On the eighth morning, we discovered that although the typhoon would miss Kyushu, the typhoon had been having a dance on the sea. We had already booked the Toppy jetfoil for the afternoon; morning ferries (and some flights) departing Kagoshima had been cancelled due to difficult sea conditions.
It was not the best morning. We had to draft plans about what to do if confined to Kagoshima another night. We were extremely relieved to discover in the afternoon that the Toppy was not cancelled and happily took our seats on the jetfoil.
Aki and I travelled for three hours to the island of Yakushima. The truth was that Yakushima was intended to be the highlight of our trip: an island of great natural beauty, so unique that much of the island was declared a World Heritage Site in 1993.
We made a brief stop at another island first, Tanegashima, but as the sea was blanketed with mist it was impossible to see how far we were from Yakushima. I remember the sudden surprise when a giant dark silhouette started to appear through the mist. I hadn't expected it to be that big!
This time, we didn't stay at a normal hotel, as you can see from the picture above. At the Home of Heart hotel in Yakushima, you get to stay in a complex of cottages, in the middle of nowhere - at least that's what it seemed like! No smoking, no alcohol (save for some organic wine), no television. The food provided by the hotel is all organic, and they also kindly provided vegetarian food for us. Just remember - you shouldn't be disturbed by the monkeys that sometimes dash across the roof.