I was the only guest at the local YH and I wasn’t really impressed. It was expensive compared to the one across the water, very rundown, not exactly dirty but not exactly clean. Everything kind of smelled musty and closed off which I guess is not surprising if there is only one guest in July. Also, no kitchen which is unusual for a hostel. Especially one part of Hostelling International. Letting the standards slip I think.

The rain eased off sometime after lunch so I ventured out and discovered a public hot spring foot bath, 100 metres long. Though I didn’t need that much space, I was still one of the few people on the island. It started raining again so spent a wee while soaking my feet in the warm water, trying to make out the view of the mainland across the way.

When the rain stopped again, I headed to the coastal path and meandered my way along the coast, through the 1914 lava field which is now quite lush, green and tropical with rocks of hardened lava under the new growth. It was quite an adventurous walk with finally some sunshine, then a torrential downpour, an annoying Japanese man who got chased away with my umbrella, some steady rain and then some sunshine again. I managed to make it the 3.5 kilometres to the viewpoint but couldn’t quite make out the peak of the volcano from under the clouds.

There was also a weird statue thing made from volcanic rock.