Asia Part 4 -Taiwan and Okinawa, Japan

Day 25 - Sea Day

We won Trivia again tonight.

Day 26 - Kaohsiung, Taiwan Cancelled. Oops. Sea Day

From the Captain, I wish to inform you of a revision to our itinerary. We are unable to call to Kaohsiung, Taiwan this morning due to adverse weather conditions including high winds. In order to stay ahead of the worst of the weather and ensure we are able to call to Keelung (Taipei), we are now sailing along the eastern side of Taiwan. 

This means we will not be sailing through the Taiwan Straits, something Zach really wanted to do. Hopefully, we will make it to Keelung, so we at least get to make a stop in Taiwan.

It was so rough today, that Zach wore a patch for the very 1st time.

Lido Fun Fair tonight was entertaining and calmer seas. 

Day 27-Keelung (Taipei), 

The port of Keelung is the entry point for visiting Taipei. Taipei is Taiwan's economic, political and cultural center located on the northern end of the island. We did not go there. We stayed in Keelung due to the missed port yesterday and the time for passport and immigration checks getting off and reboarding the ship.

Today was much cooler than it has been. Also, cloudy but no rain.

We were able to see the Keelung Landmark shortly after disembarking through Immigration.

We did a walk-about to the temples and statues we wanted to visit.

Bomb Shelter.

Keelung Tower.

A lot of steps climbing to reach the Guanyn Statue in Zhongzheng.

We won Trivia again tonight.

Day 28 - Ishigaki Island, Japan

This scenic island is famous for its net-protected beaches and clear swimming waters. Small, deserted islands and coral reefs attract scuba divers by the hundreds.  Too cold for that right now. 

We did a walk-about in the Harbor Area. Stopped by the Municipal Market and took some pictures while we were walking.

View from Noordam.

Day 29 - Okinawa 

Okinawa is a subtropical paradise where flowers bloom the year-round and the emerald-green sea is full of beautiful coral reefs. 

Limited time in ports means we only get to visit a small number of places, so choose wisely grasshopper. We choose Gyokusendo Cave and Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum. Both turned out to be great choices. 

We passed the Dragon Pillar Monument and Numinous Shrine on the way to the Cave.

The Gyokusendo Cave, with more than 900,000 stalactites, stalagmites and pillars is 2 miles long with .8 open to visitors and is Asia's largest. It also has an underground stream. It's one way through the Cave. It was pretty amazing!!

When we emerged, we were in Okinawa World Wonder Seven which included a tropical orchard, crafts area shows and lots of other stuff.

Then there is the Nanto Brewery, where they use Habu Snakes in their Brewing process. Would you like a snake in that beer?

Some entertainment.

These are everywhere.

Back to the entrance.

From there we went to the Peace Memorial Museum, which has recorded the Battle of Okinawa from the Japanese perspective.

The 90-day battle called the "Typhoon of Steel" was the only battle fought on Japanese soil. Most of the casualties were civilians trapped in a battle with no where to go. 

The keystone. Every known life lost in that Battle has been recorded on these hundreds of granite monuments in the background, Japanese, American, British, soldier and civilians.

The Observation Tower in the Museum gives a view of everything in Peace Memorial Park.

This other tower is another memorial of the Battle.

Some last few pictures of Naha as we cruised away.

Day 29 - Sea Day 

We finally left the South China Sea for calmer waters and sunny skies in the Pacific Ocean. Cathy looking marvelous as usual.

Very entertaining performance by the dance troupe tonight.