Saturday 8th of Jan…
An early start to our day in Hiroshima, we had a breakfast of broiled conga eel on rice, with a small glass of sake to add to the taste. We then took a ferry across to Miyajima Island, the site of the famous shrine archway gate that appears to float on the tide. A very beautiful little island with a thriving tourist driven economy, was in the 900s a tranquil site to build a large floating temple complex. Rebuilt in the 1100s, the main structure created then is what still stands today. The main gate has been rebuilt about 8 times since then. Plenty of ‘wild’ deer roam the grounds in search of scraps of food from tourists. The other attractions are the local delicacies such as deep fried sweet bread filed with melted cheese, or red bean paste, and bbq’ed oysters. We didn’t get oysters but the deep fried maple lead shaped sweet bread snacks were great! Still have room for a Hiroshima style omelette with fried noodles for lunch a little bit later too!
Now we are on a small local train to the Hiroshima Peace Park, the site of the atomic bomb epicentre.
Until then please enjoy the pictures of the peaceful and tranquil shrine and try to imagine it without the hundreds of people that were there today!
