Typhoon...pffft...Ishigaki, Japan

Over the last week or two we had been watching the Japanese cyclone warnings with very great interest, as there was a typhoon slowly making its way towards the island of Ishigaki, where we had planned to spend the last five days of our holiday in Japan!

Some days the predictions would be saying that the typhoon would head east, and it dutifully obliged. But then the next day the sneaky bugger would change direction and come steaming right back towards Ishigaki!!

Ishigaki is the second dot to the east of Taiwan

While in Yakushima we had no internet access at all, so we were quite worried that we may have to cancel flights and accommodation over the phone, as we didn’t want to get stranded on the island for an extended period! Thankfully in the last day or so before we were to leave it seemed that the typhoon had made up its mind and was going to bother Okinawa instead of Ishigaki, so we were safe!!

Flying into Ishigaki you could tell that the winds were fairly strong, but it was only as we got off the plane that you realised how strong they really were! Together with the very ‘agricultural’ aroma that they brought to our nostrils, we knew we were in for a very different experience in this remote part of the world.

How remote? Try 2000km from Tokyo. In fact, it would probably only take us a few hours to swim to Taiwan we’re so far to the south-west!

Ishigaki is one of those places that, before planning this trip, I could have said that I’d heard of, but wouldn’t have any idea of where it was in the world. We were really keen to finish the holiday on a relaxed note, preferably with some lounging around in the sun on a beach or a balcony , cocktail or beer in hand… The more we looked at Ishigaki the more we liked it! Warm tropical waters, plenty of snorkeling opportunities, unique location…perfect! Until that pesky typhoon decided to join the party…

There’s more to come on Ishigaki, but for now I’ll leave it at that.

Dinner was a random little yakitori place near our hotel. Again, we managed to pick a winner! After checking our translations we found out that one of the yakitori was chicken necks. Actually very tasty! Best fried chicken wings I’ve had since my time living in Indonesia as well..massive win right there!