Hiroshima

Day 3, 26 June

Today we headed off to Miyajima. We jumped on the electric streetcar (we would call it a tram) and headed to Hiroshima Central Station. We had to purchase our train tickets so we joined the queue at the ticket machines, after some time, and with the help of google translate and Tess, we realised we were in the line for the ATM’s……..so, off to find the train ticket machines which fortunately have a button for English! Must learn the kanji characters for the ATM’s

It was then a train ride and a ferry ride out to the island. There are lots of deer on the island.

Here we walked to The Great Torii Gate. The iconic wooden structure was first built in the 16th Century and has been rebuilt 8 times in it’s history. This current version was constructed in 1875 using 600 year old camphor trees. Without any physical attachment to the sea bed. The structure remains in place entirely under its own weight. We had a look through the Itsukushima-Jinnah Shinto Shrine where we had to wash our hands before entering. We then wondered down the main streets of Miyajima. Lunch was in a small cafe and very traditional food. Red Snapper sashimi with green tea broth and rice. Oysters were everywhere there. Street stalls sell them grilled with various toppings. They were pretty good for those of us that didn’t drop theirs on the ground!!

Back to Hiroshima via the ferry, train and trams for a look through some shops – they have gadgets for everything over here.

Tara purchased a top from Uni-Qlo and the checkout was very high tech. It is a self serve checkout, you put all your shopping in a pile in a cupboard underneath the checkout station and then magically, each item appears on the screen ready for payment!

Dinner was at a Ramen restaurant that Tess chose as she found it on a vegan blog which suggested you could get vegan ramen there. Sadly no vegan ramen and Tess had a bowl of rice. But ours was delicious!! After our dinner we returned to the Udon restaurant that we went to the previous night as they had a vegan menu – very rare in Hiroshima. Tess had a delicious tempura/udon bowl!