Above: It seems so funny that an Indian restaurant provides chopsticks!
Today is our day of orientation and research for things like daytrips and car rentals. As most activities are sea-based we didn’t want to book online too early in case of uncertain weather.
The weather looked cloudy from our room and by the time we stepped out around 0900, it had started spitting. The car rental place a few minutes away was closed when we got there. The rain got heavier so we returned.
Our second attempt at 1000 faced an identical fate with no one there and then rain. Third time at 1100 we managed to find someone there but he had no cars for our required days, being Friday or Saturday.
By then, it was dry enough for us to walk to town to try other providers. The first place had no cars available while the second didn’t take bookings. We’d have to chance it on the day on a walk-in basis. We managed to strike it lucky at our third agency there, based at the ferry terminal.
Even luckier, we had a very helpful young Japanese lady (married to a Scottish husband) who spoke excellent English. She looked up the weather and tide charts so that we could best order our exploration.
Ishigaki seemed like a nicer place without the rain and the uncertainty of not being able to get a car.
We explored parts of the town which we hadn’t been to, including the Euglena pedestrian mall which had a nice food hall. We opted for sandwiches and shakes before returning to the room for the afternoon.
The day remained gloomy. I had allowed some time for bad weather and I’m hoping that it coincides with our day of orientation and research.
We ventured out for another exploration, this time around the port area before doing another walk around town. We had a South Indian dinner as we both already miss our spice after 3 days. It seems so funny that an Indian restaurant provides chopsticks! They use Japanese-style (slightly sticky) rice instead of basmati or similar.