My amazing Sunday on Miyajima...unforgettable...(see photos of the Buddhist temple, Mt. Misen, and the famous Miyajima shrine in pt. 1)

A day of ups and downs. UP Took a day trip out to the island of Miyayama today. Its got a famous Torii out in the sea, some hiking routes and some pagodas/shrines/temples. Saw the Torii and hiked up to the top of Mt. Misen. 3 hours, 2.5 km, and 500+ metres up later I arrived. Side note: it was pouring rain yesterday and my shoes got soaked throu...

Most of our host families took us to Space World. It was a nice experience that we could not get in Hawaii. They had a rollercoaster that rose straight up and sent the passengers hurling down, and one that went in loops for what felt like hours. I already miss my host family, and they were very nice. They made me feel at home. I miss my host fam...

Miyajima took about an hour to get to from Hiroshima, via tram, train and boat. It was a nice day trip but I had terrible timing, it turned out. According to the tourist map of the island I received when I arrived, the island is one of Japans top three scenic sites. Although that WAS a map given out by the tourist board so I'm not sure how impar...

Miyajima island is where the famous Floating Torii (gate) is found. It is not actually floating but during high tide, it appears that it is floating. It is one of the biggest Torii I have seen. In ancient days, access to this island is forbidden except for priests of the Shrine. Priests would row their boats towards the island and enter the shri...

Wanting to hit Miyajima Island before the sun set, I hopped on a local train to the Miyajima station (30 minutes away) and then on the ferry that took 10 minutes to get us all there. I walked over to the main shrine of the island and took some pictures of the famous torii gate in the water. It was low tide when I went there, so it wasn't as spec...

We left the very homely Yufuin Pension, and headed back out into the rain. Fortunately this train worked perfectly (I guess they'd fixed whatever the problem was), and we made our way to Hiroshima- to find the rain swapped for very hot sunshine!

The memorial and Hypocentre here was very different to the one in Nagasaki, but no less sad. T...

An overcast and occasionally rainy day set a mystic atmosphere for my day trip to the island Miyajima. Elaborate temples, floating shrines and a Buddhist ceremony were accompanied by the surrounding natural setting. Monks chanted and play bells that resonated across the mountainside.