It was a very early morning today. The ship was scheduled to arrive at 0700.
I set up the GoPro as usual for the arrival although the visibility was not great.
Today’s port guide…
Today’s onboard activities:
I was one of the first off the ship again this morning. In fact no one was working the visitor information center, but I did steal a map.
I took some pictures of the dragon gate nearby the port.
Along the way to the monorail I found out that the Shuri castle would be open at 0800, so I didn’t meander much, but I did take a few photos.
The monorail took the IC card from Kyoto so I was all set.
I love the Japanese warning signs, this on is on the door, obviously to warn of a pinch hazard.
The monorail was very quick. I took a few pictures while it passed by the castle.
I arrived to the Shuri station at around 0800. I took a picture of the monorail as it was leaving the station to go back.
A few pictures inside the monorail station:
And a few pictures along the way to Shurijo Castle Park.
It was a short walk to the Shuri castle complex. There was a sign only in Japanese which I attempted to translate with my phone, but it was less accurate than usual. One translation came out as “how to be dumb”, but after a few attempts I figured out the more scenic option had stairs and the other option was for wheelchairs.
I walked around the castle walls a bit before arriving at the paid area. Admission was only 400 ¥ ($3).
Nearby the ticket counter, but still outside the paid area:
My ticket and the brochure:
Pictures from inside the paid area… We were told that the castle burned in 2019, so I wasn’t expecting much. There was a window where you could see the reconstruction in progress inside the building.
There was a short video showing the history of the complex. It was destroyed during WWII in 1945 and then someone decided it would be a good use of the land to build a university on top of it. In the 1980’s they relocated the university and started reconstruction. They only finished reconstruction in February 2019. Unfortunately the whole place with the exception of a pair of dragon columns burned to the ground on October 31st of 2019. That’s right, some people literally worked their whole life to reconstruct the buildings only for them to survive 8-9 months.
I continued my exploration of the castle compound which included a couple of scenic overlooks.
I also visited the royal tombs, Tamaudun. The ticket was only 300 Yen.
There was a small display downstairs and the outside looked interesting, but you couldn’t go inside.
I walked back to the castle park to make sure I didn’t miss anything as I did see a sign about an observation platform. I did run into a butterfly as well.
There was also a tunnel that was built during WWII.
And there was this nice building in a pond.
Across the street was a temple.
attempted to get a taxi to the Shikinaen gardens, but failed. Luckily I saw a Lawson Station and bought another delicious pork sandwich for 200 ¥.
It was supposed to be about 35 minutes to walk to Shikinaen Garden, so I started to walk. As I went back past the castle complex I saw a taxi under a taxi sign, but he was busy eating lunch and waved me off. Just a few minutes later one stopped on the street facing the wrong way. I tried to get him to turn around, but he opened his door and someone else got in. At this point I was at @%#* it and just started to walk.
I found the 600 year old cobblestone road. It was actually quite nice.
The first part of the walk was fine, it was downhill. The second part was more challenging as I had to climb a 130 meter hill.
I got to the gardens and there were a few taxis, so I thought I would be fine to get back.
The entrance fee was 400¥. I took an English map and started to walk around.
The small guard station was the first building on the map.
After walking by the main gate I walked towards the pond.
Nearby the pond was a spring.
The small bridges were nice.
Before crossing the bridges I went inside the Udun palace. The palace was very similar to the Magistrate’s building in Hakodate.
I continued around the garden. There were a few other small buildings and another scenic lookout over a different part of the city.
When I exited all the taxi drivers that were in the parking lot vanished. At this point I was sure it would be downhill to get downtown so I walked. It was more than 3 kms to get there, but I had plenty of time.
It was interesting seeing the normal apartments of the people living in Okinawa.
I found the shopping area, at least for tourists.
Even the public market seemed like it was more for tourists as it was incredibly small.
I managed to get some Ube ice cream. It was good, but not spectacular.
I walked back to the ship where my phone literally died after I could see the Diamond Princess.
I took a quick shower before anything else as it was warm and sticky today.
A few photos from the sailaway:
I had a few drinks in the elite lounge before having dinner in the international dining room.
For dinner I had the fruit cup and chilled apple soup for the starter as well as the egg noodles (from the beef stroganoff) with the seafood skewer.
Hard to leave without a dessert (or two). I had the cherries jubilee and the strawberry ice cream.
After dinner I listed to some much and then just went back to my room to recover.
Today’s timeline:
