On Tuesday morning I hopped on another Shinkansen bullet train and headed to Hiroshima. I hopped onto a local train, followed by a short ferry, and visited the small island of Itsukushima, more popularly known as Miyajima. The main reason tourists flock to this small island is the Itsukushima Shrine. It is a Shinto shrine. What makes it unique is the “floating torii (gate)”. During high tide the gate and shrine are surrounded by water. Thus people would pass through the gate via boat. This torii is one of the 3 top photographed sites in Japan. The island itself was quite nice. There were once again deer wandering around, and a nice row of little shops selling all kinds of stuff. I bought a few wooden sake cups for a few friends and sampled “momiji manju”, which are pastries filled with red bean paste (a popular snack-filler in Asia) or custard. They are deep-fried and quite delicious when eaten warm! I ate one of each ^^
After a couple hours I took a ferry back to Hiroshima. Hiroshima has a great streetcar system that I used to head to the Atomic Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Park (including the amazing Peace Memorial Museum).
I walked around the A-Bomb Dome then crossed the river and wandered through the park for a while. My last stop was the Peace Memorial Museum. At times I actually felt sick to my stomach reading and thinking about the entire event.
After the Peace Memorial Museum I took the streetcar back to the train station, then hopped a train to Kyoto. I found my hostel and settled in for the night, getting some good rest before a full day in Kyoto.
the A-Bomb Dome
the building before and after the atomic bomb
the Korean A-Bomb Memorial; about 10% of those killed were Koreans who were forced labourers
the Children's Peace Memorial
Flame of Peace (couldn't go close as they were working around it); will be extinguished once the last nuclear weapon on earth is destroyed
the Cenotaph, containing the names of all the known victims
I found doritos in a convience store... you don't see the real ones in Korea!
Observation; You can smoke on trains in Japan, so you have to be careful to choose a seat on a non-smoking car if you don’t want to be surrounded by smoke for the entire journey.
Day 5: Kyoto
By far my favorite city in Japan was Kyoto. I’m not fully sure why, and definitely can’t explain it well in words. I think it had to do with so much traditional culture being mixed in with modern culture, in a big city that feels small (if that makes any sense!).
My first stop (after a disappointing breakfast) was Nijo-jo (castle).
(Side note: As I was entering the main gate I ran into a friend from Korea; there were a lot of us English teachers over there as many schools have vacation during the same week. I saw a lot of familiar faces in Kyoto!)
By far my favorite city in Japan was Kyoto. I’m not fully sure why, and definitely can’t explain it well in words. I think it had to do with so much traditional culture being mixed in with modern culture, in a big city that feels small (if that makes any sense!).
My first stop (after a disappointing breakfast) was Nijo-jo (castle).
(Side note: As I was entering the main gate I ran into a friend from Korea; there were a lot of us English teachers over there as many schools have vacation during the same week. I saw a lot of familiar faces in Kyoto!)
After the castle I headed over to Kinkaku-ji, more famously known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. It is a Zen Buddhist temple.
From there I headed down the road to Ryoan-ji, a Zen temple. It is a popular tourist attraction due to the dry landscape rock garden.
every temple I went to was surrouned by beautiful grounds and gardens
After that stop I hopped back on the bus (the bus system in Kyoto was fantastic) and headed to a handicraft market. Ended up not buying anything, and as I was tired from the heat and not really interested in seeing any more temples (after a while they are feel similar!), I decided to just head to Gion for the evening. Gion is well-known for being a geisha district, and indeed it became a goal of mine to see one. I walked around a great shopping area for a while (taking a break at Starbucks, naturally ^^) and then wandered the Shirakawa Canal area for a while. I saw someone who was possibly a geisha from afar, and decided it was silly to spend hours wandering alone hoping to spot a genuine one. So, I headed back toward the subway. I decided to walk down Ponto-cho, a really neat alley of restaurants and exclusive bars near the Kamo-gawa (river) that runs through Kyoto. As I was walking along, enjoying the ambiance, I saw them: 2 maiko girls! I snapped a photo of them after they passed (I felt too bad to take one directly facing them)… apparently I had my camera on the wrong setting because it came out blurry. Oh well! I stole a photo my friend took later that same night, in the same area; his was much better!
there were little objects that moved telling you when your bus got closer, and when it was arriving - very nice-uh!
Shirakawa Canal
Kamo-gawa
busy shopping area
Ponto-cho
my awful attempt at a photo of the two maiko
the photo I stole from my friend!
After spotting the maiko, I caught a bus back to Kyoto Station, where I snapped a few photos of Kyoto Tower. I enjoyed a scrumptious dessert + cappuccino before walking to my hostel and crashing for the night.
Kyoto Tower and its reflection in the windows of the massive Kyoto Station
Astro boy!
here is the display of desserts I'd walked by a couple times, and could no longer resist!
yummy!
No comments:
Post a Comment