Today we went by train and ferry to an island off the coast of Hiroshima called Miyajima.

We admired the famous tourist attraction of the torii gates, huge red gates placed out in the water, and then headed up to the top of Mt. Misen via the cable car.

At the top of the cable car ride they had a little bakery where you could pay to make some heart filled momiji sweets with your sweet. Momiji are like small pancakes filled with toppings, in this case a heart shaped red bean ball. For 500 yen we got to make 8 momiji (4 each) and then eat them! Bargain! Shannon was quite a proficient momiji maker. We also lit the flame of oath together before heading out to see the views from the top of the mountain.

We snapped some snaps of the view from the first viewing platform and then started our hike towards the top of Mt. Misen. After the first 10mins, which took us to the eternal flame, we decided against continuing up until the peak and instead began the 60min descent. It was an easy enough walk, thanks to the downhill aspect and it was a nice sunny day so it was very pleasant indeed.

Upon reaching the bottom we finished off the rest of our momiji and grabbed some beef steamed buns from the many food stalls available. When we sat down on a bench to enjoy our steamed buns, a sneaky deer came up to me and started sticking his nose right into my face trying to get himself some steam bun action. Heaps of people walking past were laughing and one lady asked if she could take a photo. Eventually I had to stand up to move away and he started pestering Shannon. He was very polite though and as soon as he received some steam bun he gave us a bow.

We made our way back off Miyajima via the ferry and back to Hiroshima via train. We are currently chilling in the hostel common room and planning an early dinner at the same ramen place from before. Nom nom nom. Then see where the night takes us! Hopefully to karaoke!

Postscript: We ended up heading into the city after our ramen dinner and doing a tad bit of shopping. I like the city of Hiroshima. It's lively at night but still relaxed enough to enjoy.

This is our last night in Hiroshima. Tomorrow we head even further west to Beppu, a small town on the island of Kyushu famous for its hot springs.