Originally we weren't going to make a stop in Hiroshima, we were just going to go straight through to Nagasaki. But oh gosh am I glad we did decide to do a stop in Hiroshima and allow ourselves 1 full day there.
We decided to use that 1 day to take a trip out to Miyajima, an Island near Hiroshima. Our handy JR rail passes got us from Hiroshima to Miyajima Ferry terminal no hassles in less than half an hour. We then discovered that JR own the Miyajima ferry service, so we got across to Miyajima completely free (well not really free when you consider that we paid upfront for the pass beforehand). But even if you don't have a JR rail pass the ferry is only something like 170Y each way (about $1.80AUD), so it won't break the bank.
(The view of the bay from midway up Mt. Misen)
Miyajima is home to Mt. Misen, a large Torii shrine sitting out in the bay, numerous temples, an aquarium, beautiful scenery, souvenir shops and lots of friendly domestic deer (one of which tried to chew my insulin pump tubing).
(Bambi pretty much tried to nom my insulin)
To get the full experience of Miyajima I think you really need 2 full days to explore - 1 day just around the base of Miyajima and 1 day to hike & explore Mt. Misen including the shrines & observatory on the top. Regretfully although we did hike a small part of Mt. Misen we didn't have enough time to make it to the top, which we really wanted to do. If we had thought about it fully we would have taken the cable car to the top (it is a bit expensive) and only hiked down, but we started the hike on another route and didn't realise until afterwards.
The Torii shrine is one of the biggest attractions of Miyajima. It stands at 16m high and is supported to stand upright in the bay bed by its own weight. Luckily we arrived as the tide was going out and visited it progressively over the day, getting closer and closer until eventually we could reach it and touch it. You could make a wish and push coins into the structure once you got up close.
(Torii gate still under water, and you can just see me standing next to the closest pole to the camera once the water had rewcessed and we could make our way fully out to the gate)
The hike we did was beautiful. We went via the Daishon temple, which had funny Buddha's in skull caps all through it.
(I LOVED these guys. Who makes hats for statues?)
We only managed to get 1/5 of the way up Mt. Misen as I developed exercise induced asthma and couldn't breathe well enough to continue climbing. The entire climb was stairs straight up (I really do recommend taking the ropeway up & doing the walk down as its so beautiful but I couldn't enjoy it whilst puffing so much.
(Some of the views along our hike)
After the climb we decided to cool down with some ice-cream, but a deer beat us to it. The food on Miyajima is more expensive but that was to be expected, and is still quite reasonable compared to Australian standards of tourist-frequented places. Hugh tried some weird fish on sticks which was flavored in chicken. He took 1 bite and went to throw it out. The only problem was that the ONLY public bins at Miyajima are located at the JR ferry terminal. I would very much advise to bring a plastic bag for all your rubbish to take with you (as if it is thrown onto the ground the deer will attempt to eat it because they don;t understand plastic is not edible.
The souvenir shops deserved a bit of a walk through as they did have some different, Miyajima-centric items. I bought another fridge magnet to add to my collection. Its a bit of a travel tradition for me to document my travels with magnets at home.
Next time we come to Japan, this place is on the top of my list!
(Ringing a bell for a wish. Which also cost money. Wishes cost money, alot of money, no wonder they never got granted when I was a kid, I never paid anyone when I made them!)
(The Torii gate through a small statue in Miyajima)
(Found this little guy at one of the temples. So Kawaii!!!)
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