So after saying housekeeping could come and tidy my villa at 11am obviously I totally slept in after my two day journey, and woke up at 10.48 precisely. Thankfully they called me to check it was ok to come round, so I was able to delay them for a bit while I got myself ready!

I caught a bus into the village on Taketomi island. It is absolutely tiny. And it’s like stepping back in time. There’s only about 300 people living on the island, and apart from a post office, a tiny shop and a handful of restaurants and cafes, there’s not much to see. I spent a good while getting my bearings from the map the resort had given me, and went off exploring.

Every house on the island has a “shisha” on the roof. They’re a mix of a dog and a lion and are there to ward off any evil spirits. I have one on my villa roof as well, and saw them all over the village. After walking around in circles for a good half hour, and passing water buffalo pulling carts of Japanese tourists around, I headed to one of the islands main attractions. A concrete viewing platform with a couple of steps. Pics below, it did give a good view!

Next I trekked to one of Taketomi’s three beaches. It was like something out of a dream island photograph – totally unspoilt and just naturally beautiful.

By this point I was starving, so headed to the Kanifu (かにふ) restaurant for lunch – a pork stir fry with miso soup and rice which was very tasty. Then after walking around a bit more I headed back to the resort.

Quick Facetime call with the family later and I was back on the bus to the beach to see the sunset. Which was pretty stunning.

Finally, it was back to the resort for dinner. I chose to eat in the restaurant, treating myself. Which is exactly what it was – a treat – and expensive. It was an eight course set meal which was pretty pricey, but which has to be one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.

All the ingredients – seafood and beef – were local to Ishigaki. I was a bit nervous about eating on my own, but the waitress was lovely, explaining all the food to me, and there was another guy eating on his own too, which made me feel better.

Then I got back to my villa, looked in the mirror and saw my face is as red as a beetroot. That’ll teach me for not using sunscreen when it’s 30 degrees. Remember the shisha? The next day I’d be off to make one of my own with a local potter….. but I’ll save that for my next post.