Whirlwind Tour '06

---

Just checked in at a business hotel dowtown in Kyoto and thought I'd use the free internet corner for some updates.

Our last day in Hiroshima was spent out in the archipelago on an island called Miyajima. This island has a number of famous shrines and also nice hiking areas. As we arrived the port we witnessed how a band of local deer attacked a poor danish woman and ate her map. Luckilly we got to keep our free handwritten map from the tourist office and started the hike. After some time we got lost but found some nice Japanese to drive us back to where we came from. The second attempt was more successful and we made it all the way up mount Misen where we enjoyed a great view of Hiroshima and the surrounding islands. The excursion ended with Itsukushima shrine before we headed back to Hiroshima.

Yesterday we took shinkansen to a rainy Osaka and and checked out the town until late at night. The castle was impressive and the aquarium was cool...but I guess the city didn't bring much else to get excited about...except maybe for the guy with raccoons all over his designer jeans.

So today we moved on to the old capitol Kyoto and the somewhat 6500 temples and shrines around there. We managed one, with golden roof and a nice garden, before we stressed on to the castle built by the Tagakawa shoguns. It was very cool with minmalistic design and floors constructed to be squeaky to warn about intruders.

These past days have been very hectic and when this whirlwind history & culture tour of Japan is over on wednesday I'll definately need some vacation.

I hope you're all doing well wherever you are. I heard the summer finally hit Europe. Save some for me until I get home ok! 😊

over and out,

Magnus

---

Photos

The A-bomb dome
Me and Rosanna in front of one of the few still standing buildings after the A-bomb detonated over Hiroshima. It is preserved and kept as a memory by the city.

Japanese Bavaria
The Japanese love everything western...like Bayern...

Island and battleship
Beautiful view from Mt. Misen on Miyajima.

Itsukushima
The main gate to the Itsukushima shrine on Miyajima island.

Yummy!
Starting to master the chop sticks.