Okinawa World

So one of the sites that we've yet to visit is a little touristy attraction called "Okinawa World". It's supposed to be a representation of all things Okinawan - awamori (a sake-like drink), black sugar, glass blowing, Eisa dancers, etc. The attraction also has a snake museum and show attached to it and the second longest cave system in Japan - a strange combination, but definately not the strangest we've encountered. Anyways, we headed down to Okinawa World on Sunday with Dr. Tom and Grammie in tow to check it out.

Steve and I let Grammie and Dr. Tom take the kids into the snake show as we just saw the snakes in Thailand, and really, how many boa constrictors do you really want hanging around your neck in any given year? They thoroughly enjoyed the show (according to the kids, even though the show was all in Japanese), had their obligatory boa picture taken, and saw live habus (of the recent Obi encounter fame).

After the show, we descended into the caves which really were quite impressive.

The cave was really long with tons of stalagmites and stalactites of all shapes and sizes.

And I have to say, it's the only cave system I've been to that has an escalator to take you back up to the surface!

The exit of the caves dumped us at the backside of the "Kingdom" through which we were funeled like cattle. The attractions, unfortunately, were few, but the shops were definitely plentiful! After every craft or Okinawan specialty there was a store selling the wares through which you had to walk to get to the next attraction. Dr. Tom, Stevie and Grammie liked the plentiful tasting stations of awamori, sake and habu sake. I thought we'd have to roll them out of there.

The funniest stop we made though needs a blog entry all its own. Look for "Eco 35" coming soon!