Okinawa (沖縄) - Part 2
Continuing to write about the trip to Okinawa.
September 8th. I decided to head to Gyokusendo (玉泉洞). According to my Japan guidebook it's the second largest cave in Japan, where more than 460 thousand stalactites can be observed. The largest number in Japan. Some resemble shapes like giant bamboos, wine glasses and Rodin statues.
Also, there is that a whole park was built around the cave: Okinawa World (おきなわワールド).
A scheme to attract more tourists to the place? Maybe. Although the cave itself was reason enough to draw me there, a Japanese friend I had asked for advice before didn't mention that place.
Okinawa World focus on showing traditional Okinawan culture, with Eisa dance presentations, a traditional crafts village and tropical orchards. There's even a museum showing Okinawa's indigenous snake "Habu" among other snakes of the world.
Still, for me the cave was the main attraction. The stalactites have a variety of forms, some said to be very rare.
The next stop was Shuri castle (首里城). A good place to visit, and it's quite east to get there. Although it was almost completely destroyed during the Battle of Okinawa, it was reconstructed based on the original. It doesn't have elevators or anything that spoils the fact it was reconstructed too much, which is a good thing. It's architecture is way different than other Japanese castles. Part of it reminded me of Tosho-gu in Nikko.
(Nikko is another of my backlogs that never did its way to the blog. I went there in 2005 to celebrate Christmas with other Brazilian students. I may have mentioned it a couple of times, though...)
There was still time to walk around Kokusai-doori (国際通り), Naha (Okinawa's capital)'s main "shopping street", and see some of its weird figures...
And also have some "Okinawa soba" for dinner...
The next day, I was planning to go to the beach and visit the Cornerstone of Peace (沖縄戦跡国定公園). But something made me change my plans...
It was raining. Hard.
So I had to change my plans for something duller: go around the Okinawa Monorail. So I bought the 1-day pass and was going to various stations and strolling around. When the rain became more bearable I was close to Shuri. Then I remembered an advice of A. (a Japanese friend who had gone to Okinawa some weeks before) saying that Tamaudun (玉陵) was a good place to visit. It was a mausoleum for the royal family, the Ryuukyuuan. Visiting a mausoleum under rainy weather... Perfect, isn't it?
The place is nice somewhat, but part of it was closed due to the rain... duh!
Since the rain was still bearable, I decided to play stubborn and go to the beach. And one it's said to be good: Bi-bi Beach Itoman (美々ビーチいとまん).
The Cornerstone of Peace would have been a better choice, though...
There wasn't a regular bus that stopped in front of the beach, but one stopped close enough. The only problem is that the same bus number went through various routes, one of which was the one I needed...
Guess if I rode the right bus...
I ended up at Itoman bus terminal. Which is not very close to anything that mattered. And the rain was getting strong again. I still played stubborn and was walking to that beach...
When I finally saw a sign indicating I was getting close (about 1km...) The scenario became more like "middle of nowhere"... Worse, the rain turned part of the path into something more like a swimming pool. And some cars crossing it made it even more risky to go through walking (splash damage! Literally...)... Then the rain got so strong that I had to go back looking for cover (no cover where I was or anywhere I could see ahead). The umbrella wasn't enough anymore. (What? Thought I was really simply embracing the rain?! Hah!).
That was the point where it couldn't be only Murphy anymore... I decided to quit and go back as soon as the rain weakened.
Well, the image of myself soaked finishes the fourth day. The conclusion awaits at part 3! Many good stories come in three parts, you know...
September 8th. I decided to head to Gyokusendo (玉泉洞). According to my Japan guidebook it's the second largest cave in Japan, where more than 460 thousand stalactites can be observed. The largest number in Japan. Some resemble shapes like giant bamboos, wine glasses and Rodin statues.
Also, there is that a whole park was built around the cave: Okinawa World (おきなわワールド).
A scheme to attract more tourists to the place? Maybe. Although the cave itself was reason enough to draw me there, a Japanese friend I had asked for advice before didn't mention that place.
Okinawa World focus on showing traditional Okinawan culture, with Eisa dance presentations, a traditional crafts village and tropical orchards. There's even a museum showing Okinawa's indigenous snake "Habu" among other snakes of the world.
Still, for me the cave was the main attraction. The stalactites have a variety of forms, some said to be very rare.
The next stop was Shuri castle (首里城). A good place to visit, and it's quite east to get there. Although it was almost completely destroyed during the Battle of Okinawa, it was reconstructed based on the original. It doesn't have elevators or anything that spoils the fact it was reconstructed too much, which is a good thing. It's architecture is way different than other Japanese castles. Part of it reminded me of Tosho-gu in Nikko.
(Nikko is another of my backlogs that never did its way to the blog. I went there in 2005 to celebrate Christmas with other Brazilian students. I may have mentioned it a couple of times, though...)
There was still time to walk around Kokusai-doori (国際通り), Naha (Okinawa's capital)'s main "shopping street", and see some of its weird figures...
And also have some "Okinawa soba" for dinner...
The next day, I was planning to go to the beach and visit the Cornerstone of Peace (沖縄戦跡国定公園). But something made me change my plans...
It was raining. Hard.
So I had to change my plans for something duller: go around the Okinawa Monorail. So I bought the 1-day pass and was going to various stations and strolling around. When the rain became more bearable I was close to Shuri. Then I remembered an advice of A. (a Japanese friend who had gone to Okinawa some weeks before) saying that Tamaudun (玉陵) was a good place to visit. It was a mausoleum for the royal family, the Ryuukyuuan. Visiting a mausoleum under rainy weather... Perfect, isn't it?
The place is nice somewhat, but part of it was closed due to the rain... duh!
Since the rain was still bearable, I decided to play stubborn and go to the beach. And one it's said to be good: Bi-bi Beach Itoman (美々ビーチいとまん).
The Cornerstone of Peace would have been a better choice, though...
There wasn't a regular bus that stopped in front of the beach, but one stopped close enough. The only problem is that the same bus number went through various routes, one of which was the one I needed...
Guess if I rode the right bus...
I ended up at Itoman bus terminal. Which is not very close to anything that mattered. And the rain was getting strong again. I still played stubborn and was walking to that beach...
When I finally saw a sign indicating I was getting close (about 1km...) The scenario became more like "middle of nowhere"... Worse, the rain turned part of the path into something more like a swimming pool. And some cars crossing it made it even more risky to go through walking (splash damage! Literally...)... Then the rain got so strong that I had to go back looking for cover (no cover where I was or anywhere I could see ahead). The umbrella wasn't enough anymore. (What? Thought I was really simply embracing the rain?! Hah!).
That was the point where it couldn't be only Murphy anymore... I decided to quit and go back as soon as the rain weakened.
Well, the image of myself soaked finishes the fourth day. The conclusion awaits at part 3! Many good stories come in three parts, you know...
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