Day 3: To Miyajima

We repacked our backpacks and headed to Kyōto station. Ava wanted to get waffles from a shop she remembered from when she lived in Japan for a summer, but we got lost in the station and couldn't find it. We did find some other waffles but I was assured the mystical missing shop's were much better.

We took the Shinkansen from Kyōto to Hiroshima. I realized I had brought the wrong set of filters—they fit the lens I had left at home—but we knew there was a large camera store near the station.

We got directions to Bic Camera, walked out of the station, and then promptly got lost.

I never did figure out what they were playing.

Thanks to a very nice croquette vendor we eventually found the camera store. Not only did I pick up my filters, but I somehow managed to become a card-carrying member of Bic Camera.

I felt a renewed sense of confidence in my abilities as a photographer, which was apparently extremely misguided as the next twenty frames I took were absolute crap.

After lunch we grabbed a local train to Miyajima-guchi, then hopped on a ferry across to Miyajima island.

Ava looks out over the sea as the ferry makes its short journey.

The island is actually named Itsukushima, but everyone calls it Miyajima, the shrine island. The large torii gate in front of Itsukushima Shrine is one of the iconic symbols of Japan, though when the ferry passed by the tide was out and the torii wasn't "floating".

The port town of Miyajima.

The main shopping street, Omotesando.

Our hotel couldn't be that far, we decided after looking at the map. So we decided to walk.

Unfortunately the map proved to be... insufficient. In fact its friendly looking lanes were but a mere mockery of the narrow streets that steeply climbed the mountains above the town. After crawling up a narrow road I wouldn't have driven a car on if you had paid me we gave up and returned back to the shrine, drenched in sweat. Remember, we still had our backpacks with us.

A taxi drove by; we hailed him and after a few moments of confusion managed to figure out the hotel was but a five minute walk away, and we needed to turn left instead of right at the bridge just over there.

Go us.

Momiji-so was one of the best places we stayed. It was nestled in the forested hills above the town on a dirt path.

After spending the entire day lost we were really happy to be able to relax for an hour and enjoy the koi pond outside our room.

We still had some time before dinner, so we headed back down towards Itsukushima Shrine.