Day 60 - The Dragon Scales On Tropical Aoshima Island, The Kyushu 108 Temple Pilgrimage, Japan
Day 60 - The Dragon Scales On Tropical Aoshima Island, The Kyushu 108 Temple Pilgrimage, Japan
In the morning, we had a surprisingly good breakfast in the worst hotel so far on our pilgrimage.
This is what is so surprising about Japan.
The rooms could be really terrible, but breakfast is often fresh, well prepared and delicious.
It really points to the priorities of the local customers.
While eating breakfast, I thought about the fact that I should ask the hotel for a refund, for checking out early by one night.
If it were very little money, maybe I would have just handed them the key and said nothing, but the hotel was surprisingly pricey for such a low quality place.
Jules said that he’d be surprised if a place like this would offer me a refund.
I believe that people don’t respond well to accusations, so saying that I wanted to check out early because I was unhappy with the hotel and worried about bed bugs, was never going to get me a refund.
I also know that Japanese people love formalities and respect, so I composed a very polite short letter using the most honorary words, saying that we have to change our plans and would they consider giving us a refund or a partial refund for the unused night.
I translated the letter with Google translate and handed it to the person at the front desk.
Then I stepped back from the desk, allowing destiny to decide what would happen.
I let go of all expectations.
If I got something back, that would be great; if not, that would be fine, too.
I enjoy great abundance in my life, and a refund would not have made any difference to my wealth.
The clerk looked at the letter, and his face twitched for a nano second, before he heard an inner voice telling him to cooperate with me.
He raised his eyes from the letter and asked me if cash would be fine.
I said yes and thanked him.
He counted the cash and gave me a full refund.
We bowed and expressed our gratitude.
We took a train to Minami Miyazaki, which is where we had reached on our walk to the temples in Miyazaki.
From there, we went to the Starbucks in the Tsutaya bookstore to drink tea and discuss our plans.
I was so tired.
I had had a sleepless night, constantly looking for bed bugs which were found in my imagination more than in my bed.
Because of my fatigue, we decided to change our plans and walk for a shorter period of time.
The walk from south Miyazaki to Aoshima, was only 12 kilometers, which was all I could do today.
We walked by many businesses that lined the main street.
No one else was walking in the streets, not even school kids.
We stopped for lunch in a diner, and ordered two salads, steamed edamame soybeans and fried potatoes.
It had been so long since we had had a salad for lunch.
It has almost never been on the menu.
Aoshima is a seaside town, just south of Miyazaki City.
It has a tropical climate and palm trees lining the beaches.
The mellow waves in the sea attract many surfers, who brave the cool sea temperatures in search of a thrill.
Aoshima has great vibes.
Surf shops rent boards and wetsuits, and the shops sell slices of pineapple and local clementines.
We sat in the late afternoon in a cool surfing cafe, to have an açaí bowl, topped with chunks of fruit and granola.
It was so awesome, I almost cried.
How I miss drinking fresh fruit juices and eating fruit smoothie bowls for my main meals…
There were lots of tourists in Aoshima.
It is a famous place with hot springs hotels on the boardwalk, a botanical garden with tropical fruit trees, and a Shinto Shrine on a small island, surrounded by amazing basalt stones that had formed over millions of years.
The shallow water around the island has a geological phenomenon known as Oni no Sentakuita, or devil's washboard. Visible at low tide, these perfectly straight rows of basalt rock look as if they were manmade.
They are in fact natural formations, however, which also can be found farther south along the Nichinan Coast.
To me, these patterns in the rocks resembled the scales of a dragon.
When I painted dragons, I always made their scales look exactly like that of the rocks I saw today in Aoshima.
Aoshima Island in Miyazaki is not to be confused with another Aoshima island in Ehime Prefecture, which is known for its cat population.
The little island which the shrine is located on is connected to the mainland via a small pedestrian bridge.
The shrine dates back to the ninth century A.D. It is visited by those who seek blessings for happy marriages.
Aoshima Shrine is on a little island that is only 1.5 kilometers in circumference.
The name means, ‘a blue island’ and indeed the island seems to be floating on the blue sea.
There are 27 kinds of tropical and subtropical plants and 197 kinds of plants that are native to Aoshima.
The shrine had a vending machine selling frozen treats made from the island’s Hibiscus.
There is an annual winter festival every January, to celebrate the return of Yamasachi, the Shrine’s deity, from the dragon’s palace under the sea.
The local people go naked into the cold sea to meet Yamasachi.
There is also a naked soak in the sea on December 17th, according to the lunar calendar.
On June 17-18 they celebrate the Sea Crossing Festival.
The fishing boats carry Mikoshi, or portable shrines.
The local boats are decorated with flags to promote a big catch.
The festival reaches its climax when the locals, wearing “happy coats,” rush into the sea and take the shrines off the boats and bring them ashore.
It is a highly spirited and energetic festival with many prayers for abundance of crops and for good fishing.
The mild weather is ideal for many kinds of sub-tropical plants.
Particularly noteworthy are the 4300 Biro palm trees growing all around the area, some of which are more than 300 years old.
There was not much surf at sunset in Aoshima, but many surfers were in the water.
The Botanical Gardens had some tropical fruit trees growing, like starfruit and mangos.
Our room in the onsen hotel is a lovely Japanese style room, and the hot springs are also very nice.
We rook the room with no meals, but we had eaten a lot today so we just bought some pineapple slices and some clementines for our dinner.
After soaking in the hot springs, I got into bed and slept for many hours, perhaps because I was sleep deprived from the night before, or perhaps because I felt more rejuvenated by the beauty of Aoshima and therefore more comfortable and relaxed.
Wishing you a blessed day or night,
Tali
Stats: 17,010 steps
Today’s walk: 12 km
Kilometers walked to date: 1029
Temples visited: The dragon temple under the sea in Aoshima Shrine (Not part of our pilgrimage).
