Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Miyajima

The days on this trip have been warm and sunny. Perhaps because of the previous day's events in Hiroshima, I found the greatest peace on the trip on the island of Miyajima.

We took a train ride - our JR passes have been so essential to our travels - to the end of the line, where we took a short ferry ride onto the island of Mikajima. We passed its famous Torii, or traditional Shinto gate. The theme of hell and heaven has been persistent on our trip, so it was fitting. We arrived at high tide.

On the island, many people were walking about, as were many deer! The deer are tame, and spent their time wandering about like tourists. We checked out the temple at the base of the island, and Dave and Hiro took a bunch of pictures. I managed a few that came out pretty well too:

Torii

Temple with pagoda in background

We then dropped off our stuff at our hotel. They claimed they were an onsen, but we learned their outdoor bath was not heated through a natural hot springs. We found that our skin became softer and smooth after Beppu; alas, here we were destined for chlorine and not sulfur in the water.

We hiked around the island a bit after that. As we hiked up, we found a large Buddhist temple constructed on a slant on top of carved rock. It was impressive. By this time twilight was approaching, giving the place a wonderful coolness that sunk in deeply. The air was crisp and fresh, and there were no tourists around. Peace was transplendent and complete. I could have spent hours there, but instead, we had a scheduled dinner to attend to. I decided I would come back the following morning and try to hike to the top of the mountain and catch the sunrise.

Hiro lighting incense at the mountain shrine

Lighting incense at the mountain shrine

Cute Buddhas!

Hiro and Dave took advantage of a moment without hotel staff around for an impromptu "swordfight" when we returned:

En garde!

Dinner was quite tasty one more time. The shabu shabu was phenomenal, and everything else was good. My onsen heart, however, was still in Beppu.

I woke up a little after 6 in the morning to the sound of my "bad to the bone" iPhone ring (needless to say it was quite out of place on Miyajima, but even on vacation you can't escape your normal life's eccentricities completely). Dave decided to join me with his camera, and we were off to hike the mountain.

We passed the buddhist temple, and walked up hundreds of steps towards the top. Cool morning air accompanied our way up, as well as the beginnings of sunlight on the colorful foliage around. The entire path was based in concrete and consisted of concrete steps. This was not the softest for our feet, but it did show an interesting balance of Man and Nature. A lot of work must have been put into carrying up all of the equipment and materials and crafting the stairs. In the end, however, Nature always wins.

Temple from above

Torii on my shoulder

We reached a sign that said there was another 1.8km remaining, but we had to turn back to go to our scheduled traditional breakfast. On this island, as, I would like to belieive, in life: the glass is half full. I viewed the remaining hike to the top as something to look forward to in some future tomorrow.

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