Nago and the Wheel of Death!

Last weekend I drove up north with some ii tomodachi. There will definitely have to be another blog post about our somewhat bizarre adventures out on the town Friday night (I'm still trying to figure out how much of it might be appropriate to put on a blog) but for now I shall post a more sedate entry about Saturday's exploration and THE WHEEL OF DEATH.

Despite the fact that I live on a tiny island, I never run out of new things to see and do here. Saturday we decided to drive out in search of the elusive Nago Castle ruins and the fabled Wheel of Death. Above and below, you see some photos of our hike in search of Nago Castle (which I think we failed to find in the end, though the jury may still be out on that one. If you haven't noticed, many of the castle ruins on this island are intangible. There are signs saying that they exist, but somehow one can never find them).


So you want me to get on to the WHEEL OF DEATH which is probably the only reason you're still reading this.........

ENTER THE WHEEL OF DEATH!

JETs up north are always talking about this fabled Wheel of Death. Descriptions were rather vague. From what I'd heard, I'd always pictured a large hamster wheel on a stark mountainside or ocean cliff in the deserted northern reaches of the island, upon which generations of drunken JETs had lost their lives trying to pass some right of passage. Running endless circles the night through after shot-gunning 10 beers, or some such nonsense. Well, it wasn't actually a hamster wheel. Nor is it on a stark mountainside. It's actually a playground attraction. Though in all honesty, this playground should have been called the Playground of Death. Seriously, I've never seen anything less appropriate for little people. Not only was the Wheel of Death deadly, there was an immense winding slide that ended mere feet from a short but steep hillside, a tire swing with a few wooden poles placed awkwardly within its swing range (ask Christina about swinging Paul's face right into one of these), and various climbing structures that looked like a parent's worst nightmare.

I suppose if we had arrived at the Wheel of Death at the stroke of midnight instead of on a drizzly Saturday afternoon, something terrifying and inspiring might have happened that would have caused the Wheel to live up to its reputation. The most that happened to us, however, was that everything fell out of Jeff's pockets and into a grassy grave below as he scaled the playground's impenetrable defenses. We decided the whole thing must be a trick thought up by local children to snatch silly gaijin's wallets as they flailed about in the web of ropes overhead. I have to admit, I began climbing through the wheel and decided to back out after about 1/5 of the way. It was a bit scary.

I imagine the wheel really would be a death trap if you were either of these 2 things:

1. under 8 years old
2. drunk and in the dark (no names my fellow JETs, no names!)

After following innumerous tantalizing signs pointing us higher and higher up the mountain to the Nago Castle ruins, we arrived at the top. Where we found nothing but a vending machine, a lot of asphalt, and a lookout tower. It's the journey not the destination that matters. Here's the view!