At the top of Okinawa, Mt. Omoto
I know that Okinawa is a water sports activity destination, but a passionate hiker like myself can always find a place to hike up to : ) So today we have decided to go up to the top of Okinawa, Mt. Omoto at an impressive 525m！
When we started walking, a young Japanese man came down and warned us that it was a lot steeper than expected. After a short while, we started climbing up in the dense, humid tropical forest, which reminded us of Bali as well as Yakushima. Beautiful butterflies, trees tangling with other plants, enormous ferns…
Combing through the low bushy bamboo was a bit of work and Philippe was somewhat annoyed by catching all the cobwebs above 180cm which the slightly smaller Japanese hikers before us kindly left behind.
After around one hour, we arrived at the top of Mt. Omoto, 525m. Despite this modest height it is the highest peak in the entire Okinawa!
From the top we had a sweeping view of the long stretch of the Ishigaki island and the turquoise blue bay of Kabira. Amazing!
Kiyoko-san, our wonderful host in Iriomote-so
Kiyoko-san, originally from Sado Island, hosted us for five nights. Full of energy and willingness to help her guests, she is like sunshine on Iriomote!
We enjoyed her family-style meals, ate countless small but richly tasted bananas directly harvested from the garden. She felt sorry for her guests who were stuck on the rainy and unusually cold day and fed us with her tasty home-made Okinawa doughnuts.
Thanks to her, our memory for Iriomote is special and heart-warming.
Firefly spectacle
Our friendly B&B owner Kiyoko-san kindly offered to take us to firefly watching. We got on her mini-van with Japanese, American and Dutch guests and drove to a rice paddy area. It was the last week of the firefly season, Kiyoko-san told us. When we arrived, some cars already parked here and there.
We walked a while on a forest road and as our eyes got used to the darkness, we started to see thousands of firefly flying in the dense foliage. The higher up we got, the more fireflies were there. It felt like we were floating in the darkness surrounded by thousands of flying lights.
What a captivating spectacle it was!
Kayaking to Mariyudō-no-taki waterfalls
Iriomote’s number-one attraction is a boat trip up the Urauchi-gawa (浦内川), a winding brown river reminiscent of a tiny stretch of the Amazon.
We rented a kayak from the mouth of the river, Urauchi-gawa Kankō (浦内川観光 ) and paddled up 6 km braving against the wind. Then we joined the tourists who came by the boat to continue another 2 km on foot all the way in the jungle to the waterfall.
For us, the main attraction of this trip is the paddling along the mangrove rivershore. Iriomote island is the only place in subtropical Japan where one can do that. The one hour of rain all the way back and the winds were not a problem at all. We got all wet but the warm temperature balanced it out.
Except occasional boats which carry sightseeing tourists (who always waved at us), we were floating on the water all alone sandwiched by the dense, humid mangrove forests and forgot that we are in Japan.
Ida-no-hama, a day at the Beach
Bus, boat and a walk to a very pretty, remote and quiet beach, Ida-no-Hama.
The boat trip leads to a village called Funauki (船浮). This village, only accessible by boat, has no more than 45 inhabitants, two local restaurants, a huge elementary school building and two vending machines. No street leading to the beach.
Eiheiji Zen Temple – we found Zen in eating
Great picture and slogan from the Zen Temple „Eiheiji“ campaign
Ramen: Focus on Taste
We had a 30 minutes layover at the Fukuoka airport to take the connecting flight to Ishigaki – more than enough for a quick slurp of Yasuko’s favorite ramen style, tonkotsu. And as we are at an airport, the usual food service efficiency needs, bien évidemment , to be cranked up a notch or two.
It took precisely 4 minutes from “Yes I do” (want ramen) to the first slurp.
Just respectfully …
- chose your version of ramen and pay for the voucher at the vending machine
- move to your own private ramen booth
- shout “sumimasen” (excuse me) to get the waiters attention
- hand over the voucher with some extra instructions (for those in the know)
- wait 2.5 minutes until that steaming bowl flies to you
And now, ladies and gentlemen, close your eyes, lower your heartbeat (oooohm), ignore any funny noises around you, overclock your taste buds and follow the second instruction on the ramen manual sticker on your left which reads: “Focus on Taste” 🇯🇵🍜
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Fly, Hike & Travel. 