Good evening from another Japanese style bed (although a little comfier) on the floor on Miyajima Island.
We decided that the weather wasn't going to ruin today's plans, packed our bags and set off on the local tram to Miyajima Island, just south of Hiroshima.
After around an hour we reached the ferry port where the boat was waiting for us. It was a short sail across the sea to the island which is a popular destination for Japanese tourists and locals a like. The views from the boat were of green mountains surrounding Hiroshima and low lying clouds topped their peaks.
The boat sailed close to the O-Torii gate, the islands most iconic landmark and one of Japan's most recognisable and photographed tourist spots. Bright red, it stood on the shore as people photographed it from every angle. Our hotel, Sakuraya, was a short 2 minutes walk from the dock and we called in to drop off our bags before heading out to explore.
We had planned to take the cable car to the top of the mountain but it was closed so we decided to take one of the hiking routes instead. On the way we walked through the small shopping street, gabbing a fried fish cake on a stick with toppings for lunch. We passed souvenir shops and bought a magnet before sampling the local cake and watching a newly wed couple being pulled along in a cart!
At the end of the street we went down some steps onto the beach and as the tide was out, walked right to the O-Torii gate. After a quick photo shoot we decided to head for the hills and shortly we arrived at a temple which we had a little mosey around before continuing up the path into the forest.
Our trek involved lots of steps, amazing waterfalls and lots of greenery which we were making the most of as we made our accent taking many photos on the way.
Unfortunately this is where our day took an unexpected twist. Tom spotted a small sign starting with 'CAUTION' explaining that venomous snakes were on the mountain and that if bitten you should ring 999. All Tom had to do was look at Tara and suddenly her very serious fear of snakes kicked in and she became instantly terrified of her surroundings and refused to go any further.
We made a very nervy decent almost immediately and eventually got to an open space where things calmed down a little. We made our way instead along a path to a nature park and took a small path up to a little house with a man sat outside offering drinks. Tom ordered a much needed beer and Tara took an ice coffee which we both enjoyed a lot looking over the bay, the mountains and the Torii gate.
We then walked through the nature park, spotting free roaming deer on the way, to the town where we took the back route to return to our little hotel.
We were pleasantly surprised when we got to our room to find a thicker mattress on the floor and a lovely little room with a sea view. We decided that we would enjoy the hot bath in the hotel basement, put on our robes and went to explore. Again, these were separate baths for men and woman but as nobody was around we both decided to jump in and didn't give a care in the world to being in the nude. We did respect the rules though by going in separate baths!
After a lovely relaxing time, we got ready to go out pretty quickly so that we could catch the sunset as the sky had miraculously cleared. We reached the O-Torii gate just as the sun was disappearing and the view was spectacular. We took lots of lovely photos before walking through the completely empty town to the one and only restaurant that was open past 6:00pm.
We have just had an amazing meal, Tara enjoyed fish and chips and Tom had spare ribs and local sardines!
Tomorrow we will head back to the mainland and take another 2 bullet trains north to the middle of Japan to a popular town called Kyoto. There we will have 2 days to explore some more.
Good night from us both, love to all.
T&T x