Okinawa

Time to reflect...

I landed on this island with a pang of dissapointment...another small island with nothing to do. cursing myself for not doing reasearches, for not reading the signs. The hostel didnt get full because it was so popular, it got full because its literally the only one available. The island didnt have ATM not because of authenticity, but because it was too small with population of 600. I have moved my ferry to Naha up from 4pm to 2pm. In the back of my mind i wish i move it to 10am. But i try to give this place a chance & hang out here a bit.

Last night was one of the scariest moments of my life. Landed here and found out everything is closed at 5.30...again. I couldnt find a single food stalled open. The map the hostel gave me brought me nowhere. So with that bubbling annoyance, I walked to a bike rental & got myself a 24-hour & Y2000 bike. After searching that basically all restaurants were on the other side of the island, the Aharen, I set out my bike across 4.5km journey. Before setting off, i acted out to the rental owner i intended to ride this to Aharen & see if he would protest. He said "Aharen, ok, ok" Seconds later he signaled "High high steep"
I said "Ok, ok. Just a little bit right" Just like in Zamami, I felt an uplift in my heart as soon as i started riding. This is a good call, i told myself.

Just about 1.5km later. I found the steep. Just like in Zamami, I'm out of breath dragging my bike up this god foresaken mountain. I thougth & laughed to myself that my chill-chill vacation turned out not so chill after all. About 1km later, it was a downhill, still goddamn scary as my bike went down so fast, it was literally so fast google map thought i was skiing.

Arrived in Aharen safely while mentally patting myself on the back for making it through. I started riding around to find that most restaurants are closed. Now on the verge of boiling annonyance, I decided to sit down at the one of the ramen restaurants. Gulp down 2 large cokes and extra big ramen. I set out to go back to the hotel. Only to find out that at 7.30pm, everything was pit black & my 4.5 km journey back will be doubly hard. 45 mins it took me to take that journey. During it i cursed myself for my stubbornness, for putting myself in this situation. Meanwhile promising I'd learn how to write car & bike before starting my new job. If only i know how to ride & drive, this could be a memorable journey. Many times during the way back, i had to stop, used my phone as flashlight and drag my bike instead of riding as i couldnt see the way ahead. As soon as i saw the first street light signaling i arrived in Tokashigi town, i let out a long sigh, finally made it back. it is not so bad afterall.Read more