Ishigaki really was such a wonder. It was the right thing at the right time. Deep peace, rich natural beauty, warmth but not over bearable heat. All these views are from our back deck. Lucky.
We hiked to the highest point on the island. It was a 20 minute walk. The weather did not oblige so instead of endless island views we got fog. Our airbnb host said there isn’t much trail culture on these islands. For one, it’s dense jungle. For two, when the ocean is that stunning I can imagine it’s hard to play anywhere else.
We did a self-guided tour of the local Blue Caves. Love seeing these two explore underwater wonders.
We took a day trip to Taketomi. It’s an even smaller island a quick ferry ride from Ishigaki. It was full of tiny little roads with tiny stone walls, tiny homes and loads of flowers. Many of the homes had traditional Okinawa roofs. These roofs are bombproof in Typhoons. Okinawa refers to the island we were on a week ago, and also to the the “Prefecture” which is basically this whole set of Japanese islands. More than 150 islands are in the Okinawa Prefecture!!!
Did I mention flowers?
We’re grateful for the time we spent in Japan. We definitely feel a pull to return before we’ve even left. It’s an easy, delightful, peaceful and welcoming place to travel.
The transition from a travel wonder to reality is always still amazing to me. I remember ages ago Justin said “maybe Southern Japan” which was not on my mind at all. And here we are. We randomly wondered the other day how long we’d been on the road. Turned it it was 199 days. Hard to believe. We had a small dance party to celebrate 200 days, dancing to our current number one song: I’m too sexy :)
Onwards to western Australia, which is really hard to believe. So much behind us and yet I’m not losing the perspective that there is also so much ahead.
In parting, some of the Japanese aesthetic observed at the Okinawa airport. So much sweetness, beauty and intention. Simplicity. Oh Japan!!!
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