Okinawa

I got back last night and had an absolute blast! The people there were so friendly and relaxed, the air was so fresh, and the island was so beautiful (much prettier than Hawaii or Mexico I think)--it was really a nice change from Fukuoka. However, since the cities were kind of run down, it gave the illusion I was in a cheap developing country...except nope, still expensive Japan =).

We spent one night in Naha-the biggest city in Okinawa. Not too much to do there, but we saw Shuri Castle which is a replica of an Okinawan culture castle (pre-Japan take over). The problem with most castles, etc in Japan is they have all been destroyed at some point due to wars, etc. So, a lot of them are replicas. It was still interesting though. Then, we spent the rest of the day/night exploring Kokusaidori Street, which had a lot of bars, shops, and restaurants. I was really excited to eat tacos and other Western style food. In Japan, they are obsessed with food. Every part of Japan is "famous" for some kind of food. Like Fukuoka is famous for ramen, etc. Okinawa is famous for it's pork soba noodles and taco rice--literally like a taco on rice-so good! Okinawa is also famous for snake wine...which is literally a big jug of wine with snake venom in it...and an entire snake coiled up. I tried some at a bar. It was really strong, but not too bad.

Then, we took the bus to Nago for the rest of the trip-the N part of the island. Our hostel was literally on the beach and literally a shack. So, we were practically camping the whole time, it was so awesome. The people at the hostel were all Japanese, but were very friendly, so we spent every night hanging out with them and drinking on the beach. Near Nago, there is an entertainment park that has a beautiful beach, dolphin tanks, and Japan's most famous aquarium. We actually spent two days there because there was so much to do!

On Thursday we went to Sesoko Island, a little island you take a bridge to, and that was the highlight of my trip. The water there was so blue-like koolaid- it looked fake. My camera couldn't really do anything justice. I still can't get over it. We went on a snorkeling tour there, and I am sad I wasn't able to take pictures because it was incredible. I saw some amazing fish. They gave us fish food so the fish would swim right up to you. Then, we had to walk back all the way over the bridge because there were no taxis, but that wound up being great because we caught the sunset and it was just unreal. We returned, and our hostel was throwing a beach bbq party for one of their coworkers so we joined in and partied with the locals. It was a GREAT way to finish off the trip.

The weather forecast said thunder showers all week, but it only rained a little the last day when we were leaving. We had beautiful weather the entire time. Apparently it rained here all week in Fukuoka, so it looks like I really got lucky! So hard to come home though! It was really a perfect trip, and JUST what I needed! My urge to travel has just been kicked up 18 notches though.

I took 634 pictures (yeah, I know), but in case you are really bored or interested, you can see them here:

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