Walking Goto Islands: Day 3

Travel diaries: March 4th, taking the long route and reading the Silence.

I woke up to another sunny day, and this was the first day since I had arrived on the islands that I felt the need to take off my jacket while walking.

Fishing village on Fukue Island.

After catching up with some work emails and a quick breakfast in the common kitchen of Hostel Ta Bi To, I took the 9 a.m. bus to the northern part of the island. My plan for the day was to walk from Miyabara Catholic Church to Kishikumachi by taking the detours to Miyabara Observatory and Dondon-Buchi Waterfalls. With both detours, the walk would take me around three to four hours. Knowing there would be no open lunch places along the route, I bought my lunch at a very well-stocked Ellena Supermarket near Fukue Terminal.

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The plan worked out nicely. While I had sunny skies and dry weather for the walk, some (very) dark clouds accompanied by a shy rain showed up as soon as I reached the bus stop.

My first stop, Miyabara Church, was built in 1971 to honor Miyabara's history as one of the settlements for the Hidden Christians of Japan. The church is strikingly modest. If it was not for the cross visibly standing out, one would have difficulty telling that it was a church but not a modest one-bedroom housing. The door was open, and I could tell that the church was still fully operating, possibly every Sunday (not the case for every church on Goto Islands).