We were only in Japan three and a half weeks, and yet time flew by. We did lots of sightseeing, and lots of train journeys (the trains are AMAZING, especially the Shinkansen), and stayed in some very friendly hostels, and saw some truly beautiful places. My favourite place was taking a ferry (actually it was a jet foil) to a tiny island called Yakushima at the south of Japan. We spent one day on the beach, which was very pretty, we were a bit early for the huge and ancient turtles which come up on to the shore, but it was fantastic none the less.
The next day we hiked up into the forest, and up the mountains. It was magical. The forests cover most of the island and are home to some of the worlds oldest trees. We saw some that were 3000 years old. The most impressive thing I thought was the amazing root structures which seemed to be holding the mountain together, and the amazing scent of ceder and forest. It was wonderful. Unfortunately the older trees were too big to photograph well. We spent a whole day walking through the forest and every moment was special. We even saw a deer with an hours old fawn, which was brilliant.
I would love to return to Japan, but I also feel satisfied with everything I saw and did, and so lucky to have been there. I would love to have had the time to cycle, but even if you quit your job and go gallivanting like me, there still doesn't seem to be the time to do everything you want to! I feel regretful that I didn't get to eat much Japanese food or speak to more people and find out more about their way of life, but found the language barrier a difficult one.
Some more Japan photos for you all:
The next day we hiked up into the forest, and up the mountains. It was magical. The forests cover most of the island and are home to some of the worlds oldest trees. We saw some that were 3000 years old. The most impressive thing I thought was the amazing root structures which seemed to be holding the mountain together, and the amazing scent of ceder and forest. It was wonderful. Unfortunately the older trees were too big to photograph well. We spent a whole day walking through the forest and every moment was special. We even saw a deer with an hours old fawn, which was brilliant.
I would love to return to Japan, but I also feel satisfied with everything I saw and did, and so lucky to have been there. I would love to have had the time to cycle, but even if you quit your job and go gallivanting like me, there still doesn't seem to be the time to do everything you want to! I feel regretful that I didn't get to eat much Japanese food or speak to more people and find out more about their way of life, but found the language barrier a difficult one.
Some more Japan photos for you all:
Gorgeous photos, as always!
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