Ishikawa Beach (Dec 28, 2021)
Today we continued to ride along the east coast. Although the roads are expected to hilly, we are excited to what we’ll find today!
Good morning~~~ This is what we woke up to next morning. It was warm & messy in the room. We hand-washed some clothes and hanged to dry. Also, we had a better look of our guesthouse & had a nice chat with the owner, who just came back from his morning walk. As this is at the middle of nowhere, thanks for giving us a good place to stay for the night!
We had a beautiful morning sun, and we were well rested. The road was flat and wide. It was perfect!!
Unlike a few days ago, the sea is super calm now. We could see how transparent and clean the water is. We couldn’t help but spending too much time resting at the seaside… I have a hobby of collecting stones while I travel. Someday I’ll show you my Stone Collection. I have such a big Stone Collection at home that my counter is all full!!
We stopped by a ”Kyodo Baiten” to buy some snacks. It is translated from Japanese, means “cooperate shop”. There are many of them at north & east side of Okinawa, where it is so remote that there are convenience stores around. They sell homemade lunches, soups, snacks and drinks for truck drivers or travellers. These Kyodo Baiten are so small that they do not show on internet or google map, nor do they have a regular opening time or phone no., but they are so important for travellers!
Today is such a pleasant ride. We continued to ride along the coastline. The road was flat. We can see some rest areas and beautiful flowers at roadside. We stopped by another rest area for toilet. There was a bigger shop there, selling a lot of souvenirs. Also, there was a blue-eyed cat resting lazily under the sun. I thought, I want to be that cat!!
We passed by one place, where it may be a junction between river and sea?? I don’t really understand, but as you can see, there is very interesting water flow only here, and the water is beautiful color. It looked too amazing!!
We found a local restaurant for lunch. The outside of the restaurant was just plain white wall that we almost missed it! But there were many cars stopped there, and inside was full of people at lunchtime. Indeed, its inside walls were full of menus, too many choices, all local dishes!! We had Okinawa Soba and Barbaequed Pork, which tasted so good!!
We passed by a US base. There were long wired fences, and cars were not allowed to stop there (but we were bicycles, so we could stop). At the entrance, we could see some people sitting there. They are local people who oppose to US bases in Okinawa. It is understandable. There are so many US bases in Okinawa (and other parts of Japan as well). They are using our lands for free, and we even have to spend our tax money to support them. It’s a complicated historical matter…
The roads are not super unique, but always look beautiful in my eyes. I love riding at countryside.
Guess what!! We arrived early in the afternoon to our destination, a town called “Ishikawa”. Here we booked online a hostel which is “self-check-in”. It means that they just emailed us our room no. and a code. We typed in the code to the door lock, and it will open automatically. From check-in to check-out, we did not see anybody. There are so many “self-check-in” hostels in Okinawa. It is really convenient. We don’t need to worry about check-in too late, or check-out too early…
This hostel was at the center of town, surrounded by supermarkets, restaurants, and near the Ishikawa Park. Inside was really big, and it was on ground floor, so we just dragged in our bikes. There were even Floor Mat and Bicycle Pump inside for the bicycles. There were also Sofas and Tea Table for eating, so nice!!
It was still early, so we walked to the Ishikawa Park, which is connected to the Ishikawa Beach. It was really a white sand beach, so clean and peaceful. We enjoyed the Sunset on our “private” beach…
On the way back, we tried to look for restaurant for dinner, but again they were all either fully-booked for closed early because of new year holidays… We ended up just takeout from supermarket etc. for our dinner in our room… Still, we tried many local foods, which tasted good!
One thing I really regret is — did not try this very large and long Mochi in leaves (I saw it sold in many places, but I never bought because it was too big). On the last day, I found small ones, so I bought them. They tasted so good!!!! Now, I cannot find them anymore…
Today we only rode 56km, a too relaxed day, but I was so happy to see the sunset from such a beautiful quiet white sand beach. It was like a dream came true!!!
Since Google Map does not show Cycling Mode in this area, it is shown by Walking mode.