After my last post about the horrors of August 8, 1945 I am happy to say this is a much more pleasant post.
We wrapped up our time in Hiroshima with a visit to Hiroshima Castle.And a fantastic dinner at a little restaurant just around the corner from where we were staying. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful.Then it was a short ferry ride to Itsukushima Island. This is a must see place, but we heard it was nearly deserted when all the day visitors depart each day. SOLD. We booked into a hotel for a night and got to enjoy the sights without the masses.
This island is known for its iconic Torii Gate in the water and a set of ropeways that take you most of the way up Mount Misen. Once we checked in we headed for our first visit to the gates.
Speaking of checking in. We ended up booking a traditional Japanese room for our stay here. Wow. After living in literal shoe boxes all through Japan we felt like Emperor’s with all this space. The staff come around at around six and make up the beds on the floor. Much to our surprise, we had a great sleep here.We knew right away we had made the right choice to stay overnight. It was low tide and the tourists were swarming around the gate.I was fortunate to have one of the locals give me some advice on lens selection for the Torii Gate.
It was wonderful to sit on the sea wall by the temple where the gate is located, enjoy a beer, and watch all the tourists head back to the ferries for the trip off the island.
It was worth it. Quiet, peaceful and a great way to unwind.First thing in the morning we headed for the gondola and started our journey up the mountain. So nice to walk onto the gondola with no line ups.Halfway up we switched to the aerial tramway to complete the journey.
Bear in mind you still have a 30 minute steep hike with a lot of stairs if you want to get to the highest point on Mount Misen. Really, the view isn’t that much better from the very top, but I am glad we did it.
The smog and humidity prevent you from seeing great distances. We did get a good view of the many oyster farms that are scattered around the waterways.There are a ton of shrines all over the mountain. So if you need a break from the hike you can just pretend you are admiring the shrines. It worked for us.
As we came down off the mountain we were met with the crowds coming up. My suggestion is if you are going to the island just for the day don’t bother with Mount Misen. As we got off the last gondola the line up to get on was all the way down the street. Ridiculous. Also don’t forget to check the tide tables. The day trippers were out of luck the day we were there as high tide was before and after the first and last ferries.
In the afternoon we took a short ferry ride off the island and timed our arrival to the train station perfectly. Our last ride on a Shinkansen arrived right on schedule, of course, to take us to Shimonoseki, our last port of call on Japan.The Shinkansen’s are awesome, but we were kept humble by being dropped off at the Shinkansen feeder station to Shimonoseki. We truly felt like we were in the sticks.And when our train arrived it confirmed it. Don’t get me wrong. It still arrived and departed right on time.We had decided we were going to depart Japan by ferry and make our way to South Korea. You certainly know you are out of the uber popular parts of Japan when you get to a place like Shimonoseki. Still clean and safe. But somehow it just struck me as a bit rough around the edges. Part of that I am sure is because we had just spent the last couple of weeks in the pinnacles of Japanese tourists zones.The Seonghee was to be our vessel of departure. Everything was orderly and smooth for the boarding and we were in our room in no time.Glad we splurged and went with a first class cabin for the 11 hour crossing.It was cool in the morning to roll out of bed and look out the window and realize that you were now in a new country. I love the child like thrill.
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