Iwakuni and Miyajima

Sandy has a friend who knows someone who lives near Hiroshima. Hitomi.  So Sandy and Hitomi got in touch with each other and arranged to meet while we were here.  Yesterday, she came and took us out for the day.

I wasn't absolutely clear where we were going but it turned out to be an amazing bridge near Iwakuni, the Kintai Bridge

On the other side of the bridge is a beautiful park, and a cable car up to the Iwakuni Castle.  Of course, we went on the cable car up to the castle

After a restorative ice cream, we went on to Miyajima.  Miyajima is an island and you reach it by ferry.  Happily, our JR passes cover the Miyajima ferry. Miyajima is famous for its floating torii gate and its shrine.  It was very busy with school parties and with tourists.  I think it is the place where we have seethe most Western tourists.  A few in Tokyo, a few in Kyoto, a few more in the Hiroshima Peace Park. Lots and lots in Miyajima.

And there are deer roaming around, much as they do in Nara

Sandy and Hitomi - lunchtime!

Lindsey and me
Photo by Hitomi

Sandy
I think Hitomi took this photo

It was a great day.  Sandy, Lindsey and I were hugely grateful for Hitomi's hospitality. We might have got to Miyajima. Lindsey knew about it and you can get there by train (and ferry) from Hiroshima. But we wouldn't have got to Iwakuni. We didn't know it was there.

We were all quite tired when we got back to our flat.  Poor Hitomi, who did all the driving, must have been exhausted.  And she had to go to work this morning.  We are pottering around in our flat, drinking tea/coffee and contemplating our move later today to Osaka for the final leg of our trip