Okinawa's temple for the senses

One of my Okinawa stories is in the travel section of this weekend's Sydney Morning Herald (and other Fairfax papers around the country). It's about a luxury hotel with soul, and an ocean view, one of the most peaceful places I've ever stayed. And not just because it's in Japan.

Here's an excerpt and a few pics:

The inauspicious entrance

It's an inauspicious start. An overcast afternoon, with heavy clouds threatening rain. 

The divine bath

We follow a 

breadcrumb-trail of 

hand-painted wooden signs through nameless seaside villages, along ever-narrowing roads flanked by low walls bearing Chinese-looking lions called shisa. 

I feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole - then we drive down a ramp and into an underground car park.

It's an odd first impression but the perfect introduction, I soon realise, to a luxury hotel that marches to the beat of its own drum: Hyakuna Garan, on the south-east coast of Okinawa's main island. 

Read the full story...