Okinawa - Day 2 - Shuri Castle, Tamaudun, Japanese Navy Underground HQ
We got up early to go to the Shuri Castle which was the palace of the Ryuku Kingdom. It was almost completely destroyed during the Battle of Okinawa so most of what we saw was rebuilt.
Under construction D:
Shisa! Okinawan mythological creatures that are said to protect things from evil
Sonohyan-utaki Ishimon (World Heritage site!)
After Shuri Castle, we decided to check out Tamaudun which is a mausoleum for the Ryuku royal family since it was close by and it was also a World Heritage site. It wasn’t really worth going though because they don’t let you see much D: We got to see like three gates and that was about it D: Seeing the old structure of the mausoleum was quite cool though!
Tamaudun
After the that, we went to find this stone path road that was on our map. It was a steep stone path and thank goodness it wasn’t raining. It was quite pretty and you got to see a nice view :D Apparently it has appeared in a few Japanese dramas… not that I would know though because I don’t really watch them!
Shrikinjocho Stone-path Road
Then we headed back to the station to buy a Yui Monorail pass. This pass gives you unlimited rides on the monorail and also discounted entrance fees to some places (Shuri Castle and Tamaudun being two of them >0<). We took the train and then a bus to Shikinaen which is another World Heritage site but only found out when we got there that it was closed D: So we rushed off to the Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters instead. There’s a war museum there and you also get to see some of the caves and tunnels that were used by the Japanese during the war. Seeing the room where some people committed suicide was quite spooky! There were holes in the wall from the hand grenade explosion… I didn’t take a picture because I was too creeped out D:
Paper cranes
The stairs that took us down
After that, we talked to this really nice security guard! He told us about stuff we should try while in Okinawa and helped us take pictures. He even tore up the cover of his book to draw a map telling us how to walk to the bus station to take the bus back (we still failed at finding the way though - wasn’t his fault! Just us being us and not finding the way! xD)
We headed back to Kokusaidori since it was close to five and the attractions were closed. We went back to the restaurant where we had lunch the first day expecting a similar affordable menu… but the menu was different at night and was really expensive D: We got to watch a live performance while we ate though!
The performers! One of them is playing the sanshin while the other the drums (not sure what the correct name for those are!)
And that was day 2 in Okinawa!
