2 posts tagged with "Collecting with ExploreStamp"

Okinawa · 8 places From Shuri Castle and the markets of Naha north to Cape Manzamo and the Churaumi Aquarium.

From Taiwan, the flight to Okinawa takes about an hour and a half, less than the high-speed train from Taipei to Kaohsiung.

It's so close that many people treat Okinawa as a nearby beach island: a sea-view hotel, a day on the sand, a yakiniku dinner. Nothing wrong with that, but Okinawa has another side. It was once an independent kingdom with its own royal castle, its own sacred sites and its own language. In Naha's market, the fish you buy downstairs can be cooked for you upstairs. Two hours' drive north, whale sharks several meters long glide through an aquarium tank.

This route starts in Naha and runs north up the main island. Eight places and eight stamps show you the Okinawa beyond the beach.

Tainan is a city best explored on foot. A fort built by the Dutch four centuries ago, a station from the Japanese colonial era and a library that opened only a few years ago all sit on the same map, with one small food stall after another in between.

ExploreStamp's "A Walk Through Tainan: Forts, a Station and Tofu Pudding" route picks six of them: two historic sites, a station, a library, a museum and a bowl of tofu pudding. This post covers what's worth seeing at each one and how to fit them into two days.