Miyajima Island

Today saw us travel to the beautiful Miyajima to see the floating Torii gate. This 50 foot structure is erected in an inland sea and is the gateway to the largest shrine on the island, built by the visionary Samurai shogun Kiyomori. His dedication to driving pirates away from the bay is the reason why so many flock here. His placing the gate just off shore gives the impression, when the tide is in, that the gate is floating in mid air.

I was a little disappointed as we did not get to see the gate in all its floating glory, nevertheless, it is a fantastic piece of architecture and something I was really looking forward to seeing on this trip. Having wandered round the shrine, we next headed up to the second highest point of the island to see the inland sea,  Hiroshima across the bay and Miyajima in all their glory. It was a fantastic cable car journey up, but I am sorry to those of my group I had told there were monkeys at the top. As it turned out, relying on an old guidebook isn't always the best bet. Especially Michael, it was probably the only reason he came up!

We decided to walk back down. Thankfully my map reading skills haven't deserted me too much, and those of us that walked got to experience some beautiful Japanese flora and fauna. The mix of colours in places was lovely and although the steps were a little steep in places, it was good to get a workout in. Having reached the town we wandered to the main strip to find somewhere to eat and hopefully sample the local favourite, momiji manju - maple leaf shaped cakes, with soft fillings. Having eaten those, which were pretty delicious, we slowly made our way back to the ferry. Once back on the mainland, we arranged to meet for dinner. We sampled one of the places across the street and it was a chance to tick something else off the culinary list - sushi. When it eventually came, it was cracking. Sadly the awfully slow service put a little dampner on what had otherwise been a superb day.

Some of us retired to have a nightcap in the hotel bar. It is really nice to be able to have the chance to mix with so many different people on these tours and I have to say, this group has been one of the best I've ever had. Everyone is good fun and the banter, especially with the Aussies on tour, has been great. Kyoto next and the home of the Geisha.  Should be great!