Welcome to the jangeru!

To Iriomote it takes 40min by speedboat, enough for me to be ready to puke, but just right for a copassenger who slept during the passage, dispite all the shaking and horrible noise on the open deck (we have a winner....!).
In Iriomote it's all Yamaneko (Wildcat), tours, shops, dorms, even a marathon is named after them! As there are only some hundred of these critters, which naturally avoid human civilization and moreover are only active during nighttime, you never see the real ones, but tons of signs instead, warning you to not roll them over on the street (otherwise being severely punished...;-O

Iriomite is covered with jungle forest, human settlements nestled along the westside coast. I went up Urauchigawa, a scenic river bordered by mangroves. From the landing site there is a path crossing the whole island. Most visitors including me stick to the nearby waterfalls, which can be reached within 45mins. But that's quite fine to get a glance how a jungle looks like. There were quite a few cool things to see.

Not only did i forget my umbrella in the bus (i never have one longer than a week), but the pension i had made the reservation at, told me they wouldn't pick me up when i called them to, because they were on vacation ("...but this is Ryuu-Kyu!"). As my mobile didnt work in the jungle the boat company let me use their phone. Of course not much choice this way, so i ended up in rundwon Pension Taira, without meals but moldy walls instead. Actually this seems to be nothing uncommon for Uehara, the village i stayed, as all Hotels here are totally run down. Only the price isnt. A real backdrop considering the beauty of this island.

Having had enough of no warm water, no mirrror in the bathroom, and no sink (therefore no shaving, how did this place make it into LP recommondations after all?) after one night i had the luck, the clerk at deserted Uehara port getting me a room at Pain-Kan. After all the troubles with accomodiation i enjoyed a decent room near the beaches (swimming, once more at great sites), eating wild boar carpaccio at the near izakaya and drinking yamamori-sake together with the people from pain-kan! So i got glance of life on that island too.
Today after a short morning dive, i took the bus to south side Ohara port, as Uehara was still closed for northern winds conveying high tides, and watched the jungle landscape through the windows. One more speedboat-ride back to Ishigaki, taught me about northern winds strengh, as the vessel jumped several times, after hitting the waves. Tomorrow i continue back to Naha by early morning ferry.
One funny thing i heard about ishigaki: Visitors from nearby Taiwan like to buy apples as souvenir gifts, as they are thought to be so cheap (1 apple is 150-200Y).