The toilet bowl and the prayer cave

I've recently been trying to add to this blog my "email posts" made when we first got here - pre-blog format - and was rereading a post about a beautiful spot that we went to when we first got our drivers licenses:  the toilet bowl, or so it is affectionately called by the Americans.  Since we needed an adventure on Sunday (it had been a hard week for both Stevie and me), we loaded up and started driving toward the bowl.

The view of the "bowl" is a Japanese tourist destination - or at least a stop on their bus tours of the island - which consists of a trek through the parking lot full of junk vendors, a short jaunt down the path to the edge of the cliff, a quick group photo on some rusted out bleachers and then back on the bus.

We, however, chose the more scenic route.  After seeing the view from a far, I remembered reading something about a cave down a little known about road behind the a fore mentioned junk vendors.  The cave is supposed to be a holy spot for Okinawans.  Since we (meaning I) were in the mood for more of an adventure, we found the road and started driving.  About a mile long, we parked at the end of the road and found a path leading toward the sound of crashing waves, so we followed it...

And came out on this...

The bottom of the bowl - a churning mess of waves looking so beautiful, but so dangerous too.  I can only shudder to think of the danger you'd be in if you got in the water here.  Apparently, the fish must not think it's dangerous since there were surprisingly quite a few fishermen perched high atop the cliffs and even a little fishing shanty.

Heading back down the path to the road, we found a hiking path.  Hazzah!!!!  I know, it doesn't sound like a rare thing to find, but on this island it is.  I've only been looking for one since we moved here and know of only one or two other hikes on the entire island!

This was a beautiful, gentle path that made us think of being back in the States and not on Okinawa.  I think it was the pine trees and the neatly carved out trail.  Here's where the trail ended:

We got to this spot through a cave that you descended into and came out the other side.  Was this the mysterious Okinawan prayer cave we set out to find?  I'll never know, but the beautiful nature path was definitely an answer to prayer!

Fearless Emmy heading down.

Going down into the cave.

Coming out of the cave