Okinawa Day 5 – Sayonara Naha
“Sayonara – Japanese for ‘goodbye’; however, it carries more finality. Instead of being used at the end of a day, as in “Goodbye see you tomorrow,” it would be used in situations where you will either not see the person for a long time, if ever again.”
On day 5, which was a Friday, there isn’t much to report, as I woke up, caught the monorail to the airport and flew back to Korea, where I live and work. I had curry for breakfast (Japanese curry is great) followed by pineapple ice cream (Blue Seal* ice cream is everywhere in Okiwana, having been introduced by the Americans in the 1940s).
It’s maybe also notable that the airline I flew with, Jin Air*, a Korean budget airline, is facing penalties as they didn’t close the door properly on one of their flights. So maybe I should be glad that I made it back in one piece!
To summarise my trip I’d say that I enjoyed it and that there is plenty to see and do on Okinawa island*. However, there are some other islands in Okinawa Prefecture* which sound more interesting. Tanegashima* is home to the Japanese space program, Iwo-Jima* has an active volcano, Yakushima* has giant (and really old) trees and Tokara-Retto*, along with all the other islands I just mentioned, has natural, outdoor Onsen (hot springs) and is a good places to go hiking. Though Yakushima is reputed to be the wettest place in Japan. Some of these islands can be reached by plane and some by ferry and there’s 150 of them, spread out of approximately 620 miles, so a lot to see.
When my photos come back from the developer I’ll post some here, though I was quoted 3 weeks when I dropped my camera off the other day, that’s technology for you I guess. Thanks for reading!
Links
*Blue Seal Ice Cream – http://en.blueseal.co.jp/
*Okinawa Island – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_Island
*Okinawa Prefecture – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_Prefecture
*Tanegashima – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanegashima
*Iwo-Jima – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwo_Jima
*Yakushima – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakushima
*Tokara-Retto – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokara_Islands
mokokonoko 