Blogs from Miyajima, Hiroshima, Japan, Asia - page 2

We headed to the station ready for some breakfast. We went to Hearth Brown, a bakery located past the ticket gates. There was so much food to choose from, we had a bit of a tough time trying to decide what to eat for breakfast. The best thing about travelling with others, you can order more stuff and share it, getting to try more deliciousness. We ended up with a prawn gratin on toast, calzone pizza, a bread cube filled with red beans, and an apple Danish. All of it was scrummy and we washed it down with nice, hot coffee. The bakery has a nice seating area, which wasn't too busy. We were heading to Miyajima, which means Shrine Island in Japanese. I was really excited to visit, as it is somewhere I have wanted ... read more

Up bright and early to shovel as much onigiri and other breakfast goodies as possible into us before our short journey outside Hiroshima city. As we were travelling across the city on the Hiroden (tram) towards Hiroden Nishi-Hiroshima terminus, Neil commented about the houses built into the hillsides he could see. Sadly, just over a month later, Hiroshima was hit with heavy rains and some of those houses we had seen had been destroyed by landslides. The day we were visiting Miyajima Island, however, was the hottest of 2014 and the heat was almost unbearable at 39 degrees! Officially, the island is actually named Itsukushima but because the island is so closely related to its key shrine (Itsukushima), it’s nickname is Miyajima which is Japanese for ‘shrine island’ and that’s what it’s more commonly known as. ... read more

Miyajima Island is called "shrine island" because of the bulk of its fame resting in the "floating" torii (red gate) and shrine built into and on the water on the beach. It's not far from Hiroshima - only a 40 minute train ride and a 10 minute ferry - and tends to shut down completely after 5 pm. There are some ryokans to stay in on the island, but I did the commute thing for a day trip out to see the famous sites. It was easy to get to the ferry and from there, easy to get around the island itself. Deer roam freely through the streets, and I took some funny photos of them trying to get into a shop, and hanging out in a toilet on the mountain (later), and I made a ... read more

After a well earned sleep in our futon we went down stairs for a western breaky . Then packed our backpack for a hike around Miyajima island. The weather was brilliant, we had 27 degrees with slight humidity and clear blue skies. We walked along the beach and took photos with the deer infront of the giant tori gate. Then up the ropeway to the top of Mount Misen. It was great to see Hiroshima and the many surrounding islands, we could also see the clear blue water lapping on the sandy beaches...we just wanted to go for a swim! We took the 2.5km walk down through the forest and came across many waterfalls and a large wild monkey, a Japanese Macaque. He didn't stay long enough for a photo and blended in well with the ... read more

Miya Jima. More white people than anywhere else in Japan. Sadly, we didn't get to see the gate in the water.... read more