a ledge which just dropped into masses of crops.

I was really getting annoyed now and managed to walk over a wall onto another concrete path.  I had already started panicking about how the hell I was going to get back to that bus stop, I had been taking photos on the way of some key things so I could spot them on the way back.  I tried to follow the sea and I walked miles, on these roads and eventually came to the clifftops where the lighthouse was situated.

Part of me was just glad to be out of the crop fields but even though the scenery was amazing by the cliffs, I was concerned I could not even see the beach I was trying to get to!

There was absolutely nobody around the mass crop fields and these roads either so I was completely stuffed if I wanted to get back or find this beach.  I wandered all the way back up the main road from the lighthouse and thankfully was able to ask a car parked up which direction Yoshino beach was.  They seemed surprised I was walking but I was just happy to be going in the right direction.

I was dripping at this point and I left at 2pm and it was 4:15 and I had not even got to this beach yet.  After negotiating more roads with dragonflies and butterflies like ravens I found a sign that said Yoshino beach 1.3km so I was over the moon.

I eventually got to Yoshino Beach parking area at 16:40.  I was walking through the car park and somebody ran after me saying did I want to pay for the shuttle bus and toilet services.  I said no naturally, I mean what was the point of a shuttle bus when I was there?  I quickly realised the beach was still 400m away but started walking.  Thankfully, the guy stopped and dropped me off at the beach anyway.

The beach was cool as it was a coral beach, but I was not in the mood for swimming or snorkelling so I just wandered the beach , took some photos and videod some crabs knocking about.

The beach as usual was totally deserted, so after an hour and half or so I walked back up the 400m to the car park and everybody had gone.  I had no intention of finding that bus stop really so I wanted to get a taxi but had no where to get one from.

I started walking up a main road and realised it was a ghost town so I spotted an entrance to some crop fields and decided to give it a go hoping they were the same network of ones I was in.  I don’t think they were…

The only help I came about was a farmer who had cows in these fields who I don’t think could speak Japanese let alone English.  I continued to walk and found another main road.  This time it said 18km to Hirara which is where I wanted to go.

I had no intention of walking 18km but I wanted to find a town or a shop where I could call a taxi.  I thought it would be best to at least walk in the right direction.

There was just absolutely nothing at all.  I was walking (in flip flops), dragging my feet and starting to get worried because it was not early and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do.  My phone battery had died too.

I was proper waning now and was craving random things from home, things I don’t even have much when in the UK.  I was craving flapjacks, full english, grapes, chocolate fingers and innocent orange juice.  I reckon I was losing it because at one point I even thought about ‘Homes Under the Hammer’!

I had a proper scare also when two Rottweilers on chains started charging at me as I walked past this farm thing.  I was absolutely terrified, and this started to make me even more worried that I was completely lost, in a random ghost town (not even a town, a road with crops) with no phone or means of getting back.

I had been walking for a long time, but I got a coke from a vending machine (they are everywhere, even in the sticks) and a guy was riding a bike.  I called him to stop and he did.  I showed him my bus timetable and asked where to get a taxi.  He pointed out that there was a taxi number on the bus timetable, so I asked him where the nearest town was so I could call one from there. He pointed me in the direction of araghaki or somewhere and I was happy that I was going in a direction that should find me in a town.

I walked another 10 minutes maybe and the guy on the bike must have seen by my face I was pretty lumbered and probably detected the fear in me!  As I walked along this massive freeway with crops either side, a car pulled up by the side of me.  He could not speak a word of English but it was the bike man, and he had gone home, dumped his bike, jumped in his car and driven to pick me up.

All he did was say ‘hotel’ and I said which one I was in and he opened his car door and gestured to get in.  He drove me 25-30 minutes to my hotel, I tried to make conversation on the way by telling him about where I had been in Japan, how I like Japanese food etc.

He drove me right up to my hotel, and blankly refused any money (even though I tried otherwise, I kind of knew the Japanese would not ask or accept payment).  I could not believe what this guy had done, I was getting towards the frightened stage given it was getting dark and I was knackered!  The least I could do was drop the Western stuff and practice the teachings of my Japanese etiquette book.  I said all the thank you’s in Japanese and English and bowed without turning my back on him until he was out of sight.  My love for the Japanese people has grown even more so today after that.  I could not believe this guy had ditched his bike ride and hopped in the car to pick up a random tourist.  When I said the Hirara port, he even refused that and asked for my hotel so could take me to the doorstep.  What an absolute hero!

So it was pretty traumatic day to be honest, I shall not be returning to Yoshino tomorrow with their terrible bus service.  I shall be going to the beach which is 3 minute walk from me, I shall be eating at the restaurant which is a 3 minute walk from me and I shall not be moving further than that on my last full day in Miyakojima.

I do love a massive wander, but that was way too much, too random and too frightening.  I have not got lost like that since me and Billy got lost in Swansea in our first week at Uni.  The difference being Swansea is a massive city, the signs are in English (and Welsh), and I could have used my mobile!

I was feeling sorry for myself when I got back so I went to the American place for a burger and chips which sorted me out.

I took some photos of the kind of places I was stranded in today which will remind me of the traumatic journey but on the plus side, I did get to see Cape Higashihenna which I did not intend to do, and I have kind of ticked Yoshino beach off the list.

Last full day in Miyakojima tomorrow, and I intend to make it a super relaxing one as on Thursday I fly back to Osaka for the last leg of my trip and a lot of travelling after that to tick off the remaining places on my itinerary (Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kumamoto, Shimabara, Nagasaki, Tokyo).