Adventures in the North

So, when I say, "North", what I mean is the northernmost tip of the island that we're on. In fact, the drive takes about 3 hours due to construction and the complete lack of any sort of real highway on-island. Seriously. There's one toll road that they call an 'expressway' where you can go speeding along at 80 kph (that's just under 50 mph for all you crazy Americans and your non-metric system). Since we rarely drive on the expressway (who wants to pay to drive? Unless, of course, you're going through New Jersey?), I feel like I am flyin' down the road when I'm allowed to do 60 kph on one of the bases. I -could- get all up in arms about these ridiculous speed limits. Until, of course, I realized that safety standards here are significantly lower than those back home. For instance, it is not necessary to use tempered glass. Nor do the vehicles have to pass the same side-impact tests. SO, in knowing what I know about how people get hurt in car accidents (having looked at many case studies of various accidents), I am perfectly fine going at a lower speed given the lack of safety requirements in our cars here.

Well, back to the story. We drove aaalll the way up the coastline to the very tip of the island. The drive was beautiful, with the ocean always right next to us and green mountains off to the other side.

This type of driving goes slowly, but it's worth it - even with about 18 construction zones that we had to pass through both on the way up and the way back down.




We stopped on the way up to grab a bite to eat at this cute little Japanese restaurant. It was clearly not frequented by Americans as no one who worked there spoke any English. After taking off our shoes, we stepped up into our own 'booth', about a foot off the ground, to slide our legs under the table, which was just high enough to allow you to sit cross-legged. Then comes the next challenge: the menu. After looking over the 'local' menu for several minutes with creases on our foreheads, trying to figure out what everything was from the pictures, they graciously brought us a menu with some English.




<----Here is our menu




----> Here is what we ordered

We both ordered some sort of Ramen with meat (pork, perhaps?). It also came with egg, and as you can see, I got mine with spinach (I think... It's always hard to tell WHICH type of leafy gren you're really eating).

When we finally arrived at the northern tip, we got out to walk around the little park they have there. There were several monuments and statues around and some really spectacular views. I was especially impressed at the -gorgeous- water and the waves crashing up against the cliff. We climbed down the rocks a little way, but when I saw a millipede (which my little guidebook says you should immediately get medical assistance if you're bitten by one due to possibly devastating effects), we decided to climb back up to the normal sidewalks.