Trip West to the Old–& New–East: part 5 — Sasebo, Japan

Looking back over what I posted in the past few days, I see that I got a little mixed up. Our itinerary wasn’t precisely linear– we stopped at Sasebo, Japan between Busan, S. Korea and Dalian, China,

This turned out to be an unusual day. Gary & I started out together, wandering out across the broad expanse of the cruise port where various teams were warming up for competitions later in the day.

We made our way into town and saw a pilot boat heading out to guide a ship into the harbor.

Then we continued along the waterfront and soon found ourselves outside the gates of a US Navy Base:

Before we’d left on the cruise I’d found something online about being able to see “the 99 Islands in the Pearl Sea” if one went a few miles out of town. However, Gary turned back to the ship at this point and I headed on, past the shipyards.

For some reason, I figured I wouldn’t get lost, so I kept walking. The road went through a tunnel, then through a residential district, leading, finally, to a park with picnic and camping areas on the waterfront. I took the road going uphill, figuring that would get me to the overlook. Very soon I saw the recreational boating harbors in the Pearl Sea.

Hiking a little further, I encountered two young women who asked if I needed directions. They confirmed that I was, in fact, headed in the right direction to find the 99 Island Overlook–about a mile up the road.

I was glad I’d come, and proceeded a little further uphill.

I’d accomplished my goal and was happy that it was downhill all the way back to the ship.

When I crossed the road by the gate to the US Navy Base, I saw a young man and woman at a table handing out Jehovah’s Witnesses literature. As I walked by, the young woman asked, astonished, “Did you walk all this way?” I realized she was one of the two who had confirmed my directions en route to the 99 Island overlook.

“Yes,” I grinned. “It wasn’t that hard.”

Further down the road, in the harbor itself, it was fun to see this fisherman haul in his catch:

When I returned to our stateroom, my pedometer said I’d walked 10.1 miles. That is, I admit, something of a record.