Unplanned adventure for the win! On our Japan cruise on board Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, we stop in Ishigaki and have an unplanned adventure to nearby Taketomi Island. here is the story of our visit, with tips about taking the ferry, dining out, and sites to see.
#travelvlog #travel #traveltips #japanesefood #okinawa #cruise #cunard
unplanned travel for the win during our
card cruise around Japan we discover a
Paradise Island that time has forgotten
lovely Lanes enchanting architecture and
beautiful beaches join us on our
adventure we have cruised into Port
today on Queen Elizabeth and see that we
are mored miles from the actual Island
so kunard has thankfully provided a free
shuttle that takes us to a fairy
terminal there we decide on the spur of
the moment and I do mean spur of the
moment to take a highspeed ferry to the
closest Island
takaomi there are two fairies heading
out to the island including this very
lovely large vessel but we’re not on
that big one we’re on this small one
with a hundred of our closest friends
there are apparently comfortable seats
through that door but I guess we didn’t
pay for them instead we
get Adventure the journey takes a mere 6
minutes and affords absolutely beautiful
view
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Ed note that there are two different
fairy companies that serve this route
before heading out of the terminal I
cleverly remember to take a picture of
the schedule for the return fairies make
sure you do so as well if you find
yourself in this wonderful place to
access the island we must purchase entry
tickets this is how the island helps
cover the cost of the impacts of tourist
activities as well as the maintenance of
green spaces Parks beaches and
historical sites The Visitor Center
provides beautifully presented
information concerning the island
unfortunately the information is only
provided in Japanese so I’m certain that
we have missed out on fascinating
details nevertheless we press onward we
head into the main village on the island
on foot which as far as we can tell is
called the West Village it’s about a
kilometer from the information center so
highly walkable we of course get to
Traverse gorgeous Fields And even meet
this fun goat
Having learned nothing or having read
nothing in the leadup to this excursion
we are amazed at the stunning beauty of
a quiet Village that has ised the
shackles of modernity no cars no
cacophony of an industrial
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complex I see a sign with an arrow let’s
go that
way along our random ramble we encounter
a
to a 16th century nobleman who is
deified after death and is worshiped to
this day as a protective deity of the
island after respectfully exploring the
premises and staying out of the
sanctuary where signs indicate that this
is an active religious site and that we
should respect it we follow signs for
the village full craft
Museum native takian takies
bananas all set up for traditional
weaving
amazing weaving shop on takaomi
island talk about stepping back in
time and this is what the loom looks
like set up and all ready to go in fact
with a project underway a stunning band
of
Ry bands like
these and they are
weaving fibers that come from banana uh
Palms actually it’s crazy how different
humans across the world have all figured
out how to take soft green plants and
turn them
into fabric
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okay well best laid plans of M and Men
nothing has gone the way we had intended
it to we skipped breakfast this morning
because we thought we were just going to
hop off the ship take a morning walk and
then go back for breakfast no no no the
ship is more like 3 miles from the
actual port and then of course we
thought well we’ll just hop onto this
island and walk around and uh yeah so
nothing has gone the way we planned
because that means also that I don’t
have my filming equipment I don’t have
microphones I don’t don’t have the
gimbal so yeah uh fully improvised
Adventures for the wind so if the nature
of this Vlog is a little less refined
than usual I pray you’ll forgive me
enjoy the raw experience so we’re hungry
and we have found a restaurant here on
the island that serves lunch and dinner
and we’re going to hopefully get a
lovely Japanese dining experience here
on takaomi island remember no breakfast
no meal at all today and it’s now noon
so
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okay so here at kifu just so you know it
is a self-ordering thing so you actually
look at the menu and then you go up to
the cash register make your order so
yeah good to know that it is not table
service so they bring you the food I
think I hope but it kind of looks
cafeteria style but that’s okay Japanese
comfort food here we come after
Consulting a menu that happily has
pictures we settle on champu a typical
Okinawan stir fry this is Goya champu
which consists of bitter melon pork
belly God’s gift to mankind gluten
dumplings and tofu as the second option
we choose tofu champu which has no
bitter melon and different greens the
staff are super friendly and helpful and
the atmosphere is very convivial right
well that was an absolutely delicious
meal I am now in love with bitter melon
and we’ll be adding that to many stir
fries at home going forward so I can
highly recommend Kiku if you are out and
about here in takomi Shima Taki Jima
takomi Island and yeah good place to
stop and now we’re headed I think for
the
beach as we depart the restaurant with
full bellies we notice these adorable
little statues called shisa these lion
dogs serve as protective votives to W
off both typhoons and fire who’s a cute
little demon you are sign set open
beautiful space we decided to check it
out and see what it
is this fascinating sand garden is the
entrance to a ceramic
shop and one of the things to do on the
island is rent bikes and just bike
around this amazing Village
carfree 15minute
City along our sunburnt Journey why
don’t these trees work we encounter
enchantingly industrious
insects along with hiis so beautiful as
to be trying too
hard yeah one of the things I’m really
loving about this island is just how
quiet it is the lack of Motor Vehicles
is highly
attractive just when we have nearly
given up hope of ever reaching this
mythical Beach Long Walk pays off a
beach from Paradise ice emerges out of
the Jungle my
goodness now we really regret not having
brought towels and also having not moved
our lazy butts earlier in order to enjoy
more of this amazing Island sadly we
must return to catch our 230 Ferry there
is a ferry at 3:30 that would probably
get us back in time to catch our ship
but I’d rather not risk
it note that if you do not wish to enjoy
your leisurely stroll to the beach in
reverse there is a shuttle that costs
about 500 yen and will take you directly
to the terminal you must have cash
though but as per usual we decide to
walk back and enjoy the sights along the
way regrettably we are so beguiled by
the island that we end up enjoying the
sights a little too much and end up
cutting it very close
indeed well we ran uh at the very end of
our walk back and we just made the
2203 so isaki here we come then back to
the show on the ride back I real Iz that
we are actually closer to the ship on
the island than we are in the fery
terminal on ishigaki but that swim is a
little too far for me well at least
given the time that we have I almost
wonder if I could ask the captain to
just make a slight detour and drop us
off at the boat as we head back to our
ship I consider the joy of experiencing
an unexpected Hidden Gem of Japanese
okan culture and how I would like to
return and spend more time in a place so
calibrated to peace and
Tranquility but that is the the real
benefit of a cruise to sample a buffet
of destinations in order to come back
and explore at more length takat Tomi
gima I shall return what do you think
dear viewer would you like to visit
takima let me know in the comments below
otherwise we are back aboard Queen
Elizabeth and setting sale for our next
adventure in naha Okinawa otherwise may
your travels be creative and
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unplanned
kitties at the cat Town Cafe in
kilong pudgy pudgy kitties