Right off the coast of Kumamoto are the islands of Amakusa. Although it is quite a drive to get there from our Hitoyoshi area and traffic can be a big issue since they are islands with a limited amount of space for roads, they are by far the most beautiful area of Kumamoto. I’m not downing Kuma-gun. I love Kuma-gun and all of my beautiful mountains and clear water streams, but Amakusa has something that we just geographically don’t have here….a gorgeous coastline! Amakusa is famous for its lookouts and beautiful views. I’ve never been to California, but I imagine that it’s something like California’s famous Pacific Coast Highway. At least….that’s what I think…..
I promise that there’s a point to this blog and that I’m not just randomly babbling. A week and a half ago, Ian, Melissa, and I went to Amakusa for the last Kumamoto-ken ALT event of the year, Waterwheel. We decided to go the last time we were in the city and some of our Amakusa friends persuaded us to do so. Waterwheel is called such because the event used to be at the sight of Japan’s oldest working waterwheel. However, the thing was made of duct tape and dreams, so a typhoon a couple of years ago took it out, but the event still carries on its name. The event now centers around the same area at a gorgeous waterfall and swimming hole area.
We left for Amakusa around 11:30 that morning but didn’t arrive at the venue until about 3 PM. It’s not that the area was that far away. According to Google maps, from Melissa’s house outside of Hitoyoshi to the Waterwheel area was a grand total of 70-ish miles. UGH! Traffic was horrible as usual going through the town of Kami-amakusa, and we were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for about forty-five minutes. Then we got lost once. We started going up this tiny mountain road that eventually turned into a hiking trail. Lost without cell service, we turned around until we reached the main road and had cell service again so that we could call someone for directions.
Once we got there, we realized how worth the drive was. The swimming hole was beautiful! Since we didn’t pay for a cabin, we had to set up our tent before we got in the water. We knew that we didn’t want to be close to the party area in case things got wild and crazy and we wanted to go to bed early. We walked to the cabin area to see if there was any place to pitch a tent. However, the ground was too rocky. Ian found a set of steps leading up the hill a bit. It led to a private little area that was perfect for our tent! We cleared sticks off the ground and set up what we called Ft. Reed.
After that, we went back down to the waterfall. After a long and hot day, the water felt so good! We swam, laughed, and splashed for a while. Several people were jumping off of the waterfall rocks, and I admired them for their courage. It was a looooooooooong way down. Once the initial crowd cleared and the BBQ started, Melissa and I decided to investigate the rocks. We climbed up a little bit, and behind one of the crevasse’s was the most beautiful little hidden area. You know those picture perfect places that couples make out in in the movies? This little cove was exactly like that. The water was deep, but you could see all the way to the bottom, the water cascaded gently over the rocks, and the entire thing was enclosed in this tiny private area. We continued to climb up the rocks until we reached the top….as in the area where people jump from. We glanced over the edge and and realized just how far down it was……….. Melissa was brave and actually did it. I stood at the edge for a while staring down that drop. My internal monologue was something like:
Do it. Do it. DO IT! Don’t be a baby. JUST DO IT.
AHHHHHHHH! Don’t do it! You’ll be the ONE person to hit a rock and die.
Everyone is watching. Don’t wimp out.
Be responsible. Peer pressure is a bad thing.
In the end, reason one out. I couldn’t do it. I jumped from a lower peak instead. Gack!
Hanging out with everyone that night was a blast. It was our last time to see everyone who doesn’t live in Kuma-gun, so we talked well up into the night….despite the horrible bugs! When we went to our tent that night, the three of us crawled in. Ian fell asleep immediately on his back. UGH. Whenever Ian sleeps on his back, he ALWAYS snores. Melissa and I are both light sleepers, so snoring that could wake the dead just wasn’t going to cut it. I would pinch his nose shut, but somehow he would still manage to snore through it. I don’t know how! It would get him to stop for a bit, but as soon as I was almost asleep, he would start again.
I’m not exactly sure when I fell asleep, but I remember waking up through the night hearing Melissa getting out of the tent. I assumed that she was just going to the bathroom. When I woke up the following morning and didn’t see her laying next to me, I immediately thought Oh shit. She fell off the mountain! I got out of the tent, noticed that her stuff was gone, and decided to calm down. If her stuff was gone, then at least she hadn’t fallen off the mountain! I found her by the party area cleaning up the huge mess. She said that she couldn’t sleep with Ian snoring, so she had gone back to the car to sleep for the night.
Once everyone else woke up and got their things together, we all decided to go to the beach. Hurray! Amakusa has the most beautiful beaches in Kumamoto (sorry, Ashikita!). Although I’ve never been to Hawaii, the beach that we went to is what I imagine Hawaii looks like. It was amazing! The waves were really nice, too, so we enjoyed playing in them.
After a bit, Ian, Melissa, and I decided that it was time for us to head back in order to return at a decent hour. We said goodbye to everyone and promised to meet up again in the future somewhere. Our drive back through Amakusa wasn’t so bad until we got stuck in that infamous Kami-amakusa traffic. At a standstill in 90 degree heat, we crawled along. What was even worse was that the three of us got burnt in that time! We had on sun screen at the beach, but it had worn off long before we got in the car. The sun beaming through the windshield ended up burning Melissa’s legs, my shoulders, and Ian’s face. We hadn’t realized what had happened until we got out of Amakusa, and by then it was already too late. Fail!
Anyway, that was our trip to Amakusa. I’ve been meaning to write about it for a while, so here it is. Ta-da!
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