Day 3 - Hiroshima and Miyajima

Day 3 - Hiroshima and Miyajima

3:40 AM morning... Getting better I guess? Today will be going to an island near Hiroshima and spending the night. I've never done the overnight and we're doing a more traditional inn with supposedly very good food so I'm very excited for today!

Idled in bed a bit and went to the public bath again at 6 with wife, her first time! Though we couldn't see each other because of split baths.

I didn't realize how many people here use it as a replacement for a shower at all even though each room in the hotel has one. Many would just go in, clean up and shower, barely did in and then head out.

Had breakfast included so a bit from the buffet, not pictures some fish I grabbed after which "is not breakfast food" according to the person sitting next to me, joke's on her tomorrow is probably a traditional breakfast

Now on the train to the ferry to the island, should be a 30 mins ride

Ferry!

And now in the island, will hike up the mountain instead of using the rope way

Very picturesque island

Deer!

And dropping off our bags at the inn before hiking up, the owner offered tea and momiji manju (a traditional sweet from the island)

Cute view while finishing the tea

Island map, we're doing the Omoto Course on the right up and probably the ropeway down but we'll see

Hike up time

Reached the actual start of this course

The road goes ever on and on, this is so so vertical lol, it's exhausting

Made it to the peak of Komagabayashi

Video panorama

The peak was gorgeous, it definitely was a good reward after an eternal feeling vertical climb

Now after a bit more walking at the peak of Mt. Misen, better observatory but much more crowded as it's directly accessible from the rope-way instead of requiring more of a hike, the other felt more private

Had some more stairs on the way here though

And a video

Walked through a shrine area and got an ok fortune

Now waiting for the next rope-way because we are NOT walking down at that gradient

On the way down

Line up to go up is crazy

Quick grilled oysters and soon ice cream to not fill up too before kaiseki at the inn

Fancy coffee and salted milk ice cream, very good but a bit pricy, run by a frenchman too which was a bit unexpected

This was the place, good artisanal coffee which I don't think there's much on on this island

Walked around a bit checking out the souvenirs and got a cute print on Japanese paper, and now relaxing by the water before we go check in and soak to wash off the sweat from the hike up to the peaks

At the inn, such an adorable room!

Dinner is in around 3 hours, we will soak and relax, and then after dinner so some lights out walking after most day-trippers have left

The photos don't show it but there's a gurgling stream next to us that so relaxing

Took a bath in the cypress bath and as much as "thing, Japan" is a meme... Baths, Japan really do hit different... The hiking exhaustion melted away, now 2 hours until dinner will be just basking by the babbling brook with a balmy breeze... A blissful balm for my battered bones.

Dinner time, green plum sake

Seaweed, squid, sesame tofu, bamboo shoots with fish and herb, potatoes with cheese, duck meat, sabara(?) some kind of fish, green bean

Sashimi, tuna and abalone

Snapper head in soy and a bit of sugar

Fried shrimp, green pepper, daikon yuzu

Beef filet

Snapper and radish soup, pickles, rice

I can never tire of milk ice cream

Food was great, MVP was the snapper head. Then we went to see the illuminated torii

Then went back to made up futons, which funnily enough I've never slept on until today.

Tomorrow the plan is that I want to see sunrise, then the shrine associated with the torii opens at 6:30, breakfast at 7:30, then 8 am is a temple next to the inn. After that probably relax a little and head back towards Hiroshima

What we do then is... Undefined and fluid, other than going to my threepeat goat izakaya Oyaji no Mise at 7pm.

For now the noise of the stream outside the window is acting as a soporific so it'll be hard to stay up much longer, won't need ear plugs tonight