Wow! It was a lovely surprise to walk outside our hotel and find that it was snowing. A big smile filled our faces as a little magic felt like it had been added to our day.
We caught the bus to Hiroshima station to catch the JR Sanyo line to Miyajimaguchi.
We arrived at Miyajimaguchi.
It was only a couple of minutes walk to the Miyajima Ferry Port where we caught the ferry to Miyajima Island.
Our ferry arrived and we were excited to board. This was James’ first ferry ride.
On the island, we were greeted by deer who were quite tame but wanted to eat paper, like our brochures.
We made our way through the Omotesando shopping arcade, we saw some lovely crafts. We bought some of the famous momiji manju, maple leaf shaped cakes for a lunch treat. They come in many flavours, we chose custard cream and chocolate. With treats in hand, we walked past the O-tori Gate while the tide was still high.
We then headed up to the Five-storied pagoda, said to have been built in 1407, is 28 metres high and is a combination of Japanese and Chinese styles of architecture.
The view back to Mijayaguchi was lovely.
As we walked along the edge of the island towards the O-tori Gate and Itsukushima Shrine, we commented that Mijayama was very beautiful and peaceful. We enjoyed a lovely walk to the Daiganji Temple and Kiyomori Shrine, through the quaint streets.
We set off towards Momijidani Park, parts of which were bush walking. It felt reminiscent of the Bunya Mountains.
We wanted to do some shopping at a craft shop and the rope way looked scary for some, so we decided to head back.
As we approached the Itsukushima Shrine, we noticed the tide had gone out completely and we could walk out to O-torii gate. How special!!
It would be remiss of us not to stock up on momiji manju cakes, as they were oishii!
A return journey on the ferry and JR Sanyo line took us back to Hiroshima.
For dinner we decided to try Okonimiyaki, so we found a restaurant where we could watch them being made. It was truly captivating, not a peep from anyone, not even our story teller, James.
The origin of the Hiroshima style ‘Okonomimur-yaki’ is said to be, that soon after the 2nd World War, people mixed flour provided by the U.S. Army with water, thinly spread it on a hot plate and sprinkled it with chopped spring onion. Now they add cabbage, bean sprouts, buckwheat, noodles, pork and egg. We all ordered the traditional one, three of us with Udon noodles and Jennifer ordered hers with Chinese noodles. Oishii!!
