Grand Hotel Ginowan is a good place to stay. We knew, when we checked in, that we would be happy here as the staff understood our needs as cyclists. The manager immediately offered us a spot for our trikes in their covered parking area, next to his car. Other hotels do not offer this…and never in a spot reserved for cars…and if they did, we would be charged a lot of yen per day. Throughout our stay here, we have been impressed by the relaxed feeling of this hotel with excellent service. The morning we were scheduled to leave, Mary Ellen had a mishap and cut her leg quite badly. We decided to stay an extra night to give her a chance to recover. When Barry went down to tell them we wanted another night, they thanked him and gave him some cans of local beer for our room. Nice.
We had made a plan to go to Zamami Island, a 2 hour ferry ride from Naha for 2 or 3 days. We had found a wonderful Minshuku that sounded great, but the weather had a different plan for us. One of the days is forecast to have heavy rain and then heavy winds the other days. We have read that these ferries can be cancelled in windy conditions, so we came up with a plan B. We have had the pleasure of staying at 2 Wellness Hotels in Okinawa and we both agreed that this would be great for us to experience again. Close to Nanjo on the east coast, is a wellness Hotel that we will try. So when we leave here, we will cross the island again…just call us the criss cross cyclists!
Ready to head across island for another adventure, the relaxing TLC kind.
As we were riding today, we realized that we were very close to Shuri Castle, a place that is on our list of places we want to visit. We decided to do a detour and take the time to visit the castle while we are in the area.
In Japan, it is considered disrespectful to take a photo without asking if it is ok…and also if we can put the photo online in our journal. We noticed these two women in their lovely kimonos as the mom taking her daughter’s photo. Barry offered to take a photo of them together and then they graciously agreed to let him take their photo with our camera as well
This mother and daughter are visiting the Castle in traditional Okinawan kimonos. We love the colourful, vibrant fabrics typically used for Okinawan kimonos which celebrate their culture and their sub tropical location.
An Okinawan kimono is called Ichiba Sugai. Unlike other Japanese kimonos, there is not a tight sash, an Obi and they differ in appearance, colours, patterns, materials and how they are worn. The sleeves are wide open revealing the lining. The type of fabric, style, the absence of an Obi makes it more comfortable to wear in the warmer climate of Okinawa. Typically their hair is tied up in a bun and held together with a Jifa, a long silver hairpin.
Elsewhere in Japan, we have seen more women in kimonos visiting a Castle. This is a less common sight in Okinawa. We appreciated their willingness to let us take their photo and chat with us.
Shuri Castle has had a tumultuous history. It has been destroyed by fire on five different occasions. The most recent being in 2019. The castle has been under reconstruction since February 2020. As a result, our visit to Shuri Castle, compared to our experience at other castles in Japan, is that the emphasis is on learning about the rebuilding of Shuri Castle. Unlike most Japanese castles, Shuri Castle was greatly influenced by Chinese architecture, with decorative elements similar to the Forbidden City. The gates and various buildings were painted red with lacquer and the King’s dragon featured in many areas.
Photograph of the Seiden Royal Palace in better days.
We had thought we would just walk around the grounds of the castle as most of it is under construction. However, we remembered how wonderful our visit was to Kumamoto Castle on Kyushu. Like Shuri Castle, it has been destroyed numerous times in its history…because of earthquakes, not fires. Nonetheless, these castles continue to be rebuilt.
This was nice. They had set up a stamp station where you would take an off cut of Japanese Cypress wood being used in the reconstruction, and make a souvenir by using the stamps on your piece of wood. People lined up and were able to create a keepsake.
There is good signage and videos to help you understand the special skills required to reconstruct the castle in its original form. The master carpenter has assembled a team of 10 young carpenters and his mission is to pass on his knowledge to them to keep the traditions alive.
The fellow working at the castle did his best to not get in the way of the photo…in fact he ran, but I was able to get this after all. A compliment to all the staff who work at the castle for their friendliness and desire to make your visit special.
As I was taking the first photo of the cat, people walking by looked up and noticed the cat….there was a collective sigh by all when the cat opened its eyes…briefly.
Another idea we liked at the Castle was this free activity. We were given cards and as we toured the castle, we would look for the place where we would add a stamp. Each stamp builds upon the previous one until at the end you have a coloured 3 D image of the castle.
Since leaving the Castle, we have experienced a really tough ride getting to our destination. It was only about 15 km, but it felt like a lot more. Initially the downhills were so intense that our drum brakes smelled like they were burning, and were so hot that we had to take breaks. Barry has struggled much of the trip with brake issues and our concern was that he could lose his brakes. Once we got through the super steep descents, then the climbing began. To keep off busy roads, I chose a pedestrian route on Google Maps (no cycle options here). This was good until we found ourselves in small roads in neighbourhoods that were so steep! I wasn’t too popular when we reached the top and the only way to proceed was up a steep, long flight of stairs. After backtracking, we found our way out and then we were on top of the world…or so it seemed to us at that moment. This is not the first time that we have gotten into a challenging situation crossing the island of Okinawa. Typically the hilly, mountainous areas are in the centre. Without a doubt, my choice to try a pedestrian route made it worse.
We have made it to our destination, The Yuinchi Hotel Nanjo Wellness Resort. We will stay here 3 nights and the plan is to enjoy the view, visit their onsen a couple of times a day and just enjoy. Our only question is…why are Wellness Resorts in Japan at the top of the hills or mountains?
