- See Peace Memorial Park
Take at least half a day to explore the museum and its surroundings. Go early in the morning if you can as it can get quite busy during the day with school groups etc. - Taste Okonomiyaki
We sampled some in Okonomi-mura in the entertainment district, Shintenchi, super yummy and great atmosphere! There are around 20 stalls on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor. As with bars, just take the elevator and stop on every floor to have a look. - Explore Miyajima
This island is famous for the view of the torii gate standing in the sea, but make sure to also check out the Daisho-in temple with hundreds of little Buddhas and lanterns. If you haven’t seen the Inland Sea yet, go up Mount Misen and you will be rewarded with sweeping vistas, worthwhile even when it is rainy. Be careful though on your way down the treacherous steps when it is wet – or just get the cablecar down, much easier!
Author: Ilse
Hiroshima. Forgive and never forget.
We are traveling in a Hikari Shinkansen (bullet) train to Kyoto at warp speed. Cities morph into tunnels, bridges, mountains. Humans racing, we always want more. Time once stood still in Hiroshima. 8.15 am, August 6, 1945. Today the A-bomb dome and peace park are the only reminders of what happened here. You cannot imagine the scale of destruction – and it is even harder to believe this disaster was inflicted by mankind…
Martyrs, guinea pigs, victims, survivors, aggressors,… the people of Hiroshima were all these things. But when they were hit with the biggest weapon ever made, it destroyed their whole city in a flash and killed 80.000 people instantly. It slowly killed even more than that in the months and years after the blast.
And how did Hiroshima respond?
‘We must be advocates of peace.‘
Shikoku roundup
Wish we could have spent 2 weeks on Shikoku, instead we had 2 days.
In Tosa-Iwahara we went rafting with HappyRaft on the Oboke river. I’m sure the guys thought it was a floozy, but Bram and I had good fun and didn’t go overboard, yay! Afterwards we borrowed a ‘car’, aka a little pickup truck, to explore the Iya valley. It’s so tiny Bram’s knees pushed against the dashboard. Unfortunately the roads are equally tiny, as narrow as our little pickup. However we happily winded and honked our way through the gorgeous green valley, visiting the vine bridges and onsens. We stayed 2 nights at Teru’s farmhouse – the one with the red roof in the first picture.
In Kotohira we decided to skip the 1000 steps to Kompirasan’s main shrine in favor of the local sake brewery & museum and the Kabuki theatre. It’s a really nice town to wander about.
Our last night was spent in Maysuyama, famous for its Haiku poet, and Dogo, a cute little onsen resort.
More pictures later, but here’s a couple including a chopstick shop and gorgeous kabuki posters!
The last one is of the Inland Sea. Getting to and from Shikoku you will see tiny islands of green like dust speckles in a misty sea of blue, ferry beats train anytime!
Continue reading Shikoku roundup