Pics

So, I haven't really taken any pictures of my house yet, I've spent days trying to clean it (it was really REALLY dusty). I haven't taken pictures of my phone yet either, but don't worry I will, it deserves it's own post (or internet domain, it's that awesome) I haven't really taken many pictures of the town either, because the interesting spots are on the other side of the island, which, as you are about to learn, is a long ways off, when you don't know how to drive a manual transmission on the left hand side of the road...

So Saturday, I didn't have anything to do or anywhere to be, but I still woke up at 6:30. Actually I woke up at 5:30 thanks to the local crows. They're massive, live right outside my window apparently, and seem to think, with the lack of roosters in the area, they need to crow at sun-up every day. Anyways, I eventually decided that I would hike back up to the ferry port, and try to hunt down a Sri Lankan named Sami in the Tourist-Info booth, because he speaks English.

I grabbed my map, studdied it, found the local junior high, which is about a 30 second walk from my house, and set out. I decided I'd take a different rout than I normally would, so I could see more of the island. Eventually, I lost sight of the sea, and my sense of direction, and came to a road sign which informed me I was not in fact on my way to the northern port, but was instead on track to go see the light house at the southern tip of the island. 9 kilometers away.



Well it was only 3:00, I was making good time, and was not intimately familiar with the metric system, so I decided I'd keep walking. Soon, the very flat road became very steep, and very narrow, and parts of it turned to gravel. But I kept on, determined to see the light house, and to prove to myself that I was still in shape. By 3:45, I was pretty high up in the mountains, but I had an amazing view of Nishinoshima, the next island over. I also had my camera on me and got some great pictures, although it was very overcast that day.

You can see the full album on my facebook page. Anyways, I kept on moving, and around 4:30 or so hit civilization. According to my map, which had already deceived me into taking this long and very lonesome road, also lead me to believe that I was relatively close to the lighthouse. I looked up though, and instead saw a small shinto shrine. So, I decided to take a look:


The shrine, Miho-jinja, isn't in any tourist guide, and is very small. I believe, thanks to Yagi-sensei's interpretation of a stone pillar there, that it was either erected to an exiled emperor, Go-toba, who was banished to Ama in the mid 13th century. He spent his first night on the island at this shrine, and is buried at a much larger one a short walk from my house. I'll be visiting it in the coming weeks.

Anyways, after the brief sidetrack, I decided I'd go find the light house. I stopped and asked a group of elderly women in my broken Japanese which way it was. Eventually, they pointed me down a road and I set out once more. After about 20 minutes, I was once again along the sea, but there was no light house in sight. At that point, I realized it was nearing 5pm, and would be getting dark soon. I had at least a 2 hour walk back home, so I turned around and went back. I made it home around 7 pm, just before sunset, tired, hungry, dehydrated, and I still never saw the stupid lighthouse...