Well, as the expression goes…all things must come to an end. It is time for us to move on and leave our comfortable, spacious room at the Green Rich Hotel in Nago. It has been lovely to stay near the beach and get to know the community where we are staying. We will miss our daily visits to the Onsen on the top floor. We have realized how lucky we are as we don’t see as many Onsens or public baths at accomodation on Okinawa.
A rare treat…a comfy couch and lots of space to relax in our room.
Getting ready to head out and one of the managers from the hotel rushed out to take our photo. We enjoy, and never take for granted the excellent level of service and gracious hospitality we receive in Japan….from Konbinis (convenience stores), to accommodation, people on the street…most anyone we encounter. And this feels genuine as the culture is one of no tipping. It would be offensive to try to tip a person in Japan.
We rode over to check out the busy docks and port of Nago across from the hotel. We have read about a place like this that is used for fish auctions, and we think this is it.
Here is a blast from the past…an A&W in its original building from the 70’s and a full on menu. They serve ice cold, frothy root beer in the original glass mugs (Root Beer floats too) and all of the menu items we remember from our childhood. The place was crazy busy with ardent Okinawan fans. Also, there was a vintage car event in the next parking place.
We succumbed and had root beer (as good as we remembered), fries, Papa burger for Barry and Mama burger for Mary Ellen. We watched some people eat multiple burgers…true fans.
It was fun to go to this retro A&W…restored good memories of when we would go to A&W and get our food at a drive in with trays brought to the car. These people love it and can really put the food away. Unfortunately we have to get back on our bikes.
All the possible gear related to A&W was available to buy, except for the root beer mugs. They had a special offer on retro “milk glass” coffee mugs for ¥5500.
The past few days of brilliant Sunshine seem to be behind us. We can feel a weather system coming in. It is a natural reaction I guess, but after watching the warnings of tsumani in relation to the earthquake by Noto Peninsula recently, we certainly take note of the road signs for evacuation and tsunami with respect.
Being in a sub tropical environment we are fascinated how trees grow intertwined. Thanks to Bill, a reader of our journal, for identifying this tree…a type of strangler fig.
We are crossing the island to the east coast from Nago. Okinawa is a relatively small island and the distance to cross over here is about 15 km. It is so odd here, as we are seeing some littering along the road as well as some graffiti. Typically, we have not seen littering in Japan and very little graffiti. We don’t know why the problem of littering etc is here.
This poster is asking people not to litter. It says that this girl is watching, and violators will be fined.
Saw this beautiful creature by the road…alive and recovering from something as one wing was slow to open. Barry picked it up and put it on a branch…it recovered nicely. Thanks again to Bill who wrote us and revealed that this is a swallowtail butterfly.
Since we now know what type of butterfly this is, we started reading about it. The pattern of bright colouration on the wings and its red body make it look inedible to predators. We are pleased to have seen this species as we have read that they are common through all areas of Asia, but in Japan they are only found in south western Okinawa. Lucky us to see it and lucky butterfly that we came along and got him out of harm’s way. When handled they emit a nasty smelling substance. Perhaps the butterfly understood that we were saving him, so he didn’t do that to Barry.
A nice stretch of road crossing the island…not busy and a lane for us. We have finished the climbing and are heading down to the sea.
Well, the promised rain has arrived and it is pouring down. It is funny how a warm day becomes cold so quickly here when the weather changes. We have retreated to a Lawson’s Convenience Store to assess our options. We don’t want to ride on so we’ll find something local.
Charmaine RuppoltNice you all have covers for your seats when it rains, so that it will keep the seat dry for when you get back on. :) Reply to this comment 4 months ago
We have found a place to stay nearby…B&B Tandem Hotel and it is only 2.6 km away. Yeah. Our interpretation of tandem relates to bikes, as we ride a tandem! However, the owner is known for his motorcycle collection. We’ll see.
Mary Ellen almost rode over this very large snail, but avoided it at the last minute.Barry took a photo of it and then he kindly placed it in the foliage by the road. Later Barry did some research on his new friend. The East African Land Snail, known in Okinawa as the Africa Maimai, is the largest snail in the world.It can grow up to 8 inches long. These snails are one of the top 100 of the world’s most invasive alien species. Originally, it was brought to Okinawa for food in the 1930’s and it escaped into the forests during the Second World War. Since then Okinawa has been hard at work trying to get rid of them. However, it is ok to take a photo of one, but do not touch them. Oops! Too late….they are hosts to deadly parasites.
The B&B Tandem Inn is a gem of a place. The common area is filled with interesting musical instruments and motorcycle memorabilia. The owner presents live music from a diverse array of styles.
Along with the motorcycle collection, the owner has framed comments from previous visitors. We are glad it rained as we might have missed this place and rode on.
Another wonderful end to a good day. Somehow we have the good fortune to find gems like B&B Tandem Hotel in our travels. There are only 5 rooms available here. Our room has a balcony overlooking the countryside..a lovely spot. Happy to be warm and cozy in our room.
Today's ride: 28 km (17 miles) Total: 2,079 km (1,291 miles)
