Sunday 26th October
First …. Bite update. It’s much better today and the swelling has gone right down. I can almost function again 😀
As today is Sunday, I had a cunning plan … I thought it would be a good day to go to Miyajima Islad (also known as Itsukushima). I love this place - it’s been a happy place since our first visit in 2011 and have tired to go back as many times as I can.
If you don’t know - Miyajima Island is famous for its floating Torii gate.
It’s a half hour train journey from Hiroshima and then a quick ferry over to the island. There are some good photos to be had from the ferry of the Torii gate, but the boat was packed and I couldn’t get in … tho I already have photos of the gate from the ferry, so not too bothered about that.
I should mention, before we boarded the ferry, there was a subtle hint that things may have changed on Miyajima ….. we had to pay ¥100 visitor tax (about 50p). Considering how many people were on just that boat, they are making a fortune.
There was a sign in the toilets at the ferry station on Miyajima that told us our visitor tax was being used to keep these toilets clean ….. at least it’s been put to good use!
Now that we are on the island, it’s time to explore …. But here is the kicker…. There were about 4 BILLION other people here …. It was unbelievably busy. I did manage to get a couple of shots of the Torii gate …
At this point - not only is it busy, but it’s bloody hot. It’s very muggy and cloudy, but when the sun comes out, it’s blistering hot! Why does this always happen when we come out here?
Anyway - we had a task to complete this time …. We made our way round to the quiet part of the island and to Omoto park. It’s nothing special, but it’s quiet and there are benches and has a lovely view ….
At the end of the park, there is a tunnel …. We have never seen anyone go in that tunnel or come out of it and over the years Scott and I have made up many theories of what happens in that tunnel …. Ranging from lost worlds to time shifts to dinosaurs or ending up on the ‘Lost’ island….. but today was the day - we were braving it and going through the tunnel.
After a 2 minute walk, we emerged on the other side to …… well absolutely nothing. Apparently there is a botanical garden there but we never saw it and we didn’t see any people either …. So with fingers crossed that the world hadn’t changed since we entered the tunnel…. We came back to the land of the living ….i knew everything was OK because the strange aquarium statue was still there … still don’t know what this is all about.
We made our way round the island going by all the tat shops …. But there have been sooooo many changes that it’s not the place I know and love. The worst part was that there are now a lot of bars and a BLOODY STARBUCKS …. Why - for the love of god why ….
So I’m off to buy my Momiji Manju cakes and escape. Momiji cakes are buckwheat and rice cakes shaped like a Japanese Maple leaf … love them! On the way to get them, we past the newly built civic center that now houses the world biggest ever Rice Spoon. There was an observation deck on the roof so we nipped up there to see the view.
The five story pagoda is currently under renovation and is covered - bugger!
Just after buying my cakes, there was an influx of school kids …. Milllions of them … in fact one of the ferries was full with just kids … all in their school uniforms on a Sunday afternoon. No idea what they were doing …. But we thought this would be a really good time to do a dash.
We decided to take the Tram back as the station is right by the ferry terminal plus it looked like the train was going to be rammed.
Got back home safe and sound with my bag of cakes and thoughts of what to do tomorrow….
Oyasumi nasai ❤️ (9 hours behind me now)
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