We took the ferry to Miyajima Island in afternoon. It's a lot like Catalina Island. There is a famous torri gate in the water that you see as you come up to the island.
Shops (and crowds) are all around the ferry area. Deer all around begging for food and of course temples.
We went to Itsukushima Shrine that is built on stilts right on the shore . At low tide the ocean goes right under the temple.
Then we walked towards the ropeway to take a cable car up to the top of Mt. Misen -- known as one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. Do you know what the other two spots are? Read later blogs to find out!
It was sort of funny -- we waited for the bus to take us to the cable car only to find out that it took us back down the hill we had walked up. So we took the bus up to the spot we were originally at and walked the rest of the way to the cable car. Two different car rides got us to the top of the mountain. And some incredible views of the island and it's juggle like hillsides. I could also see all the surrounding little islands and the coast near Hiroshima.
We rushed on a hiking trail to see if we could make it to the first mountain temple but we just didn't have enough time. We would have missed the last cable car ride down the hill and none of us wanted to walk down the mountain. I was beginning to feel pretty darn tired hiking up and down the trail, sweating because it was humid even though it was cool. (How is that possible? I don't get Japan's weather.)
What we all wanted was one extra hour up there to just experience the mountain and the view. It's too bad it felt so rushed that I couldn't enjoy it. But I will remember the view of the islands and the stillness of the ocean waters around them as the sky started to turn pink and purple. That was an exquisite view.
2 comments:
Doesn't humidity come from the fact that you are so close to the water?
Well written article.
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