Deer on the Beach, Lots of Old Orange Stuff and a Machine for That

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Today was a first in that I relaxed on the beach with a few deer. It was also a first in that I saw three small dogs and a cat all being pushed around in a pram by an elderly man. But as I'm in Japan, I'm getting used to experiencing 'firsts'.

We were a bit worn out due to many long days of exploring Japan, so I decided we could have a lie in, oooh at least until 8.30am! At Hiroshima station, an employee whose job is to direct tourists in the right direction placed us on the correct platform for Miyajimaguchi Station where we planned to catch a ferry to Miyajima Island - all of this was free with our JR pass. The train was ram packed full of tourists so we had to stand throughout the journey, most of which was built up and we never knew when Hiroshima ended, indeed if it did.

No one checked for tickets on the train or at the station. The ferry was treated as an extension on the line even though it was a few streets away as everyone piled on with no tickets or passes shown. The short ferry ride went past the 'Famous Floating Torii', a gate shrine thing, that like a lot of 'gates' here is two orange vertical posts with a horizontal post across the top. This torii was in the sea and is sold as appearing to float, only the scaffolding on one side shattered that illusion.

I'd read on Trip Advisor that the island was home to very friendly deer but I was not expecting them to be greeting us as we arrived - nuzzling up to tourists in the hope of food. They were everywhere and completely tame, ignoring the signs that told us they weren't domesticated and not to feed them. This is where I witnessed not one but three small dogs plus a cat sitting in a pram as an old guy pushed them towards the ferry. They all wore leashes but didn't appear to be perturbed by the set up. Unfortunately I was too slow to catch a photo.

It was getting hot - the type of weather I'd hoped for and expected before we arrived. The brollies we'd brought that were falling apart due to the recent typhoon were now needed to protect us from the roasting sun. We really had not been expecting this and no suncream had been brought. So now was a good time to climb some steps.... up to Senjokaku Pavilion where we got to remove our shoes (hooray) and other tourists got told off for lying down in the shade. There were various old paintings hanging from the ceiling, I have no idea what that was about. Then we saw the aptly named 5 storey pagoda, and yes, it had 5 storeys.

Glyn pointed at some old guy shouting in Japanese and I was meant to realise that he was selling tickets to a cable car which according to the signs we could get to in 8 minutes if 'we ran a bit'. Rest assured we did not run at all and it took a while longer than 8 minutes as naturally it was uphill. The first cable car only contained four of us and was nice enough, coasting over dense forest up the mountain. The second car that took us up further was larger and a heap of us were rammed in like farmstock on its way to the abattoir. The view of the inland sea, various islands, boats and Hiroshima were great, but the heat was stifling and I inhaled a lot of human DNA.

Obviously the cable car doesn't take you to the summit, oh no. A further hour long walk was required that started by going downhill, but only so it could make you go further upwards. In places, the path was so steep my knees were in my face and being around 1.30 in the afternoon, it was as hot as it was planning to be. Various nationalities of tourists were making their way up including one Aussie woman with her mother who appeared to be in her 60s / 70s. The woman was telling her mother that yes, the climb was tortuous hard work but it was better than being old and unfit, so she needed to get going. Her mother said nothing but I instinctively knew what she was thinking: two words and the second one was 'off'.

Further up the hill were various shrines and mini Buddhist temples burning incense to the sounds of random drum banging as sweaty tourists flaked out pretending they were getting into the vibe and being cool, but they were just in need of a rest (like me). The summit did have a shady building from which to view the view. And if you like views, there was nothing to complain about here. And if you don't like views, a random deer turned up, so all boxes ticked.

The journey back down was a lot longer than it was up - I'm completely sure of this. It was way past lunchtime and all I'd eaten today were some crisps for breakfast and I was feeling a bit shaky, so at the bottom of the cable car ride we both bought ice cream from the vending machine. It was at this point a young deer popped up from nowhere, they must smell food a mile off at least! Glyn had a lengthy chat with it regarding the island policy on feeding deer but it still followed us for a while.

The plan was to get some lunch although it was closer to tea time, but instead I suggested we go to Itsukushima Shrine as it's a big orange thing, built on stilts over the cove and looking very traditional Japanesey. Apparently it looks better when the tide is in... the tide was almost out of course. Like all these types of places, it was only a few quid to get in and Glyn was chuffed that they let him keep his shoes on. After more wandering around, I saw some deer just chilling, shooting the breeze on the beach, so I popped over to hang with them for a while until Glyn decided enough was enough.

It was after 5pm and things were beginning to close including places to eat. This island is usually a day trip destination but people do live here and there are hotels so I was surprised that it all seemed to be shutting down. So no lunch or tea for us and Glyn had to make do with strawberry shaved ice which was totally disgusting (well I think so.) Oh and on the way out, there was one really dense tourist who not only fed the deer, but was ripping up a paper leaflet to feed it and was handing the paper to a child to do the same. I was gob-smacked - what a peckerhead (as Glyn would say). Fortunately a local Japanese woman ran over and gave the numpty the complete hell she deserved. Really, who thinks feeding an animal thick paper is a good idea?

Back at Miyajimaguchi we decided to risk a restaurant that had little English on the menu and the waitress called out her mate who was amused at me trying to explain I'm a veggie using Google Translate on my iPad. They made me vegetable tempura and some thing with oysters for Glyn, it was all good and we felt full of ourselves managing to order and receive the right things in a proper local restaurant for local people.

Now I know that I keep harping on about the loos in Japan, but with good reason. And now I have another reason. Upon entering the very smart cubicle at the restaurant, the lid lifted up all by itself! The seat was heated despite it being a warm day, so I thought I'll go for it and press the buttons. It amazed me how accurate the water jet was. I was dubious that it may be a bit cold and make me yelp, but actually it was nicely warm and I felt really good for some time afterwards. Glyn wanted to know why I returned from the loo with such a big smile on my face and why I'd been gone for so long. The reason for the latter was because I thought the jet would be on a timer so I was sitting there for ages waiting for it to stop - eventually I sussed the 'off' button.

We spent the rest of the warm night looking for a pharmacy where the staff were amused by our multitude of insect bites. Then we spent a good couple of hours looking for a place to change money until we eventually found a hotel that has a machine for that in the lobby. Of course there's a machine for that in Japan - there's a machine for almost everythin

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