Today C and I climbed to the top of Mount Misen, 536m above seas level. A very lonely ascent... we only saw a couple of people along the way, until we hit the crowds coming up via the ropeway. Beautiful views from the top. Pretty tired after our 2 hr climb and then had to get 1km across and down to the ropeway to descend. Had a curry on the walk down from the ropeway and then a visit to our favourite coffee shop...they got some good trade from us in the coupl...

Miyijima, the island of the Itsukushima shrine and O-torii gate, but also home of the beautiful and peaceful Daisho-in Shingon Buddhist Temple. We spent a rainy but enjoyable morning exploring its many nooks and crannies after deciding not to visit the shrine with the morning crowd. Our late afternoon visit was a much better choice. The constant rain since we arrived finally stopped in the afternoon, and it was good to be able to walk around without an umbrell...

Transfer day from Kyoto to Miyajima. Went smoothly, apart from having to go on a later sinikanzen as 10;59 service from Shin Osaka to Hiroshima was full. Arrived at Miyajima in the pooring rain... the edge of the typhoon hovering off Japan. Hopefully tomorrow the rain will lift a bit as forecasted.