(TAN): On July 31, not the July 31 when I’m sitting at my desk to write this piece, but this day in 2014, I had posted a certain status on Facebook. It reminded me of the wonderful days of travel before COVID.
“Tokyo tomorrow! If everything goes to plan (which has not been happening at all lately), I will fly to Kansai and take a train to Tokyo from there.”
As you’d know, Facebook frequently does this thing of showing posts from several years ago. I removed my eyes from the screen and got lost as a flood of memories of a time when I could not only travel, but make spontaneous plan changes without having to worry about being quarantined. The memories of travel before COVID indeed seems from an entirely different lifetime.
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I had been trying to start my journey to Tokyo from a small island called Yoron since the previous day — July 30, 2014. The plan was to take an overnight ferry to Kagoshima, and take a train to Tokyo from there. But when I went to the pier, they told me that a typhoon was coming and the ship would not make a stop at the island that day.
Following are select entries from my Japan diary, all from July 30, 2014, when nothing had gone to plan!
1211 hours: Typhoon alert! The ferry isn’t going to make a stop at Yoron and no one can say for sure when it will come next. The elderly man I had walked back to my guest house with a couple of nights ago had said the wind felt like a typhoon was coming. And it indeed was! Yoron experiences around three or four typhoons every year.
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The ferry company refunded my money before driving me and another waiting passenger to the tiny airport on the island. The flight to Kagoshima this evening is overbooked and they have now put us on reservation against cancellation — just like Indian Railways does. I seriously don’t have any hope that anyone will cancel, because everyone is right here at the airport and everyone wants to get off the island before the typhoon strikes.
1722: The guy who came from the pier to the airport with me is called Ryosuke Morishita. He was also headed to Kagoshima and we have been hanging out together. Daisuke, who had been staying at the same guest house as I was on Yoron, also met us at the airport. He is going to Naha, capital of Okinawa prefecture — and completely on the opposite direction to Kagoshima from here.
As expected, no one cancelled, and we couldn’t be on the flight to Kagoshima. So, Ryosuke and I found the flight to Naha had a few seats empty and decided to go there. Naha is a bigger airport and we will have better chances of reaching the main islands of Japan from there. So the two of us bought tickets, and we are all set to fly to Naha this evening!
Once our tickets were booked, the three of us went to a nearby eatery to have seaweed and noodles. We were hungry and the food was quite tasty!
While we were eating, Ryosuke asked me, “Is there anything you want to do in Yoron? We still have time!” Well, I did want to ask my beautiful dive instructor out to dinner, but I didn’t tell him that. I told him the second thing on my list — I’d love to visit this place called Umi Café. I had read about it on my guide book and I liked the sound of it.
“Let’s go to Umi Café and drink! My treat!” declared Ryosuke and promptly called a taxi. Umi Café is a pretty place on a hill. The guys are having cold coffee while I’m sipping on ginger ale. I don’t want to order anything more because Ryosuke is insisting on paying for it all!
Ryosuke also just checked flights from Naha to the main islands and found Kansai the cheapest. I plan to take that because as long as I get access to the train network, I can use my railway pass to get to Tokyo.
Our flight to Naha was originally scheduled for 1810, but we just got to know that it has been delayed by an hour.
2110: I’m at Naha and love this place! The three of us are at a very Okinawan restaurant eating Umibudo, which is sea grape — basically a kind of seaweed that pops in your mouth when you bite. The best thing about this place is the local liquor — awamori — is free. You just have to order food! I have already decided I’m going to stay in Naha tomorrow and head out only the day after (Aug. 1, 2014).
Ryosuke wants to pay for everything and says, “Enjoy Japan” every time I try to get my wallet out!
2349: At the end of the day, I’m happy the typhoon made me miss the ferry and I ended up in Naha. Both Ryosuke and I are at the hostel Daisuke is staying at. The place is somewhat shabby, but Yuki, the owner, is friendly and the prices are cheap. Yuki and her guests were drinking together when we arrived earlier tonight. We sat for a while with them. All of us gave a short intro about ourselves and the others (all of them Japanese) tried their best to express themselves in English for my benefit. This country has such nice people!
