Day 12: Miyajima

Today we woke up in our little hotel room in Hiroshima. Although we opted for an upgrade, we are still in a very small room. That said, the hotel is near everything and right beside a tram stop. We hoped on the tram and headed ~1hr south to catch a ferry to the island Miyajima. Miyajima is home to numerous shrines, a very large Tori that was built in the water, and Mt. Misen.

After a short ferry ride across, we grabbed lunch and began our adventure. The island is covered in tame deer - the were everywhere. This was very neat!

Since the tide was out, we were able to walk on the ocean floor and stand underneath the giant Tori. It was a beautiful site.

We then began our ascent of Mt. Misen. Since we polished off a 1km hike in Kayosan the other day, we thought that we were in fighting shape. Unfortunately, this climb was a little more than we had bargained for at ~2.5km each way. While we fought our way to the top, it definitely took its toll on us as we regularly questioned if we would reach the summit. We were SOAKED in sweat, and breathing heavily for over an hour. On the bright side, our trail followed a beautiful river with waterfalls and we were treated to wildlife galore (Birds, a snake, and the deer). We reached the top and took in the amazing views for nearly half an hour. We wanted to make the most of being at the top given what we had to do to get there. The views of the mainlaind, numerous islands, ocean, and rolling hills were all present. Fortunately, since the cable car station was not in service, we had the top to ourselves. We only saw another half dozen people or so attempt the hike. After a LONG walk down, we revisited the large Tori which was now partially submerged since the tide had rolled in. The sun was going down and the water was glimmering - it was a beautiful site.

Since we got a bit of a late start to the day, this visit took up the majority of it. We're now in our hotel room at ~8:00pm about to grab a bite to eat before heading to bed. Hiroshima looks like a very interesting city!