北谷町

When i said i had to wake up early yesterday, I wasn't exaggerating. Although the flight to Okinawa would depart at 10.30 i had to catch a local train from Nagasaki to Fukuoka. A ride that would take over 2 hours. And with check-in time and the extra buffer i always like to build in it meant i had to get up at 5 am. Thankfully i had already packed my backpack and so the departure from the hostel went quiet and smoothly.
I got a quick breakfast and went to Nagasaki station to catch the early train to Fukuoka. At the platform i realised i had forgotten my umbrella and i went back to the konbini to pick it up before returningto the platform. Of course as always at these times and despite the punctuality of the Japanese Railways the train got cancelled and i had to wait half an hour for the next train to depart from the station. Luckily this train departed as scheduled and there was still no reason to panic. I always easily fall asleep in the train and this one was no exception. I put my seat all the way back and got some extra well needed sleep. After a while i woke up only to realise that the train was moving really slowly and occasionally stopping. I couldn't really figure out what was going on but figured it had to do with the morning rush. Still no reason to panic but this shouldn't take too long. Luckily the train picked up speed and on transfer and a 5 minute trip later i was at the aiport. After looking and asking around i found my way to the right terminal and check-in desk and found myself in the waiting room. It was time to check in and of course the Japanese wouldn't be the Japanese if they had not found a way to streamline the boarding process. Not aware of this system, i got refused at the gate entrance since first seats A and F were to board, followed by B and D, before finally allowing rows C and D to board. And as always, how unfamiliar it may seem at first glance, it does work!
The flight itself was nothing worth mentioning, albeit calmly and comfortably.
The plane landed smoothly at Naha airport and as soon as i disembarked the plane I could feel the intense heat and humidity. I started sweating and haven't stopped since. The inland flight did not require any immigration or customs hassle and soon a bus took me to the terminal building. It took me a while to figure out which bus to take to my destination but the friendly lady from the bus counter helped me on my way. Bus 120 at bus stop number 3 end leave the bus at Ihei bus stop. Thankfully the stops are pronounced in multiple languages and English being one of them it was easy to find the right place to exit the bus. As soon as i left the airconditioned bus i started sweating profusely. The walk to the Churahama hostel was still a quite long one and i arrived dripping in sweat, only to find the hostel was still closed, kind of. I somehow managed to find the "owner" who showed me my room but got confused as i asked him for a key to the lockers and had to check everyting i asked him over the phone. I nevertheless settled into my room and after asking for a larger bed since the bed/couch was too small i made myself home. I got a nasty surprise as i tried to turn on the A/C as it was coin operated. 100 yen would buy me 2 hours of cold air. I will not repeat the words i said there and then but i can tell you they weren't very nice. ;-)
I noticed the tsunami wall as i walked to the hostel and it had a nice boardwalk. I got some beers to go as i figured it would be a great place to watch the sunset. It was. I've seen many sunsets around the world and every place seems to have it's own stunning version of it. The fact that i wasn't alone in enjoying it proved me right. As the sun had set i went back to the Transit cafe for some exellent fondue(!) and local Orion beer before returning to bed. Tomorrow i would have to rise early again.

Normally this is where my blog ends but the coin operated airconditioning woke me up every two hours as it ceased operationg. I had just enough coins to make it until 5 o'clock and so the last hour and a half were spent cursing and sweating in my room...Read more