On our last full day in Miyako, we, of course, started with our usual breakfast of natto, rice, tsukemono, and ice coffee (at least that's what I have -- the others eat much more extravagantly). We had some difficulty deciding where to go this day. Go back to a previous beach or go to a new one. Plenty of new places, if we decided that.
Ultimately, we decided on Sunayama Beach. It means Sand Mountain, and 5 to 10 minute walk from the parking lot to the ocean was an up-and-down chore in the humid heat. I was the beast of burden and carried the brunt of the load.
Sunayama is a beautiful small beach with a natural arch located right on the sand. Here, Connie practices a Yoga pose since she is really missing her daily session.
Here, Em is swimming in calm, warm sea.
There are some fish, but not in the quantities that we like when snorkeling.
We spent close to two hours there. Near the cave was a funny looking guy, a vendor, selling some food and whisky. He gave Connie some Arare fish food. She was going to eat it, but he stopped her and told her to feed the fish. Likely stale anyway.
Connie says there are massages in the cave from 10 AM to midnight. Weird. Won't comment further.
Anyway, everyone was getting hungry, so we gathered our things and went back to our hotel, to prepare for lunch at Hirochan Shokudo. This is truly what Connie was looking forward to on this leg of our trip. Sharp eyed readers with a good memory will recall our adventures with Hirochan in 2014.
It's been remodeled. Floor seating in the main dining area is now gone, replaced with tables and chairs, as you can see in the Pano shot below. It looks like Connie is at the next table, but she's actually right across from me, the photographer.
Veggie stir fry
Zaru soba
Zaru udon
Umi budou
We intentionally didn't order too much since we knew we would be back for an early dinner, our last in Miyako. An afternoon dip in the hotel pool topped off a relaxing time here in Miyako.
We had a nice quiet dinner, this time in one of the tatami rooms adjacent to the main dining area. Boring, but we ordered pretty much the same. A veggie stir fry noodle dish and Kaki furai (tasted pretty fresh).
On our last morning, again, after the natto/tsukemono/rice/ice coffee breakfast, we tour Imgya Garden, a very quick 5 minute drive from our hotel. We had to return our vehicle before 12:30, and we needed to get snacks before our flight to Haneda, so this was a quick jaunt.
There is a medium path of about a half mile along the coast, and there is a lagoon/inlet which looks like it was manufactured. Along the path, I noticed some weird plants and I almost ran into Charles, Charlotte's wife. He actually scared me, since he was about six inches across. Huge!
Turns out that he's an ok guy, just wanted to be left alone. After some mild pleasantries, I did just that. Here is a picture of the bay, and also the coast on the ocean side of this inlet.
After packing and checking out, we head back to the airport, but not before several stops to gather supplies for the flight (ie, food).
We see our pilots, Tomio and Tatsuo, in the Miyako airport lobby. Not sure how safe our flight will be.
Last minute Miyako soba and ice coffee.
Oh, and a soft serve ice cream
An uneventful flight, aside from a short 30 minute delay on taking off. Amazing Japanese efficiency: about 200 passengers loaded on the plane, from beginning to end, in about 15 minutes. The gates at the airport have only about 30 minutes between each flight!
Next up, Tokyo for three nights!
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