Okinawa

25 hours on the ferry to Okinawa, spent mostly dozing, reading manga and marvelling at how tricky it was to get any food while on board. If you missed the 20 minute window of opportunity to order breakfast you had no choice but to wait 2 hours for the shop to open, then you had 10 minutes to buy cup ramen before the harassed-looking lady closed up shop again and bustled off.

First impressions of Okinawa were of warmth and hustle. It was a good 10-15 degrees warmer than Kyushu which was a welcome change. It's also, around Naha at least, heavily built up and swarming with cars and scooters. I get the impression no-one uses public transport, unlike in the rest of Japan.

The three-lane highways had over-the-top signage everywhere, of a kind I hadn't seen before, stating that two-wheeled vehicles were restricted to the outside lane. The reason for this was immediately apparent as everyone on two wheels seemed to have a death wish, nipping through and around cars with no regard for lanes or signalling. We later met a biker who had customised his scooter to have a narrower profile - switching out the handle bars and indicators to better nip between speeding cars.

The campsite we were looking for had become a construction site, and since it was already 9pm we resigned ourselves to a night in an internet cafe.

The next day we wasted looking for a hot spring that wasn't open to the public and catching up on sleep after the internet cafe. Hot springs are few and far between in Okinawa, and those that do exist seem to have been walled off by expensive hotels.

It rained all night and throughout the morning, but since the campsite we ended up at closes every Tuesday(?) we had to move out. Fortunately we had a dry destination in mind: A friend of a friend's mother-in-law's place. I don't remember the details because I was drunk at the time, but we met at our friend's wedding in Hakodate and I over-enthusiastically took up Terumi's casual offer to let us visit, insisting that Hozumi get contact details and work out the specifics. I'm glad I did because the whole family was fantastic and really hospitable. Terumi, Maabo, Yuki, Mika and mum, thanks, you were wonderful!

We went round Riri's place and she insisted on calling me 'James', as she does with all white guys. She was really cool and friendly, but I couldn't quite get over that hint of racism. I can't rightly go around calling every Japanese guy I meet Taro, can I?

The local festival we all went to was a sea of mud - over half a foot of liquid orange goop to wade through in our boots. Most of the young crowd there had opted to go barefoot. It's tricky to dance when you're not sure if each step you take will breach the gloop but a good time was had by all with Riri's husband showing us the appropriate moves.

Terumi's birthday the next day so we had some cake at midnight, 'salt' ice-cream by the seaside the next morning (left) and then said our farewells and thank yous as she went for her lunch date.

Off to another camp site then Chiraumi aquarium. HUGE tank with three whale sharks and schooling manta rays. They also boasted real live coral and breeding turtle colonies, apparently world firsts.

Next day we hung out with Hozumi's friend Miyako, who moved down to Okinawa last year. We checked out Hontou's holiest spot, Sefa Utaki, and I learnt that the highest-ranking religious class and the only people with a direct line to the gods in Okinawan culture are/were women - the 聞得大君. Wonder how many cultures there are where that's the case?

Gangaraa valley, named for the echo of stones thrown down a hole long since concreted over, was another interesting discovery. Only accessible with a guide and an appointment, the valley used to be a massive cave until most of the roof collapsed. First thing I noticed was the huge penis-shaped stalactite in the brochure but I was shushed down by the two girls when I commented on it. Turns out there are two caves on the tour - named in the local dialect the 'women's' cave and the 'men's' cave respectively. Yes, the women's cave featured a perfectly round nipply tits formation and another looking for all the world like a pert butt and thighs (a photograph of a photograph pictured left). I felt vindicated =)

We also learnt that the banyan(?) trees are quite unique in their ability to move over time. New roots begin as dangling 'hairs', and thicken as they hit the ground and begin to draw nutrients. Old roots wither, dry up and decay. A banyan tree can in this way 'walk' downslope over centuries. This also makes the tree's age impossible to determine with any accuracy.

The reason for the guide was the discovery of a 18,000 year old skeleton and burial ground in the valley. A possible link showing human migration from Asia to Japan.

Coming back to the campsite in the evening we found that something had torn up everything we left in plastic bags - the only food there was sealed, dried ramen packets and they were gone. Even books were ripped up. Cats, monkeys, still not sure. Enthusiastic buggers anyway.

More on Okinawa later. Got to catch up and start on Malaysia (having a great time, loving the food!)