We have had a wonderful stay at EM Wellness, despite Barry feeling unwell for some of the time. It feels like we are destined to return here whenever we are visiting Okinawa. There are many “wellness” properties in Okinawa, but this one is unique in that it is true to their ideals from the food they serve, to the water you drink, to the amenities provided, the detergents used, the pervasive atmosphere of a quiet sanctuary and last but not least, the amazing Onsen. Some wellness resorts seem to equate “wellness” with its setting, such as being a pretty resort on the water….and that’s fine. The difference is, EM takes the concept much deeper. It is a special place.
Awamori is a special alcohol from Okinawa. It is made from Thai indica rice. We bought a small bottle of it. It is similar to Shochu that we had on Kyushu. Some Awamori comes with a Habu Pit Viper inside (as in the above photo). It is called Habushu or Okinawan Snake Wine. A main distributor of Habushu uses around 5000 pit vipers per year. The alcohol helps the venom to dissolve and become non poisonous. The production is too gruesome to describe here. A Habu snake is able to mate for 26 hours, which causes some to believe that a drink of Habushu may help sexual dysfunction in men.
We couldn’t seem to pull ourselves away from EM today. The distance to our next hotel, another wellness stay, is fairly close…about 25 km, so we had a treat in the cafe and wandered the grounds and gardens of the hotel.
When you order in the cafe, a locally made food marker tells the server where to bring your order.
Cafe lattes and treats from the hotel bakery. Barry had an Okinawan deep fried donut called Sata Andhei with a dense crust and sweetened with brown sugar …a very popular local treat, and Mary Ellen had a pastry with chocolate.
This beauty is called Ti…also known as Cabbage Palm or Good Luck plant. It is an evergreen flowering plant in the asparagus family. It absolutely shines when the sun streams through the leaves.
The hotel has a team of gardeners who are constantly tending to the rapidly growing tropical trees, flowers and bushes. Creating new areas is also ongoing.
If I understand this correctly, the growth of this vertical branch starts from the tree, grows down and takes root. It is quite a sight…another tree had multiple vertical branches like this taking root.
Such an interesting and lovely scene. The hotel is in a restful location, yet a large American military base, a city and Aeon mall are relativey close by. When at the hotel, you feel like the pressures of daily life are far away, as this tranquil image suggests.
The Purple Beautyberry has such a pure, vibrant colour. It stands out in the garden. The fruit provides food for wildlife, but is too bitter for human consumption or culinary use.
We found it surprising that some of the staff recognized us from our previous visit. Most likely our trikes which are parked in the lobby help with that. As we were finally getting ready to leave, some workers in the cafe rushed over to wish us well and to tell us that they remembered us.
This beautiful golf course is atop a very high hill with a killer view. When we came to EM last year, we approached the golf course from the coast and had to climb a relentless hill. Glad we are going downhill this time.
We are slowly making our way downhill. Our drum brakes are not working well, so we have to take our time and have a full bottle of water to cool them down. A bit scary…
Okinawa Naritazam Fukusen Temple. It presents a striking image, nestled atop the hill surrounded by forest with an impressive bank of stairs and walkway to the top from the parking area.
This is a temple for praying to be safe while driving on the roads in Okinawa. People come to this temple to have car exorcisms. At the end of the exorcism you will receive a traffic safety sticker, amulet, and sacred sake that is poured on yout tires. I am not sure if they do recumbent trike exorcisms. But, we have since read that cyclists come here with their bikes, so it is possible.
This temple for safe driving is located by the parking area and food stall. We didn’t realize what it was at that time, or we could have taken our trikes in for an exorcism. That also explains the number of trucks and cars parked in front of it.
People had been leaving last years charms and amulets in bags along the railing leading up to the temple.
Okinawa Naritazan Fukusen Temple has a lovely secluded location set up high on a hill. To park, you ride up 3 switchbacks to the parking lot and then you climb on foot to the temple. It is a commitment but worth the effort.
The view is fabulous from the Temple. Here you can see on the railing that people have left last year’s charms and amulets in bags and the fortunes they just received at the temple are tied on wire strung along the railing.
These are last year’s charms and amulets. They will be burned by the monks at a later time. Inside the temple, people were lining up to buy new charms and amulets.
The sheer number of charms and amulets left by visitors at the Temple over the New Year period speaks to the significance and importance of this time of year to Buddhists.
There are many reasons that people come to the temple to pray. One is to pray for a safe birth and also for deceased unborn babies. Another activity at the temple, is called Shichi-go-san (seven-five-three). It is a traditional Japanese rite of passage and festival day for 3 and 7 year old girls and 3 and 5 year old boys. It is held annually on November 15 and celebrates the growth and well being of children.
The final stairs we will climb before entering the Temple. We see multi generational families here today, from newborns to the very elderly. There is much to learn as a foreigner in how to respectfully visit a temple or shrine. We appreciate the welcome we feel from people at the temple.
Omikuji is the Japanese fortune slip which people get when they visit the temple…it costs 200¥. The Omikuji that you receive at the New Year is most significant. If you get a good fortune, you can take it home with you or tie it to a tree on the grounds. This contributes to the life force of the tree. If it is a bad fortune, you can neutralize the bad omen by folding the paper and attaching it to a fence or tree.
People were lined up to buy amulets, charms and fortunes and we were lined up to get the calligraphy entry to put in our Goshuin book commemorating our visit here.
We have come down to sea level and are now riding along the coast, and sometimes in traffic when we have to. Drivers are pretty tolerant of us, but we do take the sidewalk when it works. Love the wide sidewalks in Japan.
The ride today has been great. The views have been incredible, we visited a Temple that has been on our list, and as always we had incredible interactions with locals. The traffic has been light and when it got busy on the main road, we changed our route to follow a Google pedestrian route (this works as long as there is no indication of stairs). The ride through the city of Nanjo was interesting. However, when we made a turn to head inland to our destination, Yuinchi Hotel Nanjo, it was a fiercely steep unrelenting and winding climb of about 4 km. We knew we had to climb as the hotel is perched at the top, but we had hoped for a few breaks along the way. Nonetheless, we made it and we are looking forward to checking in and heading to the Onsen.
This is one of the reasons we come here…Apeman Spa and Onsen. The hot spring waters come from a depth of 6,000 ft and a 10,000 year old strata with no artificial water or heating. It is truly a unique experience. A high iron content creates water that is a unique golden colour and an earthy aroma. After the climbs we had today, my knees were not happy and quite sore. Spending time at this onsen is truly therapeutic. It is also wonderful that while sitting in one of the various pools, you have a 180 degree view of the ocean and city below. Wow, what a day. We will be here for 3 nights and intend to relax, eat well and visit the Onsen a few times a day.
