Stop 30 - Hiroshima

Another night bus...
and still the same complaints. You'd think we'd have learnt by now, but no. Hopefully no more needed on the trip. We got in to our hostel again far too early for check-in, the quaint K's House Hiroshima. After putting our bags down and getting some breakfast, we ended up chatting away to a Canadian lady who had brushed up on her Japanese history - particularly the atrocities the Japanese empire carried out against Korea/Koreans. Not the easiest chat over breakfast, especially given how delirious we were post-night bus.

We managed to eventually get away from her, and that afternoon explored the main part of the city - reaching the A-bomb dome structure that withstood the blast of the atomic bomb dropped in WWII.

We were pretty wrecked and would finally be able to get some sleep back at the hostel (these night bus/early arrivals are an absolute pain), so called it a night early to get a proper rest.

The next day we were still getting our bearings, so after a run and some shopping, we decided to head back to the A-bomb dome area and head to the peace memorial, children's memorial, and the museum (which they understandably request you don't take pictures in).

Pretty hard-hitting stuff (understatement), but absolutely worthwhile for an afternoon. That deciding to head back to the hostel and attempt to cook one of the recipes we got from the cooking class we did back in Goa. Complete disaster.

Having eventually feeling well rested for the first time in a few days, we'd planned a big day to head out to Miyajima island - famous for its massive torii gate. First was a quick stop at Mister Donut, which if we haven't mentioned already, is unreal.

Before we finally arrived at the port, and made our way over on the ferry:

Miyajima itself actually had more than we bargained for, and made for one of our favourite days in Japan. After getting off the boat we found ourselves in a bustling little village, with plenty of shops/cafes/restaurants to choose from. And similarly friendly deer to the ones we found in Nara:

"Table for two please"

We made our way through the village, got some lunch, and got the most unreal coffee ice cream at Miyajima Coffee:

And finally settled down on some benches at the other end of the village, with two beers from Miyajima Brewery (they're not very adventurous with the names):

Things were looking good, and we got the weather for it! Only a short stroll down the coastline got us to the main attraction, as we got up close and personal with the Itsukushima Shrine - visiting in low-tide meant no picture of it "floating" for us. Oops.

Still, a pretty special place to be able to spend an afternoon, and to round off our day there we went for a hike around the island/through its main park in the sun, before getting one of the last ferries home.

And off we headed back to Hiroshima proper, and spent our last night having a few drinks at an American bar Kemby's Pub, that did deep-dish pizza. We were still hungry on the way home and ended up getting 21 gyozas (don't judge us) to try and stave off any hangover the next day. No pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination.

And that was our time in Hiroshima! Definitely up there as one of our favourite stops in Japan and would really recommend it. We had another (yes, another) long distance bus to catch - though at least this time it was during the day. We're heading further south, heading to Fukuoka - and from there catching another bus to Nagasaki - hopefully getting to spend some time in each.

Guess who can't wait for another bus journey:

Big love,

Dani & Stu.

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