This place never sleeps!

I was hoping to sleep in this morning, but I couldn`t since my roommates were speaking at full volume while two of us still slept. I`m still amazed at how loud people are here! What gives?

When I arrived at the hostel last night the guy at the front desk greeted me by saying, "Welcome back! Where are you coming from?" I responded, "Beppu and Usuki." "Usuki? Why?"

Usuki is this tiny, tiny town that only took 2 hours to tour. I had intended to see the stone Buddhas that were near by, but buses to the Buddhas were few and far between and I wouldn`t have been able to make my train back to Fukuoka had I gone to see them. I`m so glad this happened because I had a fantastic time walking around the sleepy town. I saw former samurai quarters, old temples, historic neighborhoods and ruins of a castle. Most of the attractions in the city were free also! I was most impressed by one of the houses because it was beautifully restored and I was able to actually walk into the rooms. This is not the norm. Most places like this have to be viewed from behind a rope. Above all, I loved the castle ruins. They were set high on a hill over looking the town and the ocean. The ruins had been turned into a public park where children were catching tadpoles at a pond in front of a shrine and even more children were playing baseball.

Last night I was determined to come back to the hostel and rest because I was exhausted. However, as soon as I got into the train station I was energized by all the people walking about. The streets were so busy and people on bicycles were zooming by. Everyone seemed to be off to do something fun and exciting.

After dropping my stuff off I walked around Tenjin, the main shopping and entertainment district. I didn`t stop anywhere for coffee or a drink, but rather enjoyed watching all the people socializing around me.

It`s my last full day On Kyushu, so I think I`m going to do a little shopping and site seeing. I was going to go to Arita for a ceramics festival, but I think I`ve done enough train traveling. Besides, my train pass has expired.