Yasuragi Iojima Nagasaki

... ducks that were living in the carp pond. It is amazing how sometimes the simplest things can bring the greatest pleasure -- I really enjoyed feeding those animals.

We then proceeded to the ocean and a cliff-filled area known as Manza-mo. There were some spectacular sights here. It was a very windy and rainy day but this did not dull the spectacular view. No wonder this was a favourite place of Ryukyu kings.

The Churaumi Aquarium was indeed a sight to ...

... of the Japanese Navy's main command posts during World War 2. What an interesting and spooky place this turned out to be. Two things really struck us. First of all, these tunnels were dug from the rock by hand using pick axes -- there are thousands of metres of tunnels here. Secondly, many military officers committed suicide here after it became apparent that the battle with the U.S. was lost. The scars from exploding hand grenades can still be seen in some of ...

... the US invasion forces landed near the end of the war. Apparently this was one of the most difficult and bloody battles of the Pacific War. It is hard to believe that this beautiful place was once a WW2 killing ground. Thousands of Americans died here and hundreds of thousands of Japanese died. I'm sure that the war memorials here will be very sobering.

It will definitely be an interesting couple of days.

... a stunningly hot day and the indoor area was air conditioned. After Shuri Castle, we went to Kokusai street in Naha City. This is a palm-lined street with tons of small souvenir shops, with a surfer atmosphere. I picked up quite a few gifts here! My favorite purchase was a red coral necklace for myself. The store's owner was so happy to see me for some reason that she gave me free shisa keychain. Riley was getting restless, so ...

... who we all know have an inner core of perverse and smug mascochism, which makes them try to convert and talk down to every pagan they meet. Anyway, the missionaries come and Japan is uncomfortable with foreign influence so it outlaws Christianity and kills the followers who don't abandon the religion. So they crucified 26 Christians in Nagasaki back in 1597, who were later canonized by the pope.

To add insult to injury, when Japan finally decriminalized ...

... routes in the forest were paved with stones and surrounded by attractive tropical trees, but some parts of the routes were slippery and it is better to use a cane sometimes which you can borrow for free at the starting point. In the most important site, two large rocks were naturally put together to make a route to the altar, where we can see the Pacific Sea through the bush. Seifa-Utaki had less visitors than the other attractions in ...

Hello everyone, just a quick note as internet access is limited. Regards to everyone from Nagasaki in Japan. We are here for the day before continuing our way to Shanghai. In the past ten days, we have seen Halong Bay (spectacular), fought with Northvietnamese hairdressers about how short hair bangs must be, experienced inefficiency of old-fashioned ...

... before heading off for something to eat as well as enjoying a few beers in the entertainment district of Shian-bashi later in the evening... Maybe the beers were to blame for me sleeping through my alarm the next morning, but it didn`t matter much as I still had a full day`s roaming ahead of me, beginning with a trip to the extremely helpful Infomation Centre. The next stage of my journey needed careful planning so that I wouldn`t be left ...

I:m going to make a blanket statement (as I usually do I suppose) and say that the Japanese don:t like doing things in moderation. Last weekend it was sports day from nine in the morning until 4:30 and this weekend it was song day (that:s my name for it, not theirs) from 9-4:30. Fortunately my family decided they had other things to do so ...

No time now, will fill in later. Going to Aso today. Nagasaki was OK. Kinda got bored of basically nothing new here. Some pictures. I avoided to abomb thing. UPDATED I`m in the terminal in Hakata(Fukuaka) right now waitining on a train. They had this random laptop I coulduse(noUSB though). Now, if you were to look at a map, you would see that Hakata was in no way shape or form, on the way to Aso/Mt. Aso. Well, while I was on the train to transfer south, I decided I had gotten ...