A group of friends and I planned a trip to Okinawa in February. Everyone was pretty excited about heading south and leaving the snow and cold back in Okayama. Kind of like the longing for the Florida sun in the dead of winter back home. Same feeling, different country. :)
We left from Osaka and flew 2 hours south to Naha, Okinawa. First thing we noticed - it wasn't so hot. It was actually kind of chilly & looked like it was about to rain. Welcome to paradise. Sorry, I can't control my sarcasm.
We booked a hostel for our stay. This was my first hostel experience and I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I knew that the accommodations were cheap and a lot of backpackers and tourist used hostels, but that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge. I checked out the website for the Sora House, one of four Okinawa hostels and it didn't look half bad.
Okinawa does not have a train network like mainland Japan, but the city of Naha does have a monorail that is quite convenient. We took the monorail to our stop & walked 2 minutes north (just as the directions had indicated) & we found the Sora House.
Yes, the sign says Sora House 4th & 5th floor.
Nothing like dragging luggage up 5 flights of stairs. :)
The stairwell wasn't the prettiest one I've ever been in, but once we got inside the hostel it was really 'homey' feeling and the people all seemed really cool & the vibes were good.
This is the community dining area, Japanese style of course:
And the kitchen which sold beer on the honor system for ￥100:
The 4 of us girls were shown to our room downstairs. We were staying in a 6 person room and the other 2 beds were unoccupied when we arrived. We crossed our fingers that we would be lucky enough not to have roomies, but didn't count on it.
Our first line of business was to make our beds. Always a fun chore:
And once we were settled in we left our baggage on our beds & headed out to see what exactly Naha had to offer. We managed to find the beach and the downtown area and, although it was on the brink of raining all day, we were able to walk around without the use of the umbrella.
Yes, that's a bridge in the background. No, I didn't have to cross it. Thankfully.
Hot or not, the beach still looked pretty amazing.
A little sun could have drastically improved this photo.
You know my style when it comes to writing about these trips, the blogs come in installments.
much love
-たら-
xx
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