Monday 26 March 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT- Update from the sunburnt man in the cramped tent





It's Pat's birthday! Have a great one my brother xxx

Sorry its been a while, there'll be a lot more of these delayed updates unfortunately.
Spent a few more days in Kagoshima with three very kind people I met from couchsurfing, Chao who is biking to Hokkaido and came up to ask where I was going when I was wandering aimlessly. He took me to meet Saiyuri, a local of Kagoshima who took us both to sample a local dessert and helped me find my tram to Lily who is from London, teaching English in Kagoshima and who had me to stay for two nights despite feeling pretty ill at the time. Thanks to all of you,I can't stress how much I appreciated meeting all three of you. I arrived on Amami-Oshima on Friday last week.
On the ferry from Kagoshima I found a bag and guitar in my berth. I was sure I had the right place as written on my ticket so I moved them out of the way and sat down. An hour later a guy came over, realized he was meant to be sat somewhere else and asked me where I was going. Turns out we were both heading to Amami to go camping on the same beach so he gave me a lift there from the ferry terminal. His name is Yutaka-san and he's trying to move to Amami permanently.
When we got to the campsite I found that you can only access it when the tide's out as the walkway alongside the coast gets flooded otherwise. There's a tiny road through the jungle over the cliff which I'm told is very dangerous at night when its full of snakes, so I'm sticking to the tide tables for now.
First day I arrived it was gorgeous weather for a while then rained incessantly. My tent is completely packed full of my stuff (too much stuff) but I heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a very waterproof, very light and spacious one man shelter. It's a snugpak ionosphere and I spent most of that day inside it staring at the ceiling lost in my thoughts (as pictured). The snorkelling where I am isn't that rewarding, just dead coral and sea urchins so I'm moving south tomorrow to a free campsite with similar amenities to my current one (Three hundred yen, just over two pounds a night with toilets, shower and basic kitchen).
I'm having incredibly vivid dreams at the moment, possibly my brain compensating for my limited social interactions (last night I dreamt I was ambushed by six helicopters on the way to a friends house and then put in an empty paddling pool with a cup of tea sat opposite a marine called Gutierrez enduring indescribably awkward small talk). As well as Yutaka-san there are a couple staying at the campsite, currently on their honeymoon which is a motorcycle tour from the bottom to the very top of Japan (がんばって!)。
I'm going to stay here in Amami for a few more days then move south to Tokunoshima and on to Okinawa by the 7th of April.

For now I'm enjoying the sun (have since purchased suncream and found a suitably vulgar hat to keep the rays out, so no worries), packet noodles on the trangia, studying japanese, playing ukulele and being lost in thoughts.

LAST EDIT: When emailing Catherine (hey again!) I remembered that yesterday I saw a hairless wild boar licking coffee off a can in a ditch. It ran off when I got my camera so the photos no good but I leave you that image, it's definitely impressed itself on me.

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