Who knew how hard it would be to book a hotel in Shinjuku..

Well, that fiasco aside, Chris and I had a fantastic day yesterday. We planned on a trip to Miyajima Shrine with some fellow travellers. Miyajima shrine is apparently the most well know of Japan’s tourist attractions (although I’ve never heard of it). It is a floatng red shinto shrine that is by a temple on an island with (surprise) a mountain! So, we toured the town a bit, took many pictures, and then proceded to go from the very bottom of the mountain to the very top of the mountan. Ugh! 2.5 km of STAIRS later, we arrived 523 or so M above sea level for some fantastic photo opportunities and much rejoicing.

Once we took the stairs down (easy, right? NO!) we took our jelly-filled legs back to Hiroshima for the loca delicacy. Picture this in layers: crepe, head of cabbage, soba noodles, squid, shrimp, bacon, scrambled egg, crepe, sauce. Wash down wth beer. yummmmmy! Tastes fantastic after that hike! Then we went off to the local public bath – you’ve never seen anything untill you’ve seen the Japanese bathe. looks almost painful, and extremely thorough. Had one last beer, and blissfully crashed for 8 solid hours of unitnerrupted sleep.

I’m super pleased with the sleeping conditions here, these tatami mat beds are divine! they are more firm than Chris likes, and I admit, they are not as comfortable when you sleep anyway but on your back, but nothing is more comfy than a sleep on your back on a tatami! Sweet, sweet living.

We are now off to the Peace Park Museum, and potentially the Castle. Maybe some Kimono photos will come? We will see how our tired feet fare…

And a warm welcome back to Mir and Moi! I’m glad you had such a fantastic time!