Day one of the tour was supposed to be the Southern tour which is mostly WWII related; however, because the weather turnout to be so nice, we decided to go North instead.
After loading the bus at 9:00am and counting heads, the bus driver introduced himself. Turns out he was our driver 2 years ago and he welcomed us back. We were off by 9:15am.
The drive towards the Norther end of the island took us by where Sherry and I used to live, the base where I worked and the area where Taika Oyata's dojo used to exist. Needless to say, things have changed tremendously in 42 years; however, there were few recognizable landmarks, such at th A&W Root Beer Drive-in.
Our first stop was Manza-mo. We arrived early beating most of the other tour buses, but it was still very crowed. Manza-mo is a large plateau that is said to be able to seat 10,000 people, thus the name Manza-mo. In ancient times, travelers from the North to the South would stop here to rest.
As we were leaving, there were probably at least 20 other tour buses making their way into the park. This is the most buses I've every seen here at once.
We continue our drive towards the North and stopped in Nago for their famous Nago Soba. Indeed we were pleased to have a bowl of their delicious take on this local dish. Another 45 minute drive and we reached our destination, Cape Hedo.
Cape Hedo is the Northern most tip of Okinawa. Large volcanic rocks jut out of the ocean as waves crash over them. It is quite a site to behold!
After leaving Cape Hedo, we started back South again and stopped at Nakijin Gushuku (Castle). Nakijin is probably the oldest castle site in Okinawa. It's made from indigenous rocks stack on top of each other. Most of the other castle sites are made of cut limestone. Some Okinawan's believe this is the origin of life.
The castle is located on a high bluff and you can see the surround land and sea below. the back side of the castle sits on high cliffs making it difficult for any large scale invasion. As was the case for most of the castle sites, it was completely destroyed in WWII; however, efforts are underway to restore it.
Our last stop of the day was a pineapple farmSave Now where we got to taste various types of pineapple wine, candies, cakes and of course, fresh pineapple.
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