Japan Exodus - Day 18: I Want To Get Away

The ferry boat had docked in the new Okinawa port sometime around seven in the PM. The sun had set, and immediately I could tell that I was over dressed. As in, I had too many clothes on. The pants I wore on the boat to keep warm from the air conditioning started to stick to my legs, as did my shirt for the same reason. My jacket felt embarrassingly useless. 

I imagined on the ship ride over here that the island of Okinawa would fall into a little of two main categories. There is a strong US military force and the island is a popular tourist destination in Asia, we all know. I imagine there designed city strips geared at the tourist community; restaurants, tacky gift stores, neon lights, shopping malls, stereotypes. But there also has to be some tucked away places to see and do, yes?

That first night, although it was a mere hour or so before I got to settle in with a nice patch of grass on to which I could pitch my tent, my impression contained only the former. A big city aimed at providing an "authentic" Japanese tropical experience. I had arrived on Saturday night too, that wasn't helping anything. Tourists and men with buzz cuts with thick necks swarmed the main street that I quickly found myself on after disembarking the ferry. There were bars and girls handing out fliers promising Japanese music and cuisine. There is no way that they could know I had already lived in Japan for two years. After all, I was just off the boat.

That night I slept under some cover because I saw a little rain coming. And it did come. The morning time came with a dampness that I was not used to. The Shikoku mountains that Kyle and I had recently grown accustomed to was more of a dry cold. This was a wet heat. But I made my way, and packed my things as per usual. I didn't know what I wanted to do besides spend some time on the most perfect beach I could find. I also knew I didn't want to wait around Naha (the main city center) to find out. So, I began to travel north under the changing sky under the morning sun, where they say the island is a little more rural, and a little more my speed.

Navigating the cities can be a real challenge. Today's first twenty kilometers took a good two hours - not my best time. Especially with a heavy bike. Once you get me going, its hard to stop me, and I can really move. The momentum created by the weight of my bike helps to push me along. But in cities you can find that red lights and yield signs can really kill any momentum you try and build up. Between the waiting and the distractions of city life, I took a really long time before I could find a nice stretch of land to cycle uninterrupted. 

One silver lining from having to make frequent stops is that you don't mind stopping once more to grab a photo of something that really catches your eye. That is what this image did to me, stopped my in my uphill tracks. I can just imagine my three younger siblings (heck, Gabi too) racing up and down these stairs and ladders to fall back down again after reaching to top of the slide.  

One of the things that immediately grabbed my attention was the change in architecture. Gone where the shadow houses of Japanese countryside, those iconic tiled roof tops that seem to stretch on way past their intended limits. No where either could there be seen the more modern Japanese house styles, made from plastic. 

The houses I see in Naha are very simple and lack identification. Squares, rectangles, straight edges and straight faces. Really, kind of boring.  

Found a beach though! Well, so of. This water area was linked off from the rest of the sea for scuba diving purposes. I got off my bike to watch for a little bit, the struggling of new divers coming to grips with the idea that they have to breath in and out of a tube, and survive the awkward feeling of intense water pressure squeezing you around every surface millimeter of your body. In the back of the photo rests a gazebo, might be fun to go check out and save a place to sleep.  

A really cool lit tunnel I road my bike through. I enjoy shots like these, I could stare into this one for hours. 

Wondering the streets while trying to find my way out of town, I stumbled upon a car free day. Sundays are usually marked for this day in most cities, it is nice to see the closing of a street here too. Although, from the looks of this, not many people take to the streets. There is still this obedience to doing what is expected, even apparently when rules allow for a nice change.  

Around 1PM  I am reminded what island life can mean: unexpected rain showers. If I happened to look at the weather for today, I am sure that I would see a raincloud all day, everyday. That will not be the case, I am sure. However, the chance of rain is real. With a little help from an open alley, I pulled in once the rain became dangerous, and had a seat to watch the people go by, unpack my thoughts, and make a rough plan for the next few days.

A little lunch, and a little brew to lift my spirits. 

The rain came and went, but not after seriously soaking some people who were not prepared for the brief but heavy set of dark clouds that passed over us. I even had some people join me in the alley to hide from the rain and talk a little about where they were from and how long they planed to stay in Japan. We talked until the rain let up, and we all departed ways, splitting off into different directions and errands. 

I path I choose pushed me along the coast, were I feel at home. In certain parts of the island, you will see sections of water and beach roped off in the distance. These are designated swimming areas. You can approach them with children and be sure that you will not be stung or have waves crashed on top of you. 

This is a nice beach, but I still want to get away. Onwards!

Another two hours in and I still had not escaped the hotel strips and populated coast lines of Okinawa. The island can't be that big, I kept telling myself. There is this really cool ferris wheel that I saw along the way. Now this is the perfect example to showcase my difference in cycling with a partner and cycling alone. If there were someone else with me, I would not mind, like to even, climb up and spin around this giant beast. But alone, I gave it a good look and carried on after not much time. What can I say about this? Sometimes sharing an experience is more the point than the experience itself.

Hold it! I squeezed my breaks as fast and as hard as I could. Smoke came off my back tire. Does that sign really say what I think it says?! 

I love pizza, I really do. There was a time in my adolescent life when I would not eat vegetables unless it was on a pizza (there was a burrito phase too, but thats a different story). I couldn't believe what I had come across. And, to put an extra slice of pepperoni on the pizza cake, I was starving. This pairing could not have come at a better time, could not have been ordained any more perfect if I had planned it all out myself. 

Not only pizza I found out, but I full on salad bar too! Japanese eat really healthy, over all. Vegetables are mostly included in some way in every meal. At the same time, eating vegetables on the road is extremely difficult. And so, for as much as I love pizza, I know that I needed a good shot of green veggies more than anything else. And look! Red kidney beans!! Do you know how rare this is? My whole time in Japan, I can count the times I ate red kidney beans on one hand; and two of those times happened here at this restaurant. 

Then came three slices of pepperoni pizza...

Two veggie mean slices and melon slushy...

Another helping of salad...

More pizza because it was so good! And, I love a good slice of Hawai'ian pizza =)

Along the side there, you can see something that I did not know was famous here in Osaka. Taco rice. Yup, thats right. Osaka is famous for a Mexican dish...sort of. Taco rice is prepared in a lasagna type of high rice dish, with a layer of red tomato rice, topped with salsa and cheese. The taste was a little off than what you might expect from a taco shop, but the idea was there and thats what made my heart get all warm and fuzzy.

More salad, because you know what mom's are always telling you. 

At the end of my meal, I had to call a forklift from the docks to help carry me and my overstuffed stomach out of the booth. I was thoroughly, completely filled to the gills. 

I ran into a little more luck along the way after I took a ten minute breather on the bench outside. Once I gathered the will to mount my bike after eating more than what was probably good for me, I saw a sign for a rest area only two kilometers down the road. This could not have worked out any better. A place to sleep after the meal of the journey. Turned out that the rest area laid adjacent to a US Air-force base. You could climb a small town at the rest area to look upon the landing strip across the highway that divided the base from the rest area to watch the planes land and take off. 

And that is where I stayed for the night. The area was not huge, and the humid night air did not make for a good night in the tent, I thought. The rain had also come, expected but unexpected. I didn't even bother with my tent, tonight would be a night on a bench, and I am OK with that. I simply let the rain carry me off into dreamland, and thank the seasons that there are no mosquitoes to nip away at my pulsing ankles. 


Alright then, another day along the trip in the books. Although, all of this is really just practice. My overall plan is to ride up to Hokkaido, and I think I will "start" my journey from one of these days in Okinawa, to see how long it will take me from the most southern point to the most norther. In that way, we can discount all the km cycled over in Shikoku, and start fresh. And a fresh start is what I am looking for tomorrow, on top of a beach I can escape to and ponder at the sky.

All my love,
-A