May 20 – May 23, 2016
Okinawa
It’s a short flight from Osaka to Okinawa (I took Jetstar which is a cheap Asian airline so they’ll charge you extra for breathing). The Okinawa airport is small and I was surprised that it was hot and humid when I landed! As I walked out of the airport I was initially a bit unimpressed with Naha city. I had seen turquoise water and beautiful beaches in pictures of Okinawa…that’s not in Naha.
So when I got to the hostel I started trying to figure out how to get to those beaches. I really wanted to go to Ishigaki island but you can only get there by plane and it would have cost $150+. I didn’t want to spend that much for just 2 days especially since the forecast predicted rain for both. Instead I decided to head to Zamami and I’m so glad that I did. Zamami is part of the Karema Islands. These islands are closest to Naha and can be reached by ferry. The ferry takes about 2 hours and it is a gorgeous trip through the Pacific with little islands sprinkled throughout.
On the way to Zamami the ferry stops at Aka island which is smaller than Zamami and less populated. I was originally planning on heading to Aka for a day but after arriving in Zamami I decided to spend all of my time there. Zamami has a small town center that is attached to the port and most of the businesses in town seem to be focused on tourism…diving, snorkeling, charter boats, guesthouses etc. But it really doesn’t have that resort/ touristy feel. Things move slowly and the streets are small and quiet.
The day I arrived it was cloudy but not raining. I checked in, rented snorkel gear and decided to go check out one of the two main beaches, Furuzamami. It’s about a 20 minute walk from the town center to the beautiful beach. Once I arrived, I set down my things and went a-snorkeling (I’ve gotten so much better Lil’ Sun…was not afraid at all). The water was nice and calm. Hot and cold currents seem to merge here but only when I swam into the cold current), and I saw some amazing coral, fishes, sea cucumbers and big clams (not giant but pretty big). Oh and I saw one bright orange little starfish. Adorable. Times like these I really wish I had a GoPro. Oh well I’ll just have to hold on to the memory. After snorkeling I decided to walk to the other side of the beach. The lifeguards were pretty insistent about not swimming in the other areas so I just took a walk. On the other side of the rocks there is less sand and much more coral. When you walk on it and as the waves crash against the beach it sounds like clinking glass…what a wonderful sound, almost like wind chimes.
This side of the beach was completely deserted except for the three girls that were leaving. I walked around looking for shells (amazing shells on this beach), taking pictures and humming to myself. There is another island nearby that I feel like you could walk to or very easily swim to…but no swimming allowed outside designated areas so I didn’t try it. I walked to the end of the beach and found a little rock that was hand carved by the waves to be my beach throne. I sat down, listened to the ocean and the wind, and read my kindle. It was sublime. Happy Madiha. I sat there for an hour and eventually the crabs decided I was part of the scenery and decided to start wandering around again. I claimed that beach a mine at least for that hour. I figured I should probably head back when I noticed that the tide was coming in. There was a slight moment of panic when I noticed that the rocky edge that I had walked past easily an hour ago, was now underwater. Luckily, I was just being a pansy and it was only knee deep. My guess was that the main beach would be empty by now and the lifeguards gone…I was right. The beach was empty except for one couple that was leaving. I decided I should leave too and find food. The walk back was beautiful…the island is super green with flowers blooming, butterflies dancing and birds singing. So melodious. I tried recording it but was mostly unsuccessful so you’ll just have to imagine it.
As I was searching for food I realized that Okinawa food is super porky so I had to settle for unexciting maguro sashimi. It was adequate. I walked around the town a little bit after dinner but it was starting to rain so I headed back and went to bed fairly early. I must say that the hostel I stayed in, in Zamami, was the only dirty hostel I found in Japan…it was not owned or run by Japanese people so that explains it. Instead it was run by a cranky American guy and his cranky wife/girlfriend. I tried engaging them in conversation and joking with them but no takers. Oh well, I tried. The staff was really nice though. I would say I don’t recommend staying there but there are not many other hostel options on Zamami.
The next day started with some serious rain so I just did Google hangouts with the babies and baby Zia and took care of some stuff I had been ignoring online. Late morning, the rain eased up a bit so I decided to check out Ama beach. Ama beach was a bit underwhelming because it was low tide (although I’ve heard that this is where you go to swim with the turtles…during high tide). The water level was really low so I couldn’t swim and it was super rocky and dead coral-y so it was hard to walk in the water…I did see a lot of sea cucumbers though. So I walked along the beach a bit. There was no one there except for the lifeguard. On the walk back I saw an Israeli guy from the hostel. We made some small talk and afterwards I headed back to the hostel to figure out what to do next. I had lunch at the hostel…they did make an adequate pizza…and asked the staff about other beaches to explore on the island. The girl working there told me about the Chishi observation deck on the other side of the island and a secret little beach that only the locals went to. She told me it’s a bit far but fairly easily reachable by bike, which I could rent. I was sold and ready to go when the Israeli guy returned. He wanted to know more about Hokkaido since he was thinking of heading there next. So I talked to him a bit more and then asked if he want to join me. He didn’t know how to ride a bike though (who doesn’t know how to ride a bike! KT!) so we decided we would walk. And for some reason, I decided to wear my flip flops. It was quite a hike…the filp flops were not the best idea…it was pretty steep in some areas. But it was nice to have the company and the scenery was amazing. The Chishi observation deck arrived first. There’s not much else around there besides the little deck, on a cliff side, high above the beach. The view was amazing…definitely worth the hike. It started pouring as soon as we got there but luckily it didn’t last too long. We considered hiking down the side of the cliff to the little beach but the ground was pretty muddy, steep and slippery. The flip flops didn’t help so I chickened out. I was too worried about climbing back up with the slippery ground. I know, I was being way too sensible. I feel like I took about a million pictures on my camera but I’ve somehow managed to lose them :-(.
After the observation deck, we debated whether or not we should continue walking to the locals’ beach which was another hour walk away. The answer was yes and again it was completely worth it. On the way we saw these cute little black lizards that were swimming in the pools left behind after the down pour…they were everywhere. As expected, the beach was completely deserted. This beach was actually sandy unlike the Furuzamami beach. I tried snorkeling here as well but there was not as much to see. The water was a bit warmer though so I just floated for a while. We sat and chatted some more…I think mostly about traveling. It was so peaceful and wonderful. The walk back was pretty brutal, it was much more uphill especially since we decided to take a short cut. It was definitely shorter but pretty much completely uphill. I think I walked a total of 8 miles that day. We were beat by the time we got back to town and starving. So we cleaned up and immediately went to a restaurant that was basically across the street. I had some fried chicken which was really good. Sadly I have no pictures so I don’t remember exactly what it was. I think it was slightly spicy. We had some good sake too. It was a great way to end the day.
The next day I got on the ferry to head back to Okinawa mainland. That night I wandered around Okinawa a bit. The most memorable thing about that night was the Okinawa ice cream…and it was no Morelli’s. The next day, I had my last caramel custard from 7eleven headed off to Thailand!
I mostly went to Japan to see Kastumi and Andy and eat some udon. I really had no expectations. I was amazed to find how beautiful, unique, and interesting Japan is. I was surprised to find that you can find so many quiet/ serene/ peaceful/ lush/ weird places in Japan. I love finding places that are just yours, even if it is just for a little while. I was able to do that several times in Japan. I will have to return to find some more…
nomadshak 