Travel Notes | E04·Yakushima·The appearance of monkeys and the disappearance of deer

Yakushima is a distant green light.

At 3:30 in the morning, Kurihara woke up from the rickety cabin of the cruise ship. There is not much luggage, just a half-person hiking bag with a few clean clothes neatly stacked inside and a plastic bag of changes of clothes. There were not many people disembarking at this stop. Besides Kurihara, there was another couple in the hall who looked very alienated. The pale fluorescent lights overhead created a kind of silence in the dark night.

Kurihara unloaded his hiking bag and put it against the wall, then boarded the cruise ship deck again, watching the dark green land slowly emerge from the dark horizon. Dissolving in the pitch-black night, Yakushima appears in the distance as a dark green light.

After the boat docked, it drove away in a hurry. The estranged man and woman got off the boat together with Kurihara. When he looked back and saw that the sky was turning white in the direction in which the boat was leaving, the man and woman had already walked to the front silently. At that time, it was the break of dawn when the queen was more exposed. The cold air everywhere made Kurihara fall into the embrace of loneliness again.

This feeling of loneliness is very familiar, just like the moon that always hangs in the sky. Sometimes it hides in the thick clouds, sometimes it can be seen during the day, and sometimes the full cold light pours out, making all things in the sun shine. Be governed by it. When did it start? Kurihara can't remember, just like everyone can't remember the beginning of the dream.

There is a resort hotel near Miyanoura Pier. At dawn, the bathhouse and restaurant on the first floor are open to travelers getting off the ship. Kurihara took a bath and saw the boy in the couple who just got off the boat from the steaming heat. Then I met two people again in the restaurant. The tired looks on their faces had disappeared, but they still had breakfast together peacefully, without a single word of dialogue. Kurihara thought to himself that the relationship between the couple was like that of one person's right-hand man. After thinking about it, he looked out the window and saw a cloudy amber sky.

After picking up the car at the car rental point, go to the information desk to confirm the itinerary arrangements. According to the previous travel plan, the time in Yakushima is two days and two nights. On the first day, we drove around the island and passed several important scenic spots, as well as a natural heritage reserve with animals. The next day we hiked to visit the ancient Jomon cedar, which took 10 hours round trip.

I learned from the information desk that I will have to get up at 3am tomorrow and take the bus to the starting point of the hike at 4am. Kurihara felt as if he was suddenly jet lagged. Although after taking a shower and having breakfast, the scene of disembarking a few hours ago seemed like yesterday.

The estranged couple also inquired here, and there was finally a dialogue between the two. Kurihara suddenly didn't understand his original intention of embarking on the journey alone. Perhaps it would be better to have a travel companion for such a trip. He immediately gave up the idea. He didn't want to be cowardly more than being alone.

The car drove onto the main road around the island, and within about five minutes, it unknowingly entered another deserted world, where even the mobile phone signal quietly disappeared. Driving a car alone in a place with no signal, Kurihara thought of the song "Only Two Hours of Vacation" by Utada Hikaru and Shiina Ringo. In the MV, the two heroines were driving wheelless scooters on the surface of Saturn. picture. After a big turn, a smoking volcanic island on the sea level slowly moved out from the cliff face on the side of the mountain.

"The whale that transformed into an island" - these six words appeared in Kurihara's mind like a conditioned reflex. He chose a spot with a better view and pulled over. "Did you see it? A whale that transformed into an isolated island." "Yeah, why is it so cute!" "Instead of "good-looking" and "spectacular," you used "cute"." "Yes, very cute."

Entering the Yakushima Natural Heritage Reserve, Kurihara slowed down the car. The sea view has completely disappeared, and the green green continues to recede out of the car windows on both sides, as if it has been sucked into a whirlpool, accompanied by strange movements and the faint sound of wind.

At 10:57, I passed a sign with a picture of a monkey and the words "Animal Attention." The first group of monkeys appeared at 11:01. Most of the not-so-wide road was occupied by five or six plush figures, and they showed no intention of evading or dodging when they saw the car approaching. Kurihara stopped the car in the middle of the road and watched the monkeys intently. The little monkeys are cute, but the big ones are not worthy of mention. The face is pink, the hair is brown, and the body is hunched into a ball. The gaze changes direction from time to time, and the language function has not yet evolved. How is communication between animals accomplished? Is tacit understanding or habit something reliable? "Why do you care so much?" "I'm just curious."

"Language is as important to humans as sunlight, air, and moisture. I have always believed this. I don't know what it is like among animals. Are animals also divided into introverts and extroverts?"

"Yes. The introversion and extroversion of animals are not reflected in talking more and being less. Don't animals live in groups and live alone? Extroverts surround themselves with friends, while introverts live alone."

"You said the opposite."

Passing another "Animal Attention" sign with a deer painted on it, a deer looked back after the next turn. After an unexpected encounter, it fleetingly disappeared, like a sly smile hidden under a lonely face. Wherever the hooves leapt, they left a rustling echo in the bushes. The same goes for the second deer. It was pacing and reacted before the car approached, as if it was not alert to the intruder, but more like a provocative joke.

Kurihara loves deer. I remember that when I was in middle school, I gave myself an online name called "Luyuan". The deer in the forest is a free and spiritual animal. After the deer disappeared, a short splash of water came from the direction it left. It waded through a cool mountain stream, and instantly restored the empty mountain forest to its original calm.

The last deer disappeared at 11:46, 14 minutes before noon.

The two most famous waterfalls in Yakushima are called "Okawa no Taki" and "Chihiro no Taki". When I visited Okawa-no-Taki, Kurihara took out a rice ball for lunch at the parking lot. At this time, there was a car next to it that was about to start. Four young men were sitting in the car. Their joy came to an abrupt end when the rear of the car collided with the mountain wall. Kurihara felt embarrassed because the car reversed to avoid collision with his own car and hit him. He calmly continued to chew the rice ball with grilled salmon in his hand. After a while, the four young people drove away laughing again, and Kurihara finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hahahahahaha, I'm laughing so hard." "What the hell."

On the way to Chihiro no Taki, we passed by Tairauchi Kaichu Hot Spring, which is a famous outdoor secret hot spring in Yakushima. Kurihara took off his clothes on the rocks on the shore and soaked in the hot spring for a while.

The water temperature is very hot and the bottom is covered with slippery algae, so you may slip if you are not careful. There were only a few rocks separating the sea water from the hot springs. Kurihara lay on the rocks and saw the sea cockroaches on the rocks falling into the white waves.

The salty sea breeze blew a dense mist of water, and a layer of fine salt particles stuck to my back.

The sea water pours in, warm sea water. Kurihara opened his eyes and saw that he was the only one between the heaven, earth, mountains and sea.

Stay at a youth hostel near Miyanoura Port for the night. Kurihara first went to a mountaineering supplies store to rent shoes and clothes for tomorrow's mountain climbing, then went to the only supermarket on Yakushima to buy dry food for tomorrow's day, then drove the car to the car rental point to return it, and then walked for five minutes to the youth hostel. . There are four travelers here tonight.

"An Australian boy who lives in the UK has just gone out. There is also the skinny little girl from Canada in the corridor just now. She has just come back from Baigu Yunshui Gorge. I heard that she got up at 3 o'clock this morning. I guess I’m exhausted.”

"I also got up at 3 o'clock this morning. I took a cruise from Okinawa and stayed there all day."

"Then you can go to bed early that night. I'll call you when I go out tomorrow."

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