North to Cape Hedo

I heard the north end of Okinawa is completely different from the very populous southern side and wanted to do some more exploring so I was up early a few Saturdays ago ready to explore.  First stop - Family Mart (Okinawa equivalent of a Circle K) for breakfast.  After fueling up on Japanese pastries and a couple of cans of iced coffee, I was ready to hit the road - sugared and caffeinated for a day long adventure!  First stop was Yomitan - I wanted to see where the pottery village was located. It was still too early in the morning for anything to be open yet but finding places here is more than half the battle in adventuring!

The further north I traveled on highway 58, the less traffic was on the road...and the more beautiful the beaches became.  I detoured thru Okuma, a gorgeous resort area and beach but didn't stop - it was still too "civilized" for my taste.

The beaches along the way were beckoning and I stopped to photograph many of them but was on a mission to Cape Hedo.  Finally, after just a few hours, I has arrived!  (On a side note - Okinawa stretches a total length of 65 miles - less than the distance from my house in Glendale to Prescott in Arizona but to hear the "locals", you would think it was hundreds of miles - I had several people tell me a trip to Cape Hedo was a "weekend" trip, not a day trip.......I think looking at distances in kilometers instead of miles starts to mess with your head after a while?)

I hit some road construction on the way...had to photograph the construction sign....it's just so "polite".   All the road construction signs had some pretty picture on it - maybe they think it will reduce driver stress if the construction signs are pretty?

I had a hard time getting close enough to the cliffs to convey just how incredible the view is....and the power of the ocean below!  There are many signs warning of the danger of the ocean here....and many lives have been lost when not heeding the power of the water....and the danger of the volcanic rocks!

I think one of the more fun things about being here is the tremendous number of random pieces of art.  It's unfortunate the plaques for the statues are in Japanese and I'm not able to read the stories!

I've seen this pole in a number of areas....and find it beautiful and moving each time.  This one is located in an especially beautiful location - hard not to agree with the sentiment!



This was my route around the northern tip.........including a number of backtracks, criss-crosses and "wait, have I driven down that road" moments.....

I'm closing this post out with beach pictures......enough said!