July 17th (or early morning of 18th): After enjoying the best two days of the Giom Matsuri in Kyoto, we’ll be going to Hiroshima. Just to the south is an island with the famous Itsukushima Shrine; a ferry to get there leaves from the river in the Peace Gardens. Also in Hiroshima is the Mazda factory museum, and the famous “A-Bomb Dome” (the skeleton of a building vaporised by the bomb) but other than that, there’s not really a lot here…
A short trip further around the bay, in the town of Kure, is a naval dockyard and the Yamato Museum. From here a ferry will take us to Matsuyama. There’s not really a lot to do here, but it has a nice youth hostel which happens to be on the way to the next destination.
From Matsuyama we’ll be taking a train to another harbour further around the island, taking us to Beppu, famous for its hot springs which come in a variety of different colours. Carrying on, we get to Nagasaki. There is a lot to do here. Besides the Peace Gardens and Atom Bomb Museum, there’s also Temple Row running along the edge of the city, Dejima next to the marina of ancient ships, penguins, amongst other things. A fair trek to the north, is Holland. No joke.
The next stop is Aso Volcano region, which I want to go to more every time I see photos of it. No would be a good day to hire out a car. There’s a helicopter tour available for 5000Y, hot springs (occupied by wild monkeys though), and youth hostels, though they don’t seem all that great. If we chose to hire a car, the best place to do so would be from the nearby town of Kumamoto, which has a pretty castle and gardens (just like every other city).
July 21st, Arrive at Kagoshima, not really a lot to do here, but the local airport is where we’ll be flying from early the next morning. Destination: Amami-Oshima, one of the larger islands out to the south, from which the solar eclipse will be visible. The flight there should also give a great view of Sakurajima Volcano island.
The eclipse will only last a few minutes, but it’s best to get there early to snatch the best spot from thousands of other tourists. The further north we can get, the better, which is good as the airport is near the northern tip of the island. To the south, away from the airport and coastal towns, the island is unspoilt jungle. While I’d love to take a kayak tour, the jungle is famous for deadly snakes unique to this island, so I’m not sure I want to hang around for too long.
The cost for flying to Amami will make this the most expensive part of the tour.
Thoughts:
- Train from Beppu to Nagasaki has to go around a big inlet, perhaps ferry across might be quicker.
- Could get train direct from Nagasaki to Hiroshima (perhaps via Fukuoka) and see Beppu on the way back (you’ll see why in next part).
- It might be better to fly out to Amami the day before, but this makes the journey to Kagoshima more of a rush.
Costs:
- Peace Museum: 50Y (£0.34)
- Itsukuyama Shrine: 300Y-500Y (£2.05-£3.40) Ferry there looks like 170Y (£1.15)
- Transport Museum: 500Y (£3.40)
- Yamato Museum: 500Y (£3.40)
- Ferry to Matsuyama: 2600Y-6900Y (£18-£47), Depending on whether we go form Kure, and if we take the jetboat.
- Matsuyama Youth Hostel: 2625Y + 525Y Breakfast (£18 + £3.50)
- Penguin Aquarium: 500Y (£3.40)
- Nagasaki Museum: 600Y (£4)
- Ropeway: 1200Y (£8) Rtn.
- Flights to Kagoshima: 25300Y each way (£171 * 2 = £342)
Total: 58800Y-63100Y = £398-£427 depending on ferry.