Day 3 arrived and our plan that day was to travel to Hiroshima then take the ferry to Miyajima Island to see the Itsukushima Shrine. It was an early morning start for us onboard the bullet train to attempt to try and beat the crowds.
Overall, the trip was not too bad and we managed to get a nap while on the train. Getting to the ferry from the train was also easy, just a 10-15 minute walk. The ferry ride itself was also a breeze - around 15-20 minutes, with a nice view of the island and the torii gate on the water as you approach the port of the island.
As we off boarded, the usual way was to head for the shrine first then eat later. But because we didn't get to have breakfast, we went straight for the food stalls for some grilled oysters and sweet treats.
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| This is us looking at our food options. They serve soba and oysters (raw and cooked). |
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| This was the first stall selling grilled oysters and we bought a few straightaway. You can put any condiment you want from lemon juice, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. |
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| Grilled oysters with cheeeeeeeeeeessseeeee!!!! |
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| Fried Momiji Manju with custard. A must try on the island. |
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| Cute shops along the street leading up to the shrine. |
The shrine itself was simply beautiful. It wasn't cloudy that day, it would have been better. The bright red colors were gleaming and reflecting off the waters. There was a surreal feeling of lightness as you walk along the shrine, knowing that it's just above shallow waters.
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| What we came here for. |
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| The shrine is lifted slightly above the water. |
Also that day, because it was close to Christmas and New Years, they held their traditional dances in succession. We didn't get to watch all of them until the end given the time. Though we caught one that's about a phoenix that landed on the shrine and represented the phoenix dancing. The graceful moments were quite mesmerizing and entrancing. Along with the bells and drums, the determined and intentional movements appeared dedicated and delicate. It was lovely to watch.
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| Ceremonial dancing. Red Phoenix. |
We did spend quite some time in the shrine and its surrounding areas so with that, our morning was stretched into lunchtime. We figured to just choose somewhere random just outside the shrine. We ordered all sets with some kind of cooked oyster in them. Nobody complained so all of the sets were hot and delicious. For me, this was a real treat. Oysters are not really high up on my list in terms of food but I do appreciate them once in a while. Here in Miyajima, the oysters seemed to be meatier and almost hearty. These are not served in shy portions in high end restaurants back in Melbourne.
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| My kaki-oyakodon set! YUM! |
Unfortunately, we didn't get time to go into Hiroshima itself because of the time we've spent on the island, so we didn't get to pay our respects at the memorial. We had tickets reserved on the bullet train to head to Osaka, where we had dinner before calling it a day.
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