Hitch-hiking Kagoshima

A tea salesman, a retired professor, a beef salesman, a Tokyo business man, a firefighter, 2 house wives, a park ranger, a retired couple, a recently married couple, a golf course manager, a construction worker, a hotel receptionist, a hotspring employee, a gas station attendent, an artist, and a gas company crew – thanks to the kindness and generosity of these people, I could experience plenty of what Kagoshima has to offer. I`ve hitched rides back home in Canada, New Zealand, Korea, Tazmania, Equador, and through Western and Eastern Europe (hitched from England to Turkey in 4 months on a summer off university , trashing 3 pairs of shoes in the process, and unfortunately a pair of underwear at over 200km/h in a porsche on a German autobahn) and can say with confidence that getting rides in Japan is safe and easy! Expected it to be more difficult here due to the generally cautious nature of the Japanese but was pleasantly surprized! Now I have new friends to visit on my next trip to Kyushu that I probably wouldn`t have met taking more conventional forms of transport such as the train or bus. If you`re into climbing as I am make sure you challenge Mt, Kaimon in Ibusuki (the view is superb!) and check out Kirishima National Park not only for the trekking but the hotsprings are a beauty, especially the giant indoor bath at the Kirishima hotel and another rustic onsen where you can spend the night in an Indian tipi called Nono-yu. I took the ferry from Osaka which leaves in the early evening and arriving the next morning. The ferry companies have recently been on campaigns trying to attract passengers due to the governments questionable policy of reducing road tolls, thus more taffic jams and increasing pollution??? I got 50% off on the way there and 20% off the way back from Miyazaki. The ferry took a beating from the swells through the night but I got rocked to sleep probably with the help of the on board sauna facilities followed by a few brews. I hope B.C. ferries takes note back home but I won`t hold my breath.
I always feel refreshed getting out of the city on the weekends and recently joined a volunteer group doing forest thinning. Since I used to work as a surveyor back in Canada and Alaska it felt great getting involved in similiar outdoor work here – in a somewhat less wild environment…..without the bears, black flies, devils club and torrential rain. Nice way to meet new people too and you won`t even come back home to the dinner table `blessed` with the famous lumberjack vocabulary….pass the “%$#!” potatoes!
Happy and healthy 2010 to all! and……don`t forget to pick me up if you see me on the side of the road.