The Island
Another early start today to make sure I got to Miyajima when the tide was in – which is important….all will be revealed. Weather has been fantastic yet again. Bumped into a couple of Austrian girls from my hostel on the way, so went over with them. The tram ride was around 45 mins. Arrived at the ferry with some time to spare so wandered into a cake shop to have a look..and end up buying a small cake, and the lady behind the counter ended up making me a present! It’s a paper crane….ever so slightly better than my effort last night! Ferry crossing only takes about 10 minutes and it takes you right past the famous floating Shinto gate, which isn’t really floating, but if you catch it at the right time of day its surrounded by the sea – quite a sight to behold. And that’s why you need to go when the tide is in.
The first strange thing you will notice when you get to Miyajima are the unusually tame wild deer that wander the streets. A novelty at first but after a while they are just pests. One cheeky beggar slobbered all over a page in my journal. The next thing you will notice is that it’s a really jaw dropping place. Easily the best shrines I’ve been too and the greenery is amazing!
Had a quick lunch before heading for the 5 storied pagoda (impressive!!) and adjoining shrine before heading for the cable car to use my pass (excellent investment). Incredible views from the vantage points at the second cable car station (the furthest you can go in the cable car)..could see for miles. More deer here but there was also a monkey sitting there too! Lot’s of signs there telling you not to feed the them….and apparently they steal things from you although fortunately I was not mugged. Spent quite a long time up there, even went for a walk further up…about half way from the station to the top. I ran out of water though so headed back down. Went to the aquarium after which was good, if not a little expensive.
After that it was back on the ferry via an ice cream stall. I must have been there a good 6 hours. When I was getting on the ferry I saw those “X” signs again from the guy standing there…although he gave up eventually because whatever he was saying was totally lost in translation. It was only later on that I found out that there are 2 ferries operating from there…..and my pass was for the OTHER one. Oops! Miyajima has certainly been one of the highlights of my trip. A genuinely stunning place and I thoroughly recommend anybody who goes to Japan to go there!
The crossing was short but leaving the island was a bit of a sad moment because it pretty much wraps up my sightseeing in Japan. It was quite a reflective moment actually…I’ve seen and done so much in the last month and I’m not keen for it to end because it’s been so damn good! In less than a week’s time, I’ll be in Dubai. Then not long after that I will be going home….boo hoo.
So now I’m back at the hostel, and just had some food and I’m having a beer. People are coming in by the minute, and threes talk of going out tonight! I dare say I will report back on that in my next entry. I feel i’ve not said that much about Miyajima…at least not enough to do it justice…i’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking on this one!
