Shorewoods Photography-Boarding Group 2 Travel Blog

This morning brings us to Naha Port to visit the cities of Naha and Okinawa. The port is spacious and well organized. Disembarkation was easy and we were welcomed by many helpful volunteers.

Having sailed towards the south, there is a noticeable difference in the weather; the humidity and temperature are both high, and our cameras and lenses need to acclimate to the humidity, as do we!

Today we are exploring on our own. We read about the Shikinaen Royal Garden, and the idea of spending some time in nature deeply appealed to us. We decided to take a taxi from the port. The volunteers and port attendants helped us with the taxi, and told our driver where we wanted to go. They also provided us with a slip of paper written in Japanese and English, for when we needed to return to the ship. The paper says “I am a passenger on a cruise ship at the Naha Cruise Port. Please take me to the ship at that port. Thank You.” Our taxi driver was very nice, providing us maps and making sure we felt comfortable getting back to the ship. They also told us we could call for a taxi at the garden when were done.

The Shikinaen Gardens did not disappoint. Shikinaen means southern garden, located to the south of Shire Castle. It was a villa for the Ryukyu royal family, constructed around the 18th century. While it was destroyed during World War II, it was restored in 1974 and the Japanese Government designated the gardens as a national place of scenic beauty. On December 2, 2000 it was registered as a UNESCO world Heritage Site.

We spent a few hours walking about the gardens which were breathtaking. Each turn in the path brought us to another scenic view.

The gardens were meticulously groomed and again, not a bit of trash anywhere to be seen.

This hexagonal gazebo is known as Rokkaku-Do. It is on an island in the pond, accessible by arch bridges built across the water.

We finished exploring the gardens and stopped at the ticket booth to ask where we might call for a taxi. The woman at the booth told us she would call for us, and soon a taxi pulled up to take us to our next stop, the Tsuboya Pottery District. We walked about the street, visiting pottery shops and meeting the potters. It was a relaxing and pleasant walk, and each artisan we visited welcomed us into their shops.

We decided it was time to head back to the ship, and hailed a taxi from the sidewalk. Using our paper asking to take us to the cruise port, our driver soon had us back to port and the ship.

We must say, we feel very safe in Japan, and find it fairly easy to get around. Everyone we have met has been very kind and helpful, even when they don’t speak English.

We head back to our cabin and find we have been invited to another sail away from the helipad. The sky is a beautiful texture of cloudy puffiness. The crew on the bridge have a large hand to wave goodbye to those on the dock bidding us farewell.

As we sail out of port, we catch some shots of port landscapes and boats as the sun quickly sets on the horizon.

And here are some shots of Art the Great Explorer.

Tonight we sail to Jeju Island, South Korea where we have a ship excursion planned. As we relax in the lounge after dinner and reflect on our day, we both agree this is the type of excursion off the ship we long for: meeting and connecting with those who live in the area we are visiting, and connecting with beautiful, historic places. The people we met today were kind and helpful; the volunteers at the port, the taxi drivers, the artisans, and everyone we met made us feel we were among friends.