We arose early this morning, had breakfast and checked out of our hotel. We left our luggage in the lobby and made our way across to the train station.
We caught the 8:45 train out to the Miyajima ferry stop. Miyajima is an island near Hiroshima. It is famous for its temple and water shrine, a large red gate standing in the ocean. It is billed as “one of the three great sites of Japan.”
When we got off the ferry, we were surprised to find a number of tame deer. We purchased some deer biscuits and spent some time frolicking with the fauna. In Nara, Alex had a run-in with a buck; he made peace with the deer in Miyajima.
We then slowly made our way down to the water shrine and temple. We were fortunate to spot a white-clad bride heading to her wedding ceremony. The temple had been damaged in one of the recent typhoons, so we were only able to observe it from a distance. We decided to wait for the tide to rise to see it surrounded by water.
While we waited, we went into the hall of the Hokoku Shrine above the water temple. The shrine is over 400 years old, and we spent some time sitting inside it and quietly reflecting on our time in Japan.
Ollie had a conversation with one of the street vendors entirely in Japanese. Ollie and George have been particularly keen to practice their language skills in a variety of situations.
After we viewed the temple and water shrine at high tide, we slowly made our way back to the ferry. We took the train back into Hiroshima, where we had lunch and did a little last minute shopping.
We are now sitting in the departure lounge, with our flight scheduled to leave in 20 minutes. We took the train from Hiroshima back to Osaka to fly out this evening without any dramas. Perhaps we’ll post one final journal entry once we’re all back safely in Sydney. Til then, sayonara!
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