After collecting my luggage we began the long walk to locate the JR exchange counter - not easy in this massive station! You could spend your whole life in here, no need to go above ground.
In normal Japanese helpfulness and politeness I had my voucher exchanged, seat confirmed on all but my first trip and was set to tackle the South by myself. Ange and Aaron bid me farewell at the gate and I was off into the big wide world of Japan.
It has been absolutely brilliant seeing them both again, I wonder when and where we will meet again.
I had approximately 15 minutes before the 9.33am (and not a second later) train departed, as the reserved seats were all taken I had to try my luck in one of the 5 unreserved cards - thankfully the first one I went into had lots of spare seats so I'm set.....well for the first train trip anyway. It's a 3 hour trip to Shin-Osaka where I need to change trains onto Hiroshima. On my initial calculations all going well I should be at my hotel at 2.30pm. Only time will tell!
When the conductor man entered our carriage (kitted out in the white gloves of course) he made an announcement then bowed. All very formal.
I managed to get a bit of much needed shut eye before the children around me decided to play. It's amazing how much of the country I've passed in 3 hours and this isn't even the fastest train in Japan. I realise I have just under half an hour in Shin-Osaka before my next train, enough time to work out where I'm departing from and get something to eat. Thankfully both easy. I then join a long quee for the non-reserved seats carriage. I'm confident of a seat given the arriving train empties completely.
On the Homewood stretch now - this train is 1.5 hours.
I have a girl sit next to me for the first two stops, then on arrival into her station I get a tap on my shoulder - she starts to open her phone and my first reaction is ooh please no photos. But alas no, she has typed something into her phone in Japanese and wants to show me the translation "thank you for sharing your seat with me". Which I thought was very sweet and totally not necessary.
We pull into Hiroshima station right on time, not that I was expecting anything different. Within 10 minutes I'm checking into the hotel. Although it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. First of all I was told I couldn't check in until 3pm, looking at my watch it's 2.40pm - come on it's 20 minutes! So I politely say its 20 minutes to 3pm and I'm staying on the club floor. All of a sudden I had a room. I know there are rules but come on....
I am still feeling a little sleepy so had a cup of tea before I venture out, the view is amazing but nowhere near as great as the one at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo.
Being great with my sense of direction (NOT) I head off in what I think is the right way to the Peace Memorial Museum. I decide to walk (should be around 30 minutes) instead of taking a tram to ensure I stay awake. After roughly 15 minutes I'm thinking it's very quiet, and after trying to work out where in the world I am on my map with no success I stop a girl on a bike - totally in the wrong direction, whoops. She sends me off on the right way after a few minutes. Still have no idea where I am and of course none of the street names are on the map I have, typical!!
More than 40 minutes later I arrive, ready to trade in my feet!!, and head straight for the Peace Memorial Museum.
It’s difficult to describe my feelings of the museum, however I will say it’s one place that I think if you have the opportunity to visit you must. When you first walk in you have the history of Hiroshima prior to the bombing, then the development and decision to drop the bomb, the damage the bomb has on the city including seeing personal effects worn by victims of the bomb. All unbelievably awful.
I manage to get to the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims 15 minutes before it closes, talk about perfect timing. This was founded in 2002 to mourn the atomic bomb victims. I spent a lot of time reading the stories of the survivors which are just awful.
Both the Museum and the Memorial Hall are in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park which is in the center of Hiroshima. The park was built on the open field that was created by the explosion. I wondered around seeing the many different memorials and monuments thinking how different life would be if the bomb was dropped on August 6 1945.
I start to head back to the hotel around 6.30pm and this time make doubly sure I'm going in the right direction! My feet felt sore a few hours ago, now they are absolutely out of this world painful.
With luck I head off towards the hotel, although at one stage I did ask someone if I was going in the right direction. Given I'm staying on the club floor I'm in two minds about drinks and food out , so I try my hardest to pick up the pace, drinks are only for another 1 hour 20 minutes so I decide it's food and drink back at the hotel and an early night.
I get talking to a mother and father from Canada who are traveling with their son and his partner and low and beyond 2 hours and a few drinks go by....so much for the early night!
Wednesday morning (28 March) I'm up early, am heading to Miyajima Island. After breakfast I head towards the train station in hope my JR pass will work for this trip, I'm in luck and join the very polite lines waiting for the train. Most unlike Japan the train is 7 minutes late.
Within 30 minutes I'm transferring to a boat to take me and half of Japan it seems to Miyajima. I'm wondering if it's school holidays as there seems to be lots of children around with either their parents or grandparents.
The O-torii Gate stands out a mile away, definitely an amazing site which now I understand why so many people come here to visit. It's designed as a National Important Cultural Property; during low tide you can walk out to be right under the arch - not today sorry, it's high tide in 45 minutes.
On arriving on the island the first thing I notice is the deer, I'd read they are wild and roam the streets eating paper and clothes as well as the food other tourists give them but didn't quite expect there to be so many. I will be staying well clear!!!
Wondering down Omotesano (Shopping arcade) it becomes very apparent at shop two I won't be spending time along this street - close to every shop is a souvenir shop, with a few restaurants thrown in for good measure. One of the specialists here are oysters YUM and Momiji Manju, which are maple leaf shaped small cakes with a variety of fillings.
I did come across Miyajima O-Shakushi (the world's largest wooden rice spoon) on display which is 7.7 meters long and weighs 2.5 tons. Clearly not a one man job to serve rice with this spoon.
After enjoying a coffee away from the other tourists I feel awake and ready to tackle Miyajima.
Walking along the waterfront towards to the Itsukushima Shrine you get closer to the O-torri Gate. How I wish it was low tide. I, like everyone else, was snapping away and at times did take photos for other people. Nothing worse having a family photo when one person (the photographer) isn't in the shot.
The Itsukushima Shrine is dedicated to the three Munakata goddesses, who are worshiped as gods of sea, traffic safety, fortune and accomplishment.
I enjoyed wandering the streets, keeping well clear of the deer, taking it all in. Found a cherry blossom tree in bloom which was beautiful.
Finally found a BBQ oyster place and joined the queue. Two oysters doesn't quite cut the mustard but the line was too long to join it again.
I also tried a rice cracker, which I'd had on my first visit to Tokyo, and a custard Momiji Manju - yum yum!
I hadn't been as long as I had thought I would have been at Miyajima so decided to head south to Iwakuni which Fumei had recommended. On arrival at the JR station I had one minute to the train, perfect! Unfortunately the "city centre" was a good 20 minutes by bus from the JR station, at times I thought I may dose off and wake up somewhere I hadn't planned on visiting as the heat was turned up full brim!
One of the famous sites of Iwakuni is the Kintai bridge.
After walking over it I wondered around the nearby area, enjoyed an ice-cream after spending quite a few minutes deciding what flavour - there are 100 to choose from.
Headed back to Hiroshima by bus then train, at some stage I must have dosed off as I woke wondering where in the earth I was! Thankfully I hadn't missed my stop :)
After having a break in the hotel, enjoying a beer while watching the sun set, I set out in search of Okonomi-mura which is 3 floors of Okonomiyaki that I'd been recommended. This time I made sure I had the correct directions!! The lady at the front desk was kind enough to recommend a place I try. I was pleased when I arrived as there were no other foreigners at this particular stall. Surely a good sign.
I enjoyed sipping on my sake while watching the lady cook mine and the other guests Okonomiyaki - yum yum!
Hiroshima is a tram city and given my love of trams I decided to take a tram back to the hotel instead of walking. Nice and easy plus much warmer!!
Thursday morning I had a quiet time packing up and relaxing over breakfast. Even though I've been here for 2 nights I don't feel like I've seen that much of Hiroshima.
Kyoto here I come.
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