Ishigaki & Iriomote Part I

With two bicycle rides completed, we returned the rental bikes in South Osaka and we took a train to the Osaka KIX airport and stayed the night at the Nikko Hotel. It is a nice hotel, not overly expensive and there are plenty of reasonably priced dining options at the airport. We ate dinner at the Olive Hill restaurant, that could very well be a knock-off version of the US Olive Garden chain.  It made for a easy walk to check-in the following morning and our Japan Airlines JTA083 flight at 9:50am. The passengers on the flight were mostly school kids who boarded and sat separately from others; all well organized.

We took the airport bus into central Ishigaki City and we stayed two nights at the well-run Hotel Patini. We used their complimentary bicycles for a look around town and some minor shopping. The city is quite pleasant and we were surprised by the amount of English spoken compared to other parts of Japan. We opted to eat Indian that evening. The Kerala Kitchen received a whopping 4.7/5 on Google reviews, and we opted for masala dosa. We were slightly disappointed. It seems that the Japanese are tough reviewers on their own foods, but offer generous reviews for Indian food.

The Hotel Patini served up a nice buffet breakfast and we strolled over to the nearby ferry terminal and joined the domestic tourists for the scheduled service over to Taketomi Island. The island features a well preserved traditional Okinawan village with coral/limestone walls and tiled roofs and plenty of small shisa (lion guardian) statues.  Although many visitors rent bicycles, the island was small enough to walk around.  We took refuge from rain showers and the famous white sand Kondo Beach didn't sparkle without sunshine.  Although we there in the shoulder season, we still had to wait for a table at Takenoko restaurant for lunch. It was worth the wait. The small island felt a bit touristy, but it was good to see the traditional village and setting.

On our return to Ishigaki City, we dropped into the city museum (Ishigaki Shiritsu Yaeyama Museum) for a history lesson and in the evening, we ate at Yappari Steak restaurant. Ishigaki is well known for its beef.

We checked out of the Patini and carried our bags over to the ferry terminal and took the YKF ferry to Iriomote. There are two similar sounding  ferry terminals on Iriomote , Ohara and Uehara. When the winds blow hard, the northern port (where we were going) of Uehara is inaccessible by sea. The ferry companies run buses between the two ports. Our bus north from Ohara to Uehara had just one other passenger.  We were to call our hotel for pick-up on arrival. That could have been a little tricky as most have foreign tourists, like ourselves,  use data-only phone plans (you have to go through another hoop to get voice plans). The bus driver was kind enough to call Il Mare Hotel for a pick-up. 

Iriomote seemed very quiet and when we checked in to the Il Mare, we got vibes that the island was shutting down for the season and open restaurants might be scarce. The receptionist helped us out by driving us to an open restaurant at Hoshizuna Beach, from which we could walk back. That restaurant (Pension Hoshi-no-suna) was closing for the season in a few days. Later that afternoon, we had a Google Translate conversation with the young receptionist and we arranged for a dinner reservation and also she contacted a car rental company for a car later in the week.  Our room at the hotel was simple but the view from our balcony was jaw dropping.

We caught the  sunset at nearby Unarizaki Park and we had a splendid meal at the Ichitaka restaurant. It was a happening place, with a steady stream of locals The restaurant offered local transport, presumably to allow people to drink and not get behind the wheel. We didn't fully understand that customers are required to order appetizers, and if you don't, the house will provide an item.  That was our first experience of chewing on the Okinawa speciality of pig's ears. It was a fun place and we were to return later in our stay.

We had signed up for a kayak trip to Nahra Falls with Mansaku Tour Service as it looked like a cut above the other companies and they used real kayaks. It was an excellent choice. We were collected from our hotel at 9:00am and we were on the water by 10:00am.  A Japanese couple from Kyoto joined us in a double kayak. I had indicated our proficiency and we were provided with single, skeg kayaks. The Nakara River was nearby our Shirahama start point.  It was a 7.5km paddle  to a set of rapids where we left the boats and less than 1km walk to the Nahra Falls. We had been provided with non-slip booties and they worked wonders on the walk in.  There was another small kayak group at the falls. I summoned the courage to jump in the cool water while our guide (and owner) Mansaku prepared a lovely lunch for us. The mangrove roots were on display on the return journey.  It was a nice way to see part of the UNESCO World Heritage eco-system.  The excursion was an affordable Y12,000 (USD 77) per person.

We had time that afternoon for another walk to the Unarizaki Park and we were the only guests to eat at the hotel that night. The food quality was below normal Japanese high standards.

 We were collected at 9:30am, brought to the Yamaneko car rental office and by 9:40am, I had the keys in my hand. I signed some papers, but confess that I didn't really know what I was signing.  The automatic Tanto car was straightforward to drive, however a voice would come on, mostly if I crept over the 40km speed limit on the island. It took a little over an hour to reach the end of the road in the south. We parked and went through a gate (preventing wild pigs from the nature reserve) out onto Haemida Beach.  We walked west and checked out "Tofu Rocks" and worked up an appetite for lunch. The Watabunbun restaurant is housed in a nondescript building, but it had a nice vibe inside and it seemed to cater to passing tourists. We hadn't seen any other visitors that morning, but people drifted in to the restaurant. The food was splendid and we would have returned on another day, but it was at the other end of the island for us. 

The Nakama River walk was next on our agenda. The dirt track was gated and I am not sure the low clearance Tanto would have been up to the task, so we walked it through nice forest to the Nakama River viewpoint. It was about 5km return. If we were to do it again, we may have skipped the beach walk and walked further on the Nakama trail. It was close to 4:00pm when we returned to the car. We had an hour drive ahead of us and darkness falls early in December. We reached Uehara and decided to eat at the Shinpachi Shokudo restaurant, a classic rural spot. There was a Japanese couple next to us, who had hit the sauce hard.  Google Translate allowed us to understand the menu. The atmosphere and decor were more memorable than the food. 

The strong Northerly winds had subsided and the Mansaku kayak tour of the local islands was on for the day. We had a rental car, so we didn't make use of the shuttle and we were on the water before 9:30am. We were joined by a French couple who paddled a double kayak. We reached the north end of Uchibanari Island by 10:00am and landed on a tombolo beach. We carried the boats over to the west side of the beach and took in the beautiful surroundings. We put on our wet suits and paddled a further 2.5km to an offshore reef. We all jumped in for a snorkel while Mansaku rafted the boats. After half an hour in the water, we climbed back into our kayaks and paddled over to Ida Beach. Mansaku organized another tasty lunch and then we continued on, around the south end Of Uchibanari Island back Shirahama. It had been a splendid day at a reasonable cost of Y13,000 (84USD) each.

Later in the afternoon, we stopped at Sonai for walk to an abandoned village, then dropped in at Todumari Beach for a look around. It was Unarizaki Park for another sunset and then we drove into Uehara for burgers at Rafula Garden restaurant.

On our last full day on Iriomote, we had a slew of short walks in semi-tropical rain forest lined up. We stopped in at nearby Todumari Beach and then drove north to the Urauchi River and made the 2km return walk to the remains of the Utara coal mine, mostly for the pleasant walk and to see the strangler figs smothering the brick remains. Apparently, Iriomote had ten times the current population of 2,500 during the coal mining days.

The Mitara Falls was next on our agenda.  It was also 2km return, but noticeably more rugged.  We encountered a group of three people on the way up and the English speaking Japanese gal was curious has to how we had heard about the hike. I had found some information on various web pages and the gpx route on Wikiloc. We had spotted a nice looking beach on the drive and elected to go for a swim before proceeding to Uehara town.  We had passed by Restaurant Parlor Bibi a few times, and had a pleasant lunch before heading a little further south.

The Kura Falls walk was the easiest of the waterfall walks that day. It was about 1.5km return on a good path. We met a small group along the way.  The Geeda Falls was the prettiest walk of the day, because much of it followed a stream. We wore water shoes for the hike. The descent down to the foot of the falls was rugged. We didn't encounter anyone on the 2km return hike.

The kitchen of our hotel the Il Mare was shutting down and the room rate for our last night had been significantly reduced. However, we were on our own for breakfast, so we stopped at Super Kawamitsu in Uehara for breakfast supplies before returning the rental car.  We foreigners stand out in Japan and so when we return to restaurants, we are often greeted with extra warmth. The Ichitaka restaurant was no exception and we had another enjoyable meal, our last on Iriomote. We ordered our own appetizers, and it wasn't pig's ears.

 We seemed to be the only remaining guests at the Il Mare hotel, and we were shuttled to catch the 9:00am ferry at Uehara. At the other end, we had time to kill in Ishigaki City before our 2:00pm pick-up. We poked around the town, purchased new lightweight diving fins, some local produce and had lunch. Our landlord for nine nights, Nobu, picked us up and we made a short stop at a Max Value supermarket before heading for the north shore. We moved into our beach house at "Beach Village Nosoko". It was cozy but comfortable and although it was a tad cool for swimming, we had our own pool, because we were the only guests for our entire stay. The stay cost Y9400/day and we also rented a car from our landlord for Y4,000/day, for a total of about 85USD/night with a car.  It was nice that our landlord collected us from town (40min drive) and would also drop us off at the airport. We were to fill the fuel tank at the airport drop-off. We were also able to rent masks and snorkel s from our landlord for a nominal fee. All in all, we thought it was fantastic. We had a little over a week to enjoy Ishigaki.