We had another long day scheduled, so we were checked out of the hotel at 8:30 AM (before the front desk was even open) and on our way to Hiroshima Station. The weather was looking very promising, which was a nice change, although there were snow flurries as we left the hotel.
The plan was to take a day trip down to Miyajima, so we ditched our overnight bags (backpacks) in a locker at the train station.
The 4-star hotel we spent the night at didn't include any breakfast, so we hit up one of the many 7-Elevens at the train station for a light breakfast, then hopped on the local train down to Miyajimaguchi.
Despite being partly clear in Hiroshima, it was also quite cold and windy. The clouds had thickened as we went south, and the tops of the hills to the west were dusted with snow.
We later learned that these regularly-spaced structures in the water are oyster beds, what with oysters being a specialty of the region.
As we completed the 10-minute ferry ride, the famous "floating" torii was visible in the distance. This was occasion for many of the ferry passengers to produce various stuffed animals from their pockets and put them in photos, with the torii in the background.
Without a zoom lens, however, the view doesn't translate well to a photo.
It was almost 10 AM by the time we stepped off the boat, ready to explore the town.
We'd known that we'd encounter some semi-tame "wild" deer, but didn't expect to see them immediately outside of the train station.
This is the third or fourth time I've seen a statue of this character, so I decided to figure out what it is. (Apparently it's a badger.)
We'd intended to go to a fancy pancake place for brunch as a top priority, but it didn't open until 10:30, so we had time to stroll down the shore toward the famous torii gate.
The torii was much more impressive up close, and I guess I can see why it's "floating".
The deer were clearly the star of the show, for many tourists. They're amazingly docile, unless someone is holding something that vaguely resembles food.
It was almost high tide, and some visitors were taking boat rides from the main building of the shrine out to the torii.
The main shrine sits on stilts, just above the water at high tide.
Having seen the shrine at high tide now, we walked back through the market street about a block up from the beach.
It took some effort to find, but at 10:40 AM we managed to be the first people in the door at Beyond of Pancake.
The whole place consists of a counter that seats six customers for pancakes, in a building not much bigger than a shed.
This was very much a Pancake Experience, with the chef preparing everything from scratch right in front of us.
We chose our own plates from the selection on the wall behind him.
He cooked the enormous, fluffy pancakes on a griddle in the corner, under the stairs that go up to the loft area.
When he saw me taking pictures, he offered to take the phone from me to take a closeup shot.
Michael and I got the mixed berry pancakes, while Sarah opted for tiramisu, and Sabrina went with green tea.
After brunch, it was time for the main event: we were going to the summit of Mount Misen. Most of the work would be done by cable car, so we had to find the base station for that first.
This deer had just ripped a lemonade cup out of a woman's hand, and was attempting to eat the lemon, I guess.
The cable-car/gondola situation gets translated to "ropeway", but you get the idea.
It was a bit of a hike just to get to the base of the cable car, but it was a pleasant walk through some well-manicured forest.
We waited in line for about 20 minutes before cramming into a cable car with two random Japanese women.
The ride up was quite steep; there's a hiking trail somewhere down there, but we were neither interested nor equipped for that sort of activity.
It's about 15 minute ride up to the mid station (which I've just learned is "Kayatani Station"), at which point we disembarked the cable car and waited for sort of an air-tram to take us across to the peak area.
It was only four or five minutes to get across to Shishiiwa Station, and then we got to enjoy some spectacular views of Hiroshima Bay.
There are several hiking options at the top, including an observation platform very close to the station and an hour(ish)-long hike along the ridge to the summit.
The weather had cleared up nicely, so we were congratulating ourselves on how well today's plan was coming together.
It was windy and cold at the top of the mountain, though (on the eastern side of the ridge, anyway).
The view was stunning, and we could see for miles and miles.
After spending maybe 10 minutes in the observation area, we returned to the top station for bathrooms and hot beverages (from vending machines). Sabrina has been (repeatedly) very excited to get hot tea on demand, almost everywhere we've gone.
The hike out to the summit involved a somewhat-taxing (and somewhat-unexpected) hike out to the Misen Main Hall. Rather, we expected the extensive walking, but didn't know today would also be a Stairs Day.
It took almost half an hour to hike out to the Main Hall, where there's a shrine and the Hall of the Spiritual Flame (which has allegedly been burning for 1200 years).
After pausing for a few minutes to catch our breaths, we got back on the stairs and climbed toward the summit.
The trail was a bit tricky in a few places, with plenty of mud and some squeezes around enormous boulders.
There's also an observation platform ("observatory") at the summit, affording a 360° view of the area.
After a few minutes, we started the descent back to the Main Hall. Thankfully, it's a loop, so we didn't have to squeeze past everyone else who was on their way up (although there are always a few people who to decide to go the wrong direction, aren't there).
We'd left the summit around 2:30 PM. By the time we hoofed it all the way back to Shishiiwa Station, waited probably 20 minutes in line at the cable tram, rode that to the cable car, then down to the base... it was 3:30 PM.
There were copious signs and excessively loud announcements via loudspeakers about the last car down the mountain departing at 4:30 PM; we were surprised to see that there were still people riding up as we departed at the bottom, what with the penalty for missing the last cable car being a hike down the mountain. Oh, and there was a sign showing a 50-minute wait to go down, as people switched at the mid station. Baffling.
Back in town, we strolled down the market street again, just before most of the shops were closing for the day, in search of some beverages and snacks to hold us over until dinner. It occurred to someone (not me) that it was almost low tide, and multiple reliable sources had suggested that it was possible to walk to the torii gate at low tide, so we decided to investigate.
Some Googling and quick math suggests that the total tidal swing today was somewhere north of 8 feet, which looks like it's probably accurate.
As it was now after 4 o'clock, and we had several hours of train rides in our immediate future, we decided to return the to ferry.
Along the way, this feisty fellow noticed my coffee cup and decided he wanted a closer look. Thankfully, he was 3 or 4 feet higher, so I could just back away and take a photo.
This happened again, with another deer, while we were on even footing; I had to play keep-away and scold this one. Earlier, we'd seen one of them snatch a napkin or possibly a ferry ticket from someone, and eat it. There had been an announcement about this exact risk playing on repeat, at the ferry terminal.
It was rush hour on a Monday evening, and we had an almost-two-hour ride back to Kyoto ahead of us, so we opted to find some food at the extensive food court in the mall attached to the station and eat on the train. I'm told this is a very Japanese thing to do.
Sabrina was very excited to get a bento box with a sumo wrestler on the front of it.
We managed to get tickets from a machine without splurging on business class, this time. The regular, reserved seats on the Shinkansen are still plenty luxurious, compared to air travel.
Back in Kyoto, we hailed a cab back to the hotel, had a brief meeting/whiskey-tasting in the lounge to make a plan for tomorrow. For now, it includes Nara and dinner in Osaka.
Theoretically, it's not a Stairs Day.
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