Mission Accomplished: Setting Camp in Kaimon Sanroku Fureai Kouen

Kyushu Backpacking Trip Day 2-3 - Summer of 2005

The sun was barely rising when we cleared up our tent and started walking back the way we came last night. In the gentle light of dawn, we could make out Kagoshima bay edging one side of the highway in supple waves where moored boats swayed softly. The morning sun made the filmy surface of the water glisten - a completely different view from the rising sun peeking behind high-rises that we were so used to in Osaka. Everything, from the view to the smell to the slight moisture that settled on our skin felt country, provincial and strangely comforting.

From The Silken Backpack

The Edge of the highway which was nothing but darkness the night before


We finally arrived in Yamakawa station. After a quick visit to the restrooms, we checked the first train passing by going to the Kaimon Sanroku Fureai Park. We decided to buy our tickets and wait on the platform, which, in this small part of Japan, is nothing more than a strip of elevated concrete, probably only 15 meters long. The platform sat in the middle of the north-bound and south-bound rail tracks and to get from the station to the platform, one has to cross the tracks. We got onto the platform to wait for the train. It was starting to look like a pretty long wait when suddenly, Asen spied from across the tracks a patch of densely growing trees and several fruits that suspiciously looked like fingers spread out from a branch.

From The Silken Backpack

The Yamakawa Train Station - Sooo small!

Being the knowledgeable girl from the tropics in this company of European folk, I confirmed to their astonishment that they were, indeed, looking at real-life Banana trees. The train promptly forgotten, the tall Bulgarian man bounded the tracks and made a bee-line for the Banana trees. Ninon and I followed suit and I found myself promoted from the average back packer to “Nature Guide” I explained to them that the trunk of the banana tree is fibrous and that in the Philippines, pieces of the trunk often find its way on the buffet table, holding in place skewered fried hotdogs tipped with marshmallows. Well, of course, not everyone in the Philippines has a banana tree they can source from; therefore, as a highly resourceful race, we substitute the trunk with whatever is readily available to serve said purpose: half a cabbage, a pineapple, a watermelon or worst-case scenarios; styro foam wrapped in foil.

From The Silken Backpack

The Banana Tree in question

Asen continued to goggle and take pictures of the banana tree. He was especially enamored with the Banana heart, he couldn’t believe it was a flower, even after all my explanations (I even told him how we cook and eat the bloody thing). I stood there, proud in my knowledge of tropical flora and feeling strangely confident that I will be able to survive this trip as if I were some cast-away in Survivor: Japan.

From The Silken Backpack

Case in point: Skewered hotdogs tipped with cheese held in place by a pineapple
(photo taken from: http://regandmitzi.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/hotdogs.jpg)
and Skewered hotdogs tipped with marshmallows held in place by half a cabbage
(photo taken from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chboogs/1852355703/)

The sound of the approaching train alerted us and we hurriedly crossed the tracks and hopped back onto the platform. The train ride to the Kaimon park was quite interesting, we passed by several small mountains; almost rock formations similar to those protruding from the sea in Honda Bay or El Nido, Palawan. But these formations were on solid ground, sandwiched between rice paddies and fields of tall, swaying grass.

From The Silken Backpack

Weird Rock Formations in Kagoshima

After a couple of minutes, we alighted from the train and started walking uphill in the direction of the park. We had no idea where we were and all we had were the measly signs pointing us higher and higher up the residential hill. We tried to ask some passers-by for directions but we couldn’t understand their Japanese beneath the thick Kagoshima accent. After what seemed like ten to twenty minutes and with the summer sun already high above us, we found the gate of the park. We declared triumph and went through the entire procedure of paying the entrance and camping fees.

The camping ground in itself is nothing more than a wide expanse of grass dotted with some trees. The restrooms and kitchen area were nestled in opposite ends of the field. Ninon spotted a good-looking tree a bit in the distance and we decided to call that home, stopping short of actually peeing on the ground to mark our territory. Ninon and Asen fixed the tent while I looked on (Nature Guide only knows how to build huts from dried coconut fronds and knows nothing of these plastic, synthetic tents).

From The Silken Backpack

Our Tree and Our Tent

With our tent good and ready, we decided to cool off in the public pool next to the camping grounds. The pool was a pleasant surprise as I fully expected us to live like cave people and use huge taro leaves to gather water for a bath. Hehe. We spent a good bit of time in the pool before showering and going to the nearest store to buy food and some supplies.

Due to the uncomfortable sleep we had the night before, we spent a good part of the remaining day sleeping and just laying around on the grass, eating and smoking. We decided to turn in early in preparation for the next day, but not before placing a call to Viviane to check if she got back to Brasil safely.

The next day was another crisp morning and we all felt better after a good night’s sleep. Asen decided to walk around a bit on his own and Ninon and I fixed our tent, rinsed our clothes out and hung them out to dry. When Asen came back he wanted to sleep once again, so Ninon and I took our leave to go and climb Mt. Kaimon.

From The Silken Backpack

Sleeping Asen ski

Mt. Kaimon is a volcanic mountain 924 meters above sea level. It is ranked as one of the hundred best mountains in Japan. It has a slightly imperfect cone shape, but it looks nice enough that it is compared to Mt. Fuji. It is even known as the Fuji of Satsuma (an area in South-west Kagoshima)

From The Silken Backpack

Mt. Kaimon: The Fuji of Satsuma

The climb up Mt. Kaimon was relatively pleasant. The mountain floor is dense with growth and sprawling trees practically covered the sky giving it an almost rainforest-feel. The slope of the mountain is not very steep until you get two-thirds of the way up, and then the climb becomes challenging. We had to step over huge boulders on our way to the peak and it was rather dangerous.

From The Silken Backpack

Ninon, the Mountain Woman in a pristine white dress

When we got to a spot where we could see fantastic views of the ocean and the surrounding islands, we decided to stop climbing since we didn’t have any equipment and the rocks were looking unstable (our climbing gear was limited to sneakers for me and flip flops for Ninon). We stayed in that spot for a while and smoked a bit (healthy, yeah, I know).

From The Silken Backpack

Rolling post-climb joints. hehe

Our descent was more interesting as we spotted several neon-colored centipedes crawling over the rich, volcanic soil like creepy little aliens. I was so curious about the strange little critters that I made up a story in my head about how they were infused with volcanic heat and radioactive particles brought in by the sea from Nagasaki. Tucked somewhere in the middle of Mt. Kaimon is a giant, sleeping beast of a centipede which will emerge one day and become the worst enemy of Voltes V since Ultraman-Tika!

From The Silken Backpack

ULTRAMANTIKA to the rescue!!!

Right!

So, that didn’t really happen and Ninon and I got to the bottom of the mountain but instead of going back to the tent, we went around the park and found a grass-skiing facility which looked pretty cool. The breeze was fantastic there and we stayed a good bit just chatting about Japan and how much we’ll miss each other and some other cheesy topic * sniff sniff *
We got back to the tent at around 3pm and found the tall Bulgarian man still sleeping with his Jason Mraz hat covering his face. We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out, eating chips, drinking beer and eating cups of instant ramen and looking forward to the adventures of the next day

From The Silken Backpack

When we got back to the tent Asen was still sleeping. TAKU!