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Today, we are going to explore
Okinawa World!
So if you don't know what Okinawa smells like,
visit Okinawa World.
Lots of tropical flowers and not just that.
We're going to see the famous Gyokusendo cave,
which is a limestone cave built on the coral reef
really, really cool! Just type it in Google images,
it looks amazing.
And after you've seen the images, you'd want to come here as well.
It's beautiful, emerald green colour inside
so I'm really looking forward to it - and so are you.
We're actually going to show it to you anyway so no need to type it in Google images.
After that, we're going to see the traditional crafts village where apparently you can make your own crafts
that's providing that we don't spend too long inside the caves
because it's already quite late. It's already half 2.
So we left a bit too late today. Exactly.
If you do have enough time and if you come here early enough,
you'll still be able to see the Snake Show which is really cool, too.
But for us for us it will be too late to see it!
It's scorching hot outside so we're going to go inside and show you what the caves look like.
Japan is full of surprises and natural wonders,
even more so if you go right down south to the subtropical islands.
At some point you might feel a bit confused,
is it South East Asia? Or are we still in Japan?
After having our fair share of wondering
around the famous Kokusai Dori shopping street in Naha,
we moved on to Okinawa World.
Although such places may be deemed by some as quite touristy,
it’s a pretty good way to get a feel of old Okinawan culture.
Don’t make the same mistake as us, get there early
if you want to make the most of it.
There's Eisa Dance that you can watch if you have enough time.
And exciting Habu Show. Habu in Japanese means venomous snake
It's just on my left handside.
Unfortunately, we're not going to see it because we're going to run out of time.
I think that Gyokusendo Caves are actually
the largest concentration of
stalactites and stalagmites throughout the whole of Japan.
I'm not sure how that ranks worldwide but it's going to be quite impresive.
You can see the Bamboo forest without heading out to Kyoto!
to check out Arashiyama (stuttering!) Forest - eventually got it right :)
Well, this is one of them.
Just a very small version of it here.
Okinawa World is only 14km South East from Naha
and has all it takes to keep you in for a good few hours:
Gyokusendo Cave which happens to be the second longest cave in the whole of Japan,
Traditional Ryukyu craft village where you can get your hands dirty in pottery
glass blowing and sugar cane processing and…
the Habu Park,
full of poisonous yet beloved Habu snake.
Whilst it might not be everyone’s cup of tea,
it’s definitely a local’s favourite glass of Okinawan whisky drink.
Or so you’d think when wandering down the Kokusai Dori shops (main shopping street in Naha)
OK, a couple of warning signs before you go in.
Umm, internal organs disease...
That's a bit off-putting but I'm sure it'll be fine
Watch your head - quite obvious, and watch your step - quite obvious - OK.
Are you ready? A-are you ready?
Let's enter the cave...
It's going to get slimy!
Um...yeah, apologies about that. I think we both got a bit carried away there.
Who doesn’t love sleeping in on their 3-month holiday in Japan?!
Here we go, rushing, to make it to explore the 5km long
Gyokusendo cave that we saw on Instagram.
If you’re passionate about the wonders of this world,
you’ll stroll around fascinated, for quite some time.
About 900 metres of this humongous cave
is open to the public.
This cave also happens to be an ideal place to escape the Okinawan heat
as the average temperature inside the cave
is 21 degrees Celsius all year round.
Perfect for those who tend to turn into a lobster in the scorching sun
after a couple of hours!
Natural History lovers out there, did you know that
this national treasure was carved over 300,000 years ago?
Well, it wasn’t discovered until 1967!
Some of the stalactites and stalagmites are huge
and they only grow 1mm every 3 years
so you can only imagine how many centuries
some of them have been growing for!
You might be wondering
what are stalactites and stalagmites!?
Well, before you start Googling,
stop right here and let me explain.
Basically, both stalactites and stalagmites are
are mineral formations of accumulated calcium carbonate in the limestone caves.
Stalactites hang from the top of the cave and look like icicles;
and stalagmites rise from the bottom of the cave
and also have an icicle shape but have more flattened tips.
If you’re from a country with snow in the winter,
then imagine these beautiful icicle drapes hanging off the roofs of the buildings.
Stalactites are just like them except for
they won’t melt away and, unlike icicles,
you cannot break them with your bare hands or teeth.
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Tall people, watch out
this doesn't concern us - we're good!
Perfect!
You can see that some of the stalactites and stalagmites
are producing a lot of water.
Referring to Instagram: It's so hard to choose what spot because
you think 'Do I want to stop here and waste time?
Or do I want a better spot?'
There are so many good spots!
Not just the formations, but also the colours are so amazing!
These rocks remind me of the Chiang Mai ones!
Look, it's exactly the same as the limestone waterfalls that you have in Chiang Mai.
You have to see them. I'm saying it again but you really, really have to. I totally recommend them!
Although it’s hard not to notice the million or so
stalactites and stalagmites in this limestone cave,
as you get deeper into the cave,
you’ll come across this beautiful blue fountain of water
that Marci was so looking forward to seeing!
Rock's dimensions: It's 2.5 m and 31 m at girth!
So I'm really curious what this mud
looks like and it feels like.
Because that's the natural habitat of stalagmites.
Is it muddy?
Yeah, it's muddy. Yeah, very, very muddy.
It's quite dryish once you hold it in your fingers.
Obviously, that's the natural habitat
of where the stalagmites and stalactites grow.
Check out this cute little tiger prawn!
When we exited the cave, we couldn’t help but notice
the irresistible tropical fruit paradise
with fresh or dried fruit,
with some being pretty expensive!
This is also one of the very few places in Japan
where you can buy a fresh coconut!
I know, we were surprised too!
This apple is one of the biggest apples we've seen - It's very sizeable!
Quite expensive I think... Yeah, 1000 Yen ($10 or £7)
Definitely not the price that you'd pay in South East Asia.
In Thailand, you could probably get
literally 6 or 7 coconuts for the same price.
You can get a cup for £3.50
When you are so thirsty sometimes,
a coconut really quenches your thirst but
to pay £7... I mean, it's even cheaper in London!
And you know, we are a lot further away (UK) from tropical countries.
So why is it so expensive here?
What are you getting?
Mango and vanilla ice cream from Blue Seal.
Arigatou gozaimasu = thank you very much.
I thought, I don't want just pure mango, cuz I do like mango
but I thought I'd love vanilla as well so I thought I'd try mango and vanilla.
You didn't want to go for a typical Okinawan flavour?
I wanted to try mango because the mango here looks pretty juicy.
What is it like?
It tastes quite fresh.
I've never tried Blue Seal before and the ice cream mix
is really thick and creamy. It tastes fresh, I like it.
Time to check out Okinawa crafts village!
It seemed like we were just in time to see how the Ruykyu glass is being made!
This method is still cultivated in the Southern islands in Japan!
Just as we thought, we were too late to participate in any of the workshops in the craft village.
However, we still got to see how they make Ryuku glass in the Ryuku glass studio.
You can make your own Ryuku glass
if you get here on time, or, alternatively,
you can just buy one of the pre-made ones.
Unless you’re a quick learner, the already designed glasses
will probably make it for a prettier souvenir from Okinawa.
You really want to allocate enough time time, you never know, maybe you can learn some new skills here!
Last but not least. In here, you can turn swap your clothes for a traditional Ryukyu outfit!
If you saw our previous video from Shuri castle,
then you'd recognise the bright colours inside the shop.
Those who haven't seen it yet - check it out!
We got to see dancers performing on stage,
wearing traditional Okinawan dresses,
scarlet flower-shaped hats and other accessories.
There are only a few places where you can see them outside the theme park
and it's usually for big, organised events.
The traditional Okinawan outfits
look totally different from mainland Japan.
Since they were about to close,
it was way too late to try on the red kimono called bingata.
Let alone a full makeover to transform us into ancient royals.
Until next time!
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