20 Oct 15 – Hiroshima – Kyoto
We all met downstairs in the lobby at 0900, before walking over to the railway station, in plenty of time to buy some food for lunch, before boarding the Shinkansen, that departed at 0949.
This was my last opportunity to get a photo of the train coming into the station but missed again, as the train came in 10 minutes before departure and I didn't have my camera out. This train was going all the way to Tokyo, with 7 stops along the way and Kyoto was the 5th one.
Kyoto is Japan's former capital and the Emperor's residence for over 1,000 years, until 1868. Even though Kyoto has been destroyed by many wars and fires, due to its historic value, the city was dropped from the list of target cities for the atomic bomb and spared from air raids during WWII.
We arrive at 11:34 and walked across the road from the station to board our bus that was taking us to the Heian Shrine.
The Heian Shrine has a relatively short history, dating back just over a hundred years to 1895. The shrine was built on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the capital's foundation in Kyoto and is dedicated to the spirits of the first and last emperors who reigned from the city, Emperor Kammu (737-806) and Emperor Komei (1831-1867). Heian is the former name of Kyoto.
around which there are a couple of museums.
The actual shrine grounds themselves are very spacious, with a wide open court at the centre.
The shrine's main buildings are a partial replica of the original Imperial Palace from the Heian Period, built on a somewhat smaller scale than the original. Behind the main buildings there is an attractive, paid garden with a variety of plants, ponds and traditional buildings. The garden's most striking feature are its many weeping cherry trees, which bloom a few days later than most other cherry trees, making the garden one of the best cherry blossoms spots in Kyoto around the tail end of the season, which is usually around mid April.
Occasionally, the shrine's court is used for special events. For instance, the shrine serves as a site of the Jidai Festival each year on October 22, the anniversary of the foundation of Kyoto. The festival's main event is a parade of people in costumes from different periods of Japanese history that leads from the Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing that in a couple of days time.
From the shrine we then visited the Golden Pavilion Temple which is covered in gold leaf and surrounded by beautiful gardens.
There were many school groups visiting, as well as a few thousand/million other tourists. Talk about jam packed with people.
From there, we were taken to our hotel, which is directly across the road from the Kyoto train station. We were there around 2.45pm. Once we were checked in, we all met Saki back in the lobby, so she could take us to the station, to show us where the restaurants and shops and skywalk, etc., were to be found. I only had my small camera with me and the battery was about to die, so could only take a couple of photos. I'll have to go back tomorrow afternoon/evening, to take some photos. After Saki had taken us up to the roof, we then went our separate ways.
I headed for the skywalk,
as did a few others and after passing over that, Heather, Libby and I decided to go looking for a cafe for a coffee.
Came across a large Lego display of the Kyoto Train station.
Lego roof
The real roof.
The Lego Walkway
Shortly after 6pm, we found a restaurant that had plenty of choices on the menu and we all ordered the mixed vegetable & prawn tempura and a beer for ¥1,350.
We were back at the hotel sometime around 7pm and now that I have my main suitcase again, I can sort out some clothes for the next couple of days.
We all met downstairs in the lobby at 0900, before walking over to the railway station, in plenty of time to buy some food for lunch, before boarding the Shinkansen, that departed at 0949.
This was my last opportunity to get a photo of the train coming into the station but missed again, as the train came in 10 minutes before departure and I didn't have my camera out. This train was going all the way to Tokyo, with 7 stops along the way and Kyoto was the 5th one.
This was my last opportunity to get a photo of the train coming into the station but missed again, as the train came in 10 minutes before departure and I didn't have my camera out. This train was going all the way to Tokyo, with 7 stops along the way and Kyoto was the 5th one.
Kyoto is Japan's former capital and the Emperor's residence for over 1,000 years, until 1868. Even though Kyoto has been destroyed by many wars and fires, due to its historic value, the city was dropped from the list of target cities for the atomic bomb and spared from air raids during WWII.
We arrive at 11:34 and walked across the road from the station to board our bus that was taking us to the Heian Shrine.
The Heian Shrine has a relatively short history, dating back just over a hundred years to 1895. The shrine was built on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the capital's foundation in Kyoto and is dedicated to the spirits of the first and last emperors who reigned from the city, Emperor Kammu (737-806) and Emperor Komei (1831-1867). Heian is the former name of Kyoto.
A giant torii gate marks the approach to the shrine,
around which there are a couple of museums.
The actual shrine grounds themselves are very spacious, with a wide open court at the centre.
The shrine's main buildings are a partial replica of the original Imperial Palace from the Heian Period, built on a somewhat smaller scale than the original. Behind the main buildings there is an attractive, paid garden with a variety of plants, ponds and traditional buildings. The garden's most striking feature are its many weeping cherry trees, which bloom a few days later than most other cherry trees, making the garden one of the best cherry blossoms spots in Kyoto around the tail end of the season, which is usually around mid April.
Occasionally, the shrine's court is used for special events. For instance, the shrine serves as a site of the Jidai Festival each year on October 22, the anniversary of the foundation of Kyoto. The festival's main event is a parade of people in costumes from different periods of Japanese history that leads from the Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing that in a couple of days time.
around which there are a couple of museums.
The actual shrine grounds themselves are very spacious, with a wide open court at the centre.
The shrine's main buildings are a partial replica of the original Imperial Palace from the Heian Period, built on a somewhat smaller scale than the original. Behind the main buildings there is an attractive, paid garden with a variety of plants, ponds and traditional buildings. The garden's most striking feature are its many weeping cherry trees, which bloom a few days later than most other cherry trees, making the garden one of the best cherry blossoms spots in Kyoto around the tail end of the season, which is usually around mid April.
Occasionally, the shrine's court is used for special events. For instance, the shrine serves as a site of the Jidai Festival each year on October 22, the anniversary of the foundation of Kyoto. The festival's main event is a parade of people in costumes from different periods of Japanese history that leads from the Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing that in a couple of days time.
From the shrine we then visited the Golden Pavilion Temple which is covered in gold leaf and surrounded by beautiful gardens.
There were many school groups visiting, as well as a few thousand/million other tourists. Talk about jam packed with people.
There were many school groups visiting, as well as a few thousand/million other tourists. Talk about jam packed with people.
From there, we were taken to our hotel, which is directly across the road from the Kyoto train station. We were there around 2.45pm. Once we were checked in, we all met Saki back in the lobby, so she could take us to the station, to show us where the restaurants and shops and skywalk, etc., were to be found. I only had my small camera with me and the battery was about to die, so could only take a couple of photos. I'll have to go back tomorrow afternoon/evening, to take some photos. After Saki had taken us up to the roof, we then went our separate ways.
I headed for the skywalk,
as did a few others and after passing over that, Heather, Libby and I decided to go looking for a cafe for a coffee.
I headed for the skywalk,
as did a few others and after passing over that, Heather, Libby and I decided to go looking for a cafe for a coffee.
After being refreshed with a coffee, we continued to check out some of the shops, with the intention of eventually getting back to the level that we first came in on, where there are many choices of restaurants.
Came across a large Lego display of the Kyoto Train station.
Came across a large Lego display of the Kyoto Train station.
Lego roof
The Lego Walkway
Shortly after 6pm, we found a restaurant that had plenty of choices on the menu and we all ordered the mixed vegetable & prawn tempura and a beer for ¥1,350.
We were back at the hotel sometime around 7pm and now that I have my main suitcase again, I can sort out some clothes for the next couple of days.
19 Oct 15 – Hiroshima
First up today is a visit to Miyajima Island.
Miyajima is a small island about an hour outside of Hiroshima. It took around 45 minutes to drive to the ferry terminal and then a 10 minute ferry ride over to the island. Miyajima is most famous for its giant tori gate, which at high tide seems to float on the water.
The sight is ranked as one of Japan's 3 best views.
The official name is Itsukushima but the island is more commonly referred to as Miyajima, Japanese for "Shrine Island". This is because the island is closely related to the key shrine, Itsukushima Shrine.
Like the Torii gate, the shrine's main buildings are built over water. The last high tide left quite a bit of seaweed around and the smell was very strong while we were there.
Miyajima is a romantic place and there is accommodation on the island. There are many day tourists but in the evening it becomes much quieter and peaceful. There are also wild deer on the island.
When we visited the shrine, there was a dance performance taking place, with a male dancer, on the high stage.
It would be lovely to visit the shrine at high tide.
After walking to the shrine and seeing the Torii gate and viewing other buildings, we then had lunch on the island at a local restaurant, whose speciality is Okonomiyaki, which is a pancake containing a variety of ingredients. I only managed 3/4's of mine. Also had an iced coffee, which was a little bit different from how they are served at home. Certainly tasted the same though.
After lunch we caught the ferry back to Hiroshima
and were on the bus again by 1335. From there we visited the Peace Memorial Park
the Atomic Bomb Dome
and the Peace Memorial Museum. A very sobering experience.
We take the shinkansen again tomorrow to Kyoto and the forecast for the rest of the week in Kyoto is for the mid 20's, so we have been blessed with the wonderful weather for the majority of this tour.
First up today is a visit to Miyajima Island.
Miyajima is a small island about an hour outside of Hiroshima. It took around 45 minutes to drive to the ferry terminal and then a 10 minute ferry ride over to the island. Miyajima is most famous for its giant tori gate, which at high tide seems to float on the water.
The sight is ranked as one of Japan's 3 best views.
The official name is Itsukushima but the island is more commonly referred to as Miyajima, Japanese for "Shrine Island". This is because the island is closely related to the key shrine, Itsukushima Shrine.
Like the Torii gate, the shrine's main buildings are built over water. The last high tide left quite a bit of seaweed around and the smell was very strong while we were there.
Miyajima is a romantic place and there is accommodation on the island. There are many day tourists but in the evening it becomes much quieter and peaceful. There are also wild deer on the island.
When we visited the shrine, there was a dance performance taking place, with a male dancer, on the high stage.
It would be lovely to visit the shrine at high tide.
After walking to the shrine and seeing the Torii gate and viewing other buildings, we then had lunch on the island at a local restaurant, whose speciality is Okonomiyaki, which is a pancake containing a variety of ingredients. I only managed 3/4's of mine. Also had an iced coffee, which was a little bit different from how they are served at home. Certainly tasted the same though.
After lunch we caught the ferry back to Hiroshima
and were on the bus again by 1335. From there we visited the Peace Memorial Park
the Atomic Bomb Dome
and the Peace Memorial Museum. A very sobering experience.
We take the shinkansen again tomorrow to Kyoto and the forecast for the rest of the week in Kyoto is for the mid 20's, so we have been blessed with the wonderful weather for the majority of this tour.
18 Oct 15 – Takayama – Hiroshima
Not a lot to say about today as it was another travel day.
Once again, I was awake, well before the alarm this morning, so at 0545 I decided to get up. The forecast for the next couple of days in Hiroshima is warm, sunny and 25 or 26, so I have packed the fleece jacket, rain coat & umbrella in the big suitcase and will see that again when we check into the hotel in Kyoto. When I looked out my bedroom window, it was misty again but when I went down to breakfast, I could see that is had been raining. After breakfast, I moved the brolly back to my carryon, just in case. We all met in the foyer and were on the bus by our 0800 departure.
First up we visited a local farmers market.
There were a number of small stalls, with people selling either fresh vegetables or preserves or hand made Japanese dolls, as well as food stalls and shops selling chopsticks, toys, a small supermarket etc.."
Their was one man selling water colour post card paintings. The apples here in Japan are very big.
We had about an hour wandering there and then we went to the station to board the local express train that was taking us to Nagoya, where we then picked up the bullet train to Hiroshima.
A pleasant 2.5hrs on the local express and I'm sure that the autumn leaves have turned even more in the past couple of days.
We had an hour in Nagoya between trains, so bought something to eat for lunch and ate that before boarding the bullet train for our 1.14pm departure.
The countryside on this journey was not as picturesque as this mornings train ride and quite a bit of it was spent passing through tunnels but it was still enjoyable. I think train travel really is a relaxing form of transport. There must be a couple of growing seasons for rice. What I saw today was all ready for harvest and in some places the harvest was already started.
We arrived in Hiroshima at 3.31pm and walked from the train station to our hotel. The rooms are extremely comfortable.
After checking in, Saki then took us on a short walking tour through the underground tunnel to a local multi story department store and showed us the restaurants up on the 11th floor.
Rather than go back to the hotel a few of us decided to check out a couple of the floors in the store and then headed back up to the restaurant floor, to have some dinner. I'm not sure what the meal I had was called but it was tempura prawn, pumpkin & bean, rice, miso soup and pickles. Plus a beer. All up ¥1,279. Only managed to get misplaced. once on the way back through the underground tunnel and was back at the hotel around 8pm.
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