Last week I left you in the beautiful city of Shimoda, located in the most Southern part of the Izu Peninsula.

Once you leave Shimoda you can choose to go in two different ways, to go back up to Mishima City or head west to Numazu City.

In this week's article I will show you some beautiful pictures of the Izu Southern coast between Shimoda and the small town of Matsuzaki.

In a very remote area there is a very strange and interesting place, Hagachizaki, where there are plenty of wild monkeys living free in a sort of small resort.

You have to be careful as they are also walking and staying on the street. They are not aggressive at all, but I prefer not to get out of the car, as with monkeys... you never know...

Going up a little further there are many small villages and one of them is very famous in Japan and one of the top spots of the Izu Geo Park. It is called Dogashima and it is well known for its typical volcanic stony coasts:

When in Dogashima you can take also a boat tour to the Blue Cave and around the beautiful coast. I suggest to avoid weekends and holidays as there should be plenty of tourists already.

Nearby there is Koganezaki, another suggestive and beautiful spot, where you can enjoy a stunning landscape and also visit a very popular Glass Museum.

There are so many beautiful places in this area that is even difficult to name them all. When I drive around there I always find something new, once entering small and narrow roads. So the best thing to do is travel around by yourselves and see by your own eyes!

Koganezaki is near a small town called Matsuzaki. Here you can find supermarket, convenience stores and anything you might need to rest a little bit. From Matsuzaki you can take two different directions: go right to Mount Amagi of go straight to the town of Toi, proceeding on the West coast.

So next week we will continue our trip through the Western part of the Izu Peninsula (my favourite part).

Alberto