A"LINE - connecting the Ryukyu archipelago
05h30 ... the alarm clock signals time to get up and walk from the nearby Nest hotel to Naha port, boarding the daily A"LINE ferry. These days most people fly in or out, as airfares mostly are cheaper and of course flights save time. But still the ferries are the backbone to connect the scattered Ryukyu islands with "mainland" Japan, that itself consists of the four major islands - Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. When it comes to 'islandhopping' my choice was clear from the conception of this journey - it has to be by ferry! As any roadtrip, the goal is not to go from A to B, but rather the encounters along the way. As it turned out, I started my Ryukyu islands adventure not as thought from Kagoshima downward island by island, but due to seasonal considerations with a flight to the most southern Yaeyama islands and then hopping back towards Kagoshima. One month into my journey - visiting so far six islands - I decided