| Ama Beach |
The soul of Japan is an old blog, and I have been showcasing the beauty of this country longer than almost any traveller in the world. I will resume today with island hopping. In this post I will talk a little about our recent trip. As you may, or may not know, Japan is comprised of over 6000 islands! It would be impossible to visit all of these islands in one’s lifetime, so I will introduce a few and give you a little information on them. Maybe even inspire you a little.
From Naha Airport you catch a bus to the to the ferry terminal. It’s about a 15 to 20 minute ride. There you board the Zamami Ferry. It’ll take a little over an hour to reach Zamami Islands. The reason for selecting this island is because it’s a good base point for all other islands to hop from. Smaller ferries arrive and depart from this island more frequently than the other tinier islands.
Zamami has the tiniest village I have ever visited in my life with only one police officer and one stop light on the whole island. There is only one supermarket which is open from 7:30am to 11pm everyday. You will not see any major convenience stores here. This supermarket services all the needs of the island, but has a strict entry requirement - you MUST wear masks.
| Lion dog is considered a god in Okinawa |
Accommodations are limited, but are reasonably priced. You should be able to find something under $100 a night, or less. I suggest using Trip Advisor or Jalan websites for that. There is only one ATM on the island and it is located at the Japan Post Office near the ferry terminal. There are no taxis and buses run every hour to only two beach locations; Ama Beach and Furuzamami Beach. Ama Beach to me is the pride of Zamami Island. What seems like miles of soft sandy white beaches; beautiful corals; and tiny marine life is like a real paradise.
| Beautiful sea turtles and fish can be seen here. |
Island food, my favorite subject. It goes without saying that the seafood is excellent; I don't need to post a gazillion photos here about that. However, I will post 2 photos instead of dishes that I highly recommend. One of the most well-known local snacks is called Spam onigiri / rice balls with eggs, mayo, and spam. Every morning at 7:30 am the 105 Grocery Store will have warm fresh spam onigiri out on a tray. I could not stop eating these.
Next up I highly recommend a truly local dish called "mozoku soba" seaweed soba served slightly chilled with iced cold beer.
This locally harvested seaweed is basically flavorless, but has a nice jelly like consistency which enhances the experience when eating the noodles. The restaurant can be found here.
