northern lights

June 12, 2013

Toyo was nice enough to give us a fan for our room because it is super hot here, even at night.  We got up just after 7:00am and Toyo had prepared a light breakfast toast and some sort of veggie patty, blueberries, banana and Corn Flakes; this is the first time we have seen breakfast cereal here. We left the apartment at about 8:30am and caught the train to the ferry terminal for Miyajima. The ferry ride was only about 10 minutes and it was a JR ferry, so our rail passes covered the cost, which was a bonus.

Miyajima is famous for its Itsukushima Shrine, which is on stilts in the ocean with a torii gate a little further out in the ocean. 

There was a large tour group as well as a school group on our ferry, so we decided not to go into Itsukushima because it was close to the ferry terminal and everyone was headed there. Instead we went up the hill a bit to Daisho-in Temple, which Toyo had recommended. Even though it was still only about 10am, we were gross and sweaty by the time we walked to the temple from the ferry. However, it was very quiet up there and very few other tourists were wandering around, so we were able to enjoy the temple without all the crowds (and no school children asking us questions). 

The Dalai Lama had actually visited the Daisho-in Temple and brought a mandala from Tibet; it must have been very exciting for Buddhists in the area. We also saw a cave full of Buddhist icons and 500 little statues lining a path, each one was different and had their own unique facial expression.

After the temple we decided to take the Miyajima Ropeway to the top of Mt. Misen; there was a free shuttle bus (that had the ac pumping) that we caught in town and took us up to the station. The gondolas were super small and retro-cute. I was hoping that when we got to the top it would be a little cooler because we were higher up, but it was just as hot up there.

 However the view was amazing. There is a whole walking route that you can take up to the summit of Mt. Misen and there are temples and points of interest along the way. Because it was about noon when we got up there, we decided it was way too hot to climb all the way to the summit, so we decided just to go part-way to the Kiezu-ho-hi (the eternal flame), which has been kept burning for 1200 years and was used to light the Flame of Peace in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Ben was super grumpy by the time we got there and complained the entire way about being hot and sweaty. I found his grumpiness strangely satisfying because he is always so even tempered and never gets irritated by anything, whereas I can get annoyed pretty easily especially if I’m hungry. To be honest, I don’t know how he could really complain, he wouldn’t have been so hot if he hadn’t set such a fast pace; he was walking fast, I was practically running up the trail. I made sure I led on the way back.

When we got back down to the bottom, we decided to stroll through the shopping arcade on our way back to the ferry. All the shops were selling little pastries shaped like marijuana leafs (but I think they were supposed to be Japanese maple leafs….). They had several different fillings and were selling them in different sized boxes. Ben and I bought one chocolate filled one to share and it was pretty tasty; it also satisfied our hunger until we could get back to the mainland where the food wasn’t so expensive. For some reason all the stores were also selling wooden paddles; I’m not sure what the significance is but they had a giant one in a prominent spot along the street.

When we got back to the mainland we decided just to get something simple to eat from the 7-11; we were both really hot and mostly thirsty and didn’t really feel like eating an actual meal. I know that I have mentioned 7-11 several times, but the 7-11 here actually has edible food that is cheap and good for eating on the go. When we went into the store the cashier was an old white guy; we were pretty surprised to see him there. We didn’t ask him where he was from, but he definitely had a west coast accent. Ben ended up getting a sandwich (any sandwich you buy here is on white bread and I have only seen white bread in the grocery store) and I got a pasta salad with chicken and corn.

Since it was still only about 2-2:30pm we decided to go further on the train we took to the ferry terminal and check out a super cool bridge in a town about 30 minutes away in Iwakuni. The Kintai Bridge has a series of five wooden arches spanning the river and was originally built in 1673 without the use of nails until it was washed away during a typhoon in 1950 and had to be reconstructed. Pretty amazing that it lasted as long as it did and the reconstruction is still pretty amazing.

We didn’t stay long in Iwakuni because we wanted to give ourselves enough time to get back to Hiroshima as Toyo was making dinner for 7:00pm and we didn’t want to be late. We ended up getting back at 6:30pm and had time to clean up a bit before another amazing dinner of pork, tempura, salad, corn, and pickled squid. Taso was working late so Toyo’s friend Maria came over to visit with us during dinner. We ended up having an awesome time, talking, drinking wine, eating amazing food, and enjoying desserts that Maria brought. They have large cream puffs here that everyone calls “shoe-cream”, which apparently is derived from the French “chou a la crème” but still sounds ridiculous. We Told them in Canada they are called cream puffs, so if they are ever in Canada to ask for that and not shoe cream.

We also found out that in Japan it is illegal to swim in the ocean except during July and August; after a certain date in August there are a lot of jelly fish in the surrounding water. Toyo told us that they can’t swim because a ghost will come take you away. We told them that in Canada you can swim whenever you want, even in the middle of winter, and that people to the Polar Bear Swim in winter. They thought it was so funny and that Canadians are crazy. Apparently there is a tradition in Hiroshima where people swim in the canal near the A-Bomb Dome in the winter, but it is for a ceremony had has a certain meaning and purpose. I told them that my cousin tried to convince me to do the Polar Bear Swim one year but that we didn’t end up doing it; they also thought that was hilarious and wanted to know the name of my “crazy cousin”. So I told them it was Jessica and all evening as we talked about the crazy things that Canadians do for no reason, they laughed and asked if “crazy cousin Yeshica” would do that. They were also very interested in what traditional Canadian food and alcohol is like; we explained to them that there is no “Canadian” food because everyone is from somewhere else, so we eat food from everywhere. They were also shocked that Ben and I haven’t seen the Aurora Borealis, because when they think of Canada, the image they have is snow and Aurora Borealis and they thought that all Canadians have seen it. Toyo actually came to Canada with her mom 10 years ago and went to Yellowknife to see the north. We laughed a lot and didn’t end up going to bed until after midnight.