Thursday 2nd March
Despite a somewhat later start today and the longest tram ride ever, we boarded our JR ferry and made it to Miyajima island just before lunch. This small island Itsukushima (Miyajima means Shrine Island) is considered a holy place as in 806 AD the monk Kobo Daishi (that's right, the chap from Mount Koya) climbed Mount Misen and established the mountain as an ascetic site for the Shingon sect of Buddhism. In the past women weren't even allowed on the island but this little feminist had no issue and breezed her way on to the island.
We started by exploring the seafront area and this is where we caught a glimpse of the iconic torii gate – said to be one of the top three views in Japan, we appreciated the size and scale of the gate but were a little disappointed with the view. We have been incredibly lucky with the weather on this trip but today that luck ran out and so we explored the island in the rain! Fortunately, the rain wasn’t bad enough to scare off the local residents – wild deer who are so accustomed to humans that they walk right up to you! I was reaching in to my pocket for my camera cover and on hearing the rustle, was immediately surrounded by some very cheeky deer!
While the island is very popular with both tourists and locals, there wasn’t a great deal to do – when the rain eased off we explored some local temples and began to really appreciate the island. It was then that Rory spotted a sign for the hike up Mount Misen. This hike is something he had mentioned in passing a few times but as with all his fitness/health related schemes and suggestions, I usually ignore them until they go away. As the rain had stopped and the beginning of the path did look quite exciting we decided to go for a quick five minute exploration... Five minutes turned in to about four hours and we hiked to the top of the mountain, trying our best to ignore the signs warning of venomous snakes in the area and the lack of any other people on the trail. The two kilometre uphill hike consisted of stairs and at times, some questionable paths.
When we finally got to the top we caught a glimpse of the eternal flame that Kobo Diashi is said to have lit over 900 years ago and the views were definitely worth it – they would also have been worth the £10 we could have spend on a cable car to take us up the mountain but who’s complaining? Oh yes, me, that’s who. To be fair, I remained positive throughout and this was despite us having not actually eaten anything that day (apart from ¾ of a rice ball for breakfast). In fact, I was so positive that I even agreed to walk back down the mountain!
Towards the end of the hike the rain started up and what went from a constant drizzle became a full on downpour. We ran to the ferry but by the time we got on board we were totally drenched and as it turns out, my “Mariner Grade” Joules coat isn’t actually water proof! Thankfully we had the 45 minute tram ride to dry off and when we got back to Hiroshima we set off on our next adventure – finding dinner!
If you want me to do something unpleasant the trick is to offer me a reward. Dangle a carrot but obviously not a carrot because there’s nothing rewarding about raw vegetables. Rory has come to understand this and all day he discussed the delicious pizza we would have. He conveniently left out the part where we got lost trying to find the restaurant but in the end we found the place and had some delicious pizza. He didn’t even complain when I ordered the most amazing hazelnut gelato. I climbed a mountain, Rory didn’t complain about excessive nicey consumption. Today was a great day. The restaurant owners even gave us a little Japanese memento and we headed back to the hotel, still slightly wet with very sore toes but well fed and very happy!
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