Miyako, Japan

Another impressive Taiko drum welcome awaited us at Miyako. There were two school groups of drummers. On was high school girls who were outstanding. The other was actually kindergarteners who did quite a good job considering that the drums were bigger than they were. 

We toured to two different beach areas with dramatic rock formations and pine trees. The area is a national park except for a few waterfront towns.

When it was time to leave a different group of drummers arrived to give us a send-off. Unfortunately, after a beautiful sunny day it started to rain just before the drumming was to start. They played anyway, in the pouring rain. Then, just as we were pulling away from the dock the sunset broke through on the horizon and we had a brilliant yellow/red sun shinning and rain coming down and the drummers drumming all at the same time. I am told there was a great rainbow behind the ship but I didn't see it.

Aomori, Japan

The boat was greeted by an impressive drum concert as we docked in Aomori. We didn't have an organized tour there so we just walked into town and looked around. We found an interesting temple and a large shopping street and interesting sights in general around a Japanese small town.

Back at the dock there were many workers cleaning and painting the ship. Then the drummers played again as we pulled away from the dock.

Hakodate, Japan

Our first stop, Hakodate Japan. We were met by two ambulances for two passengers who needed medical help. Then a bunch of busses came for the shore tours. We took a tour and saw a local fish market and rode a cable tramway to the top of a peak overlooking the city. That night a Japanese folk music group came on board and put on a show for us. It's funny to be on land again after eight days at sea.

Pictures

Here are the pictures I tried to put in the last post. Now that things are working better I'll work on a new update soon.