Monday in Okinawa

Monday morning, Tosha, Niki and I headed off for our first big adventure in sightseeing. (after we spent some time getting me a day pass for the base.  We got one for the weekend for my arrival but were hoping to get the permanent one on Monday.  After a 15 minute wait they came out to say that their computers were down and we had to go to another office to get a one day pass.  Finally on Tuesday I got a pass that allowed me on and off the base until I left Okinawa on the 9th.  I learned a little about life on the base while there.)

All around the island there were these flying carp windsocks.  Here is a string across a pond.  They have these windsocks along the roads and freeways as well in areas where there are high winds from mountain passes.

This was the first time that Tosha had driven to the tourist spots.  Having GPS on your phone is a wonderful thing.  We just typed in our destination and off we went.  They drive on the other side of the road in Japan but Tosha takes it all like a pro.  In the cities the traffic was a bit crazy but still polite with people letting you in and very little honking--more than I heard in Tokyo but still not much.

City traffic

Our first spot was the Shuri Castle.  It was the home of the Ryūkyū Kingdom.  In 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa it was almost completely destroyed.  It was rebuilt starting in 1992 following plans from historical records and memories.

Again things are more simple and less ornate than you would see in many Chinese buildings of similar purpose.  There is a lot of Chinese influences, however.  During the Ming dysnasty in China, Okinawa was a major trading partner with China and under some political control as well.  You can see those influences in some of the rooms in the castle.

I know this picture is a random picture, but I am always amazing at the ability of plants in the sub-tropic and the tropics to grown in every nick and grannies they can find.  If there is not rocks, there is green.

 The castle is located on the top of a mountain which allows views over the city out to the sea.

 The cutest tourists in the whole place!

 Looking down into the city

A sun dial used for centuries.  It was damaged during the Battle of Okinawa and was brought back to this spot as part of the reconstruction.

The actual castle itself.  You have to take your shoes off as you enter and carry them in a bag throught the tour.  Some of the rooms serve as a museum so you can see artifacts from the past.

The emperor's everyday throne.  This room has a lot of the Chinese style dragons and the more ornate decorations.

 Ancient trees on the site with their gnarly roots in which other plants have found a place to grow.

Leaving the castle, we headed down to Kokusai-dōri, a famous shopping street where tourists go to shop.  There are stores, bars, and restaurants along its length.  Right as we drove on to the street, Niki fell asleep.  Since I am not much of a shopper we decided to just drive along and see what there was to see.  I did see something I wanted, but assumed that I could get it any where--turns out I couldn't so we had an adventure on another day for me to buy it.  More about that later.

A dragon boat just like you would see in Hong Kong.  Because of the holiday week, they were having dragon boats races on Thursday in a local bay of the ocean.

Sites along the tollway through the center of Okinawa:

Since Niki was napping, we decided to take advantage of that and drive up north to the famous Sea Glass Beach.  He woke up just as we were arriving after our 45 minute drive.

There are tons of shells on this beach.  In fact it is literally millions of shells during slowly into sand. Along the roads here in Okinawa there are usually signs which indicate any type of grade--like 2% grade which is a slope you barely notice.  Austen and Tosha told me the reason is because the sand they use in the cement contains so much shell material that it becomes very slippery when wet and motorists need to be extra careful.

On this beach that is what you walked on.  Of course, my shoes were off in a flash.....

And once again I was able to walk in the western edge of the Pacific Ocean in the Far East.  How lucky am I to have that experience again.

These rocks were covered with crabs in all types of shells.  It was impossible to get a picture to show 20-30 crabs climbing over and in these piles of rocks.  Tosha said there are times when there are hundreds.  It looks like the whole rock is moving.

This guy was really too big for his shell.  They are not the cutest creatures in the world.

This was not really a swimming beach but people came to collect sea glass and shells.  It was still a very pretty place and a fun place t explore.  All of my kids would have loved this beach when they were little.

It is famous for sea glass which is found up and down this area of beach.  It is blue, green, brown or white and is the result of glass which has been in the ocean so long that it has been smoothed and shined by the salty water.  Tosha has an eagle eye for the pieces and helped me get a collection to bring home.  At Christmas time she made a little ornamental Christmas tree with green and white sea glass that is gorgeous.  I didn't take a picture that day but here are some of them.

Includes two tiny little shells as well

Niki is not a fan of sand in his toes so he kept his shoes on and used the Chinese squat.  I gave him a stick and he loved using it to dig and play in the sand.

I love the ocean and beaches.......................don't you?