The day after our peace park trip, we took a 30 minute boat trip to Miyajima, picking up the ferry from the hotel jetty. Miyajama is one of the most beautiful Shinto shrines in the world because of the bright vermillion coloured torii that rises out of the sea. The shrine itself appears to float on the water and because it was high tide I was able to take some awesome photographs.

While we were giving thanks at the Prayer Hall, we witnessed a Shinto wedding, the beautiful bride all in white and looking like an film extra from Star Wars, the sake drinking, the hand maidens, the drumming, the haunting flute all captivated us and despite the searing heat, Lyle and I watched the whole 30 minute ceremony. We were enchanted.

We spent 7 ½ hours on the island, photographing the deer, so tame and everywhere, they even stand patiently outside shops waiting for them to open. I bought some deer poop flavoured ice-cream too. It was nice, little brown pellets of chocolate covered crunchy biscuit balls.

After visiting the shrine, watching the wedding and tucking into cold udon noodles dipped in soy sauce with ginger and chopped onions we took the Sky Rope cable car ride up to the top of  Mount Misen, 535 metres high.

The first car took a maximum of 6 people and was like an oven, lasting 10 minutes, I felt sick. The next car to the summit took 30 people and wasn’t quite so claustrophic despite being packed with people. The views over the bay were spectacular, even though it was hazy,

We were expecting it to be breezy and slightly cooler at the top, if anything it was hotter. I backed out of the 1 hour circular summit walk and went to the café for a cold drink, leaving Lyle to explore.

On the way back to the cable cars, the air was full of the sound of crickets and birds and we saw hornets buzzing around. It was at this point we thought our sticky ice cold peach flavoured shaved ice might not be such a good idea.

After the quickest exit off the mountain, I bought a hat from a Japanese lady who was the spitting image of Joanna Lumley. I love it in Japan when the shop keepers reward you by offering you ice-cold water.

The only thing we didn’t have time to do was visit the cat café. JoJo, my friend back home would love this place. Over a coffee you get to interact with the cats that wander freely. I guess if you give them treats you’ll get even more cat visits. Next time I visit Japan, I’ll go visit one.

#MyPrelovedLife
July 2017