Continuing in the amazing race, another team has split off and has headed to Okinawa! We now have teams in Yokosuka and Okinawa, Japan, and in Singapore! This morning, the Okinawa team, Matt, Katrina, Don, Phil, and Steve, set off from Yokosuka. They traveled by mini-van to the train station where they took a guess and jumped on a train. After 20 minutes and 6 stops, they had gone about 1/6 of the way to the airport. Fortunately they were able to make use (by accident) of a fast forward. At the 6th stop, the train connected to an express. It took them to the 90% mark in about 20 minutes. They managed to get to the airport with plenty of time to eat a light lunch and get to the gate for a 3:00 departure. They arrived into Okinawa at about 5:45p. It was humid and warm in the airport... turns out to be perfect weather to grow orchids. They had THOUSANDS of them all over the place. From there, they took a cab to the hotel... the Grand Mer Okinawa. After about 50 minutes in a cab (3 people shoulder to shoulder in the back seat), they arrived at the hotel. The hotel itself sits up high on a hill overlooking large portions of the island... Given the name, it is likely that you can see the sea :)
The weather is perfect... it's about 65 degrees in the evenings and is supposed to be in the 70's during the day. The waters are supposed to be tropical... as in Caribbean blue!! The diving is supposed to be really good here, so I might have to come back when the water is warmer and see for myself. Anyway, the room at the hotel is about 3 times the size... make that 5 times the size of the tiny rooms in Yokosuka. I have a huge (by comparison) queen sized bed, small kitchen area, and room to actually put my luggage on the floor. By the way, my room this past stay in Yoko was the smallest they offer... I had about 2 ft between the bed and walls. The desk was pretty small and I had to step over my luggage to get to it. What a pain! Anyway, I don't have that problem here... also the room is about $65/night here vs.. the $125/night I was paying in Yoko... and the rooms don't smell like an ash tray. So, things are better here
That's about it from here!
Orchids of Okinawa
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