17-June-2016 - Final destination, the island of Urashima. I had a hard time deciding whether to come here or Nakanoshima. Eventually I settled for Urashima cause it has around 6 onsen on the island, two which includes natural caves. It was by far our most expensive accommodation at SGD167 per person inclusive of buffet breakfast and buffet dinner. There were many other attractions on the island besides the onsen. So this is going to be quite a long post as I try to squeeze everything into this one post.
To get to Urashima, you have to take a special ferry in the shape of a turtle. There is one almost every 30mins or so from the pier at Kii Katsuura starting from 1pm. It's only a 5mins ride, and it is free. Check in is at 2pm, so we went early in order to have time to run around the island. Check in was a breeze. With a little Japanese, you can make the receptionist feel so much relief knowing they can share with you simple instructions in Japanese like where to go for your meals, and what time to go for them.
Being a Japanese resort, we have a nice room with a balcony over looking the ferry port. There were snacks and tea in the room, and yukata for you to feel comfortable in. This whole place reminded me of Spirited Away. You know, a place that comes alive when the sun sets (starting 2pm) and dies down when the sun rises (check out at 10am). And people come to enjoy themselves and eat until they are full.
The place felt old. I would even say dated and erm, "unclean"? We spend the first hour exploring the place. There are outdoor pools available, but as it was the rainy season, the pool was closed. But you can still walk out and see the beautiful sea view with caves lining the coast. There are a total of 5 onsens on the island, 2 being in natural caves. They give you this paper and you can collect all 5 stamps at 5 onsen and redeem a gift at the reception. So that was what we did. We got bath salt as a gift.
The whole island is a huge complex full of amenities. On top shows a small Wakayama Ramen corner. The decoration was rather cute so I stopped to take a pix. I wonder who would spend money eating ramen here when they provide more than ample food at the buffet dining hall.
At the top of the island are a maze of path you can hike around. They even have their own shrine at the top with a fox spirit in it. Nobody attend to the shrine, but there are a few self services table available for you to buy things or for you to pay your respect.
They also have a few viewing platform for you to take in the view around the island. From to very top you can see eagles/hawks flying around, you can see the town Kii Katsuura, and if you zoom in enough, you can even see Taiji with all its cove and all. Maybe on a good day, you can also spot whales out in the ocean. And lovely rocks formation all over.
To navigate around the island, there are colour coded path all over the floor. So depending on where you want to go, just follow the coloured pathway! Although sometimes, it is still kinda confusing.
Sometimes you find just outside the onsen hall, a whole corridor full of vending machines! Selling things like instant noodles (why are they so afraid of people going hungry here???), to ice creams, to drinks and beers, and probably cigarets.
And lastly, the dining hall at the top of the resort was famous for live demonstration of tuna cutting. Every evening, one tuna is carved expertly by the chef and served to the guest. Freshest tuna in town! it was amazing to watch and awed at how big the tuna head is below!
I even have a video of it! Voila!
The food serve was buffet style. The variety was amazing! From sushi to pickles to even herbal vinegar tea. They even have teppanyaki in individual servings. Alcohol are on a order basis.
I went to the onsen after dinner, and also early in the morning (cause you can't really see the sea view at night in the cave duh!). My favourite thing about Japan is onsen, and cold milk after that. They have a huge shop at the receptionist area where you can do your shopping, and I got bottle milked after my soak in the onsen. It was kinda crowded is mainland Chinese, and well, their behaviour was kinda embarrassing and really kills the joy of relaxation in the onsen. But the island is big enough, so I tried to avoid them as much as possible.
Lastly this is a picture of me in my yutaka. Isn't it cute? It even have turtles on it! And I think Japanese ryokan/resorts got relaxation right cause the moment you check-in, you can change into your yutaka and slippers and wonder all over the place. If you stay in a town, it is also perfectly acceptable to wonder around town in your yutaka. It is super relaxing, plus less laundry to do!
So it was here that we ended our adventure across Wakayama. We checked out the next day and took the ferry to Kii Katsuura, and took the train to Wakayama. From there we took the bus to the airport to catch our flight home.
In all, Wakayama was the best place I've visited in Japan so far. And I have been to many parts of Japan! From Hiroshima, to Tokyo-Nara-Osaka-Hokkaido, to Tokyo-Kamakura-Niko-Hakone, to just Tokyo with friends, and even the most recent Hokkaido-Sapporo-Otaru-Noboribetsu-Jozankei trip. I would love to come back here to do a pilgrimage, or maybe do the 88 Temple Shikoku pilgrimage. Not forgetting I still need to go to Kyushu one of these days....
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