Hiroshima I suspect most readers have heard of, but the other two are likely more obscure. Miyajima is a sacred island in the Seto Inland Sea off the shore of Hiroshima. On it you are not allowed to give birth or die (or else!) and wild deer walk unimpeded everywhere as the messengers of the gods. Several of the most famous shrines and temples in Japan are on this island, and it is home to one of the Three Views. The Three Views are supposed to be the three most spectacular vistas in Japan, codified centuries ago by some monk who thought about such things. Some friends of ours recommended this area as a must-see place, and this vacation was just the right size for heading down there.
Not kidding about the deer
We took the train down to Osaka, then, being out of the sticks, were able to switch to Shinkansen (bullet train) and sped up the rest of the trip to Hiroshima considerably. We think this particular Shinkansen was faster than the one we usually take part of the way to and from Tokyo - things were definitely moving fast outside of the window.
Once we arrived at Hiroshima Station, we took a local train to the closest stop to the island and took the ferry (maybe 10 minutes) across to Miyajima. We figured out pretty quickly that the whole island shuts down between 5 and 6PM, when most of the tourists clear out, and being past that time we walked the 3km to where were staying.
Technically not our ferry, but close
The hotels on Miyajima all have shuttle buses, but we weren't staying in a hotel. Ana had discovered that there exists a campground on Miyajima, and for $6 a night the price couldn't be beat since anything else on the island costs at least $200 a night. Thus, we camped and saved the $800+ dollars for the four-night duration of our stay. Most of the Japanese were car camping, and in style, but we carried everything with us and only envied their portable enclaves a little bit.
Probably bigger than their house
Definitely smaller than our actual futon, let alone the apartment
They had about six enormous bathroom buildings, each group there could have had their own
After getting the tent set up, we walked the mile and a half back into town for dinner. Most places were closed but an okonomiyaki place was open and filled with people that looked more like locals than tourists and the price was right so we went in. Miyajima being a major tourist destination, English menus were available which we found to be standard on the island and very helpful. The Hiroshima area is famous for their unique style of okonomiyaki, made with layers of egg and noodles in addition to the typical cabbage based fritter. Ana got a garlic and udon noodle okonomiyaki and I got a soba noodle and seafood one. We traded a slice of each and both preferred the one we initially ordered, so I guess we chose wisely. It was hot and filling and cheap and that was about what we were looking for before walking the mile and a half in the dark back to the tent and hitting the sleeping bags prior to starting our first full day on the island bright and early the next morning. If you want to skip ahead all of the trip pictures are on Flikr, under Miyajima, Hiroshima, and Okayama.
Ana's okonomiyaki
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