First, the bad news. On Monday night, I unfortunately developed diarrhoea: if I'd been at home I would just have let it run its course, but since I had just two nights in Hiroshima that would have been rather annoying. So I was very glad that I'd packed some anti-diarrhoea medication - which stopped it in its tracks within a couple of hours of taking it. I stayed in the hostel for the morning to let it all settle down, so Jonathan went for a walk around Hiroshima.
Once I was feeling better, we went out and got some lunch, this time in Sukiya, which is another Japanese fast food restaurant. For ¥280 (about £2.25) each, a bowl of pork and rice is really good value, even if its nutritional content isn't great. From there we headed back to the train station, and headed for Miyajima, a nearby island.
Sanyo Line, local service 1557M: 1430 Hiroshima to Miyajima-guchi, arr 1457
We took a local train along the Sanyo line, which used to be the mainline prior to the building of the Sanyo Shinkansen. We got off at Miyajima-guchi, the port for Miyajima.
JR West Ferry, service #37: 1510 Miyajima-guchi to Miyajima, arr 1520
A short walk away is the port, where we boarded a ferry over to Miyajima. It was quite reminiscent of Portsmouth Harbour and the Isle of Wight, though Miyajima and the port are both smaller and the journey is only about 10 minutes. We got a clear sunny afternoon for the crossing, which afforded us excellent views out over Hiroshima bay.
Miyajima is most famous for the shrine of Itsukushima-jinja, whose magnificent vermillion O-torii gate appears to float on the sea at high tide, rising sixteen metres above the water. It has been declared as one of the three best views in Japan: it's certainly very nice but I'm sure there are mountaintop views which are more spectacular. It is certainly photogenic, and I took advantage of my new remote control for my camera to take a photo of Jon and me in front of the gate. We had a look round the shrine, and then took a short walk around the island, climbing a little to look at the five-storied pagoda and get some views out over the bay.
We had come to Miyajima with the intention of going up to the top of the 530m-high Mt Misen by cable-car, but unfortunately managed to choose the one week in which the cable-car was closed for maintenance. While the mountain isn't a hard climb, it would have taken more time than we had (especially given the late start), and given how hot it was it could have been pretty unbearable. As it was, we had a nice relaxing time looking round the island for a few hours, before heading back to Hiroshima.
JR West Ferry, service #150: 1845 Miyajima to Miyajima-guchi, arr 1855
Sanyo line, local service 2672M: 1908 Miyajima-guchi to Hiroshima, arr 1936
After getting back to Hiroshima station, we walked through the city centre to Okonomi-mura, a collection of about thirty traditional okonomiyaki stalls spread over three floors. Okonomiyaki is a traditional Japanese dish consisting of pancakes, cabbage and noodles with the diner's choice of filling: it is perhaps similar to a thick filled omelette (about 3cm deep), but is both filling and delicious. The best thing about the traditional stalls is that they cook it right in front of you, turning batter, cabbage, bacon, noodles and egg into a traditional okonomiyaki right in front of your eyes: when you're really hungry this is a feast for all the senses. They were truly superb, and the atmosphere of the place - filled with locals - made the experience all the more enjoyable.
Afterwards we relaxed in the hostel, and got packed ready to head back to Tokyo on Wednesday morning: while we only had a brief stay in Hiroshima, I think we saw the best of the city and I'm looking forward to seeing Tokyo for a few days, before Jonathan flies home on Saturday. Thereafter I plan to head to Kyoto and Osaka, before I go home next Saturday.
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