Japan Day 9- Miyajima (Last Day with Nat Geo Tour Group)

 Started the morning with our final presentation from James our Nat Geo photographer. I really wish I would've taken more notes on these they were so fascinating but my memory is now failing me a bit. This entire trip feels like a dream at this point the details are starting to slip already! I want to say in today's lecture we saw these incredible pictures of the Japan countryside during winter as well as pictures of Antarctica. He described the Antarctica experience as basically visiting another planet. Also down there nationalities melt away you're all helping each other with survival needs whether you're Russian, Japanese, American, doesn't matter humanity and help is essential to survival. Great message there. A big takeaway from these is you can find so much human interest in developing countries and these people that take on the risks of visiting in person to share it to the world are incredible. 

We hopped on a short ferry just outside Hiroshima to an island called Miyajima and spent basically the entire day there. This island had one of the most stunning visuals of the trip with a large Torii Gate in the water leading up to the island that had the appearance with the tides of a "floating torii gate".  Behind the Torii Gate is the Itsukushima Shrine which was a Shinto Temple that was also cool to walk through. 

A unique thing getting off the ferry was they made this big announcement about deer and how you should keep a hold of your belongings because the deer would eat all your stuff. I didn't really register what they were saying it basically seemed like "oh some deer that are used to people will be somewhere on this island". No that is not what they meant. What they meant was a crap-ton of mini-deer are roaming around everywhere and they'll literally try to snatch crap out of your hand if you're not paying attention. They weren't really aggressive you could pet them (I didn't but plenty of people were petting them all over) but they'd certainly make a pass at trying to snag your food or even map/paper, etc. One of our group got snagged and had a tug of war with the deer on their map. They finally let the deer win. Our guide Junko-san proceeded to go after the deer and show that deer what's up! Haha she ripped it away. Understandably she commented it's bad for their stomachs. They were pretty small only a few feet tall. 

We had a couple hours of free time after the initial Torri Gate and Shrine so we walked up the hill which has several other shrines and temples. This Island in general was like a temple museum there were so many various temples and shrines. A couple in particular were pretty awesome. The one below was a room with rows of statues and a recording of monks chanting it was probably my favorite from this island. 

We walked down into the market along the beachfront and had lunch. The market had all types of offerings but we basically found some chicken nuggets on a kabob and a potato on a kabob and had that. We also found some little pastries that were like maple leaves but filled with custard. There was one flavored apple custard and it tasted like you were eating an apple flavored hi-chew. They were super delicious we bought a few rounds of those at lunch then in the afternoon before we left. 

We found a little store in the marketplace that sold chopsticks with engravings on them. We got these are one of our souvenirs for our kids they put their name on on stick and their Japanese character name on the other stick. Very cool! 

In the afternoon we walked back up the hill to a meeting point where we had a special Tea Ceremony. We entered into a tatami floor room and the presenter went through a very elaborate ritual it was quite impressive. Her partner went around the room saluting us all and we would bow. . .my understanding was this is based on old Samurai culture the men would bow with their hands on the floor as if they were clutching samurai sords and the women would place their hands in front of them flat as they bowed. You would accept the bowl of tea and turn the bowl a bit clockwise, hold it up and smell it and then sip it. You would then wipe off the front of the bowl to indicate you were finished when you placed it back on the mat and rotate the bowl back to its original position. It was very interesting and unique. The tea itself reminded me of terere in Paraguay here in Japan its called matcha. Basically pretend you've mashed up a bunch of grass and boiled it in water and that is what the tea tastes like to me. I bring up Paraguay because I recall down there I developed a taste for it and really liked it. Now not being used to it I admit it was basically dirt and grass tasting but I did love the ceremony and finished the tea. They had some Samurai warrior outfits and a nice 5-story pagoda tower right outside their window. Cool location. This was a beautiful island I really believe I'll be able to picture that huge red Torii Gate forever. 

We arrived back at our hotel. .  I wrote about this yesterday so insert my Gold's gym experience here! 😂. 

We then went to our final "Farewell Dinner" at a place called the Hanbe Garden Restaurant. The garden behind this restaurant felt like walking through a movie set or something. It was honestly incredible! There is a line in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves from Morgan Freeman where he says "In my dreams alone have I imagined such a place" and I'd say that about this garden. Pics unfortunately aren't doing it justice but it was immaculate. 

Fun evening and I think we all ate a little better knowing it was likely our final traditional Japanese style meal. The fish here was actually really good and the meal overall was great. We stayed a bit long taking pictures with everyone and saying our goodbyes. I think pretty much everyone on the group had either done Tokyo before the trip (most of the group) or were adding it on like our little group. 

Such an interesting experience you are thrown together with multiple strangers for 10 days straight and then suddenly say goodbye as well, quite possibly forever. Rachel and I have been on Truss trips before were we are getting to know people throughout the week and our little group of course got to know everybody else as well throughout this trip. Tons of fun people with distinct backgrounds from all across the US and even a couple from Australia. Sad to say goodbye at the end. 

Japan Day 8- Hiroshima

 Woke up and had our final breakfast at Benesse House. The french toast at their little breakfast buffet had some type of delicious glaze on it I definitely wasn't losing weight this day with a bunch of tasty french toast stuffed in my face to start the morning!

Back to the ferry over to the main land and onto our first bullet train! These things are awesome they are super smooth but fun to see how fast you're moving on the ground as the world zooms by. 

Arrived in Hiroshima to the Rihga Royal Hotel. The hotel had a buffet style restaurant where we at lunch and I must say it had the tastiest strawberry ice cream (see not all the food was bad! ;)).  This was an upscale hotel probably the nicest hotel of our entire trip. It was clearly built back in the 90's or before it had some styling from back then but also the rooms were huge which isn't something you see on newer construction hotels even if they're nice. 

We were up on the 23rd floor we had incredible views of the city. Honestly when I knew this was part of our itinerary and even up to arriving at the city I didn't realize it was such a large city. When I've told people since arriving back home that we visited Hiroshima the general question is "is the city re-built?" which is essentially the same sentiment I had heading in. It is #1 a monster city over 1 million people and 2 super stunning and beautiful I absolutely could've spent more days here. 

We walked over to the nuclear bomb memorial site it was only a few blocks away from our hotel. The first thing you notice is the Genbaku Dome which is a building that survived the bomb even though detonation was only about 60 meters away. This is the beginning point of a large stretch of memorials and monuments dedicated to peace. 

We then went through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. This was a heavy experience. I can only relate it as far as my experiences to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. Super important to see and learn about but definitely heavy and sorrowful thinking through the pain and suffering endured by these people. The attitude from the people and the message of the museum seems to be "Let's learn from this and not let it happen again" which is quite honorable. The story as well ends in resiliency I love the last picture I have in here of a couple with their first child. The re-build was swift and the city is truly amazing. 

We had a bit of free time to end the afternoon before a free night on our own. Jake wanted to get a workout in so Mike joined him at the Gold's Gym next door to the hotel. I took the lazy route and chose a nap instead and boy did I miss out on the fun. Apparently in Japan your gym shoes cannot be the shoes you wear in from the street. . . you're supposed to have them in your hands. So they made both of them remove their shoes and wear loaner shoes (gross!). They both get the loaner shoes on and laced up and tied up. . . only for the crew to now take them to the locker room for them to store their original shoes. One catch, you now have to remove your loaner shoes to go into the locker room. 🤣 So they get their shoes off a second time (not so simple for our one-armed friend Mike!), put their original shoes away, and reset in the loaner shoes. Now they are required to take a blood pressure test before they'll allow them as guests to exercise in their facility. This is where I was mad at myself for not joining I admittedly have high blood pressure I'm curious if they would've allowed me to exercise period. So they finally pass their tests and start working out. They are still setup essentially in covid-style protocols with large plastic screens between each treadmill. Mike had an employee basically staring at him his entire run and made him wear the little emergency pull string. 

  

This leads to a side comment- there were always tons of employees everywhere (at least in the big cities). We learned later from our Tokyo guide that the country cares more about employment than profits so to speak. . . they feel the economy keeps going better with everyone employed and therefore spending money back into the economy. Makes sense in theory in some ways but we noticed excess employees all the time at hotels (obviously the gym), larger restaurants, construction projects, etc. Lots of people just standing around with nothing to do. Ok back to my story. 

So I hear about this experience and the next day we get back from our day and have like 40 minutes before the bus leaves for our final tour group dinner and Jake wants to get a quick workout in again. This time of course I say I'm in I want to see what the fun is about. Just Jake and me this time Mike passes. We go to the front desk of the hotel to buy our guest passes (where they had purchased yesterday). The front desk lady thinks she's doing us a favor and tells us to just buy them there at the gym (would've saved the equivalent of 10 cents to our calculations). So we walk over and walk in and try to buy passes. First problem "we don't accept credit cards sir". Frustration mounting. I happen to have barely sufficient cash on me so we realize that problem is resolved. Second problem "we need to see you ID". Fireworks 😂! Of course neither of us have our ID on us we were just in shorts and t-shirts (with gym shoes in hand mind you) we had left all our stuff over at the hotel. The front desk guy kept typing into his phone with google translate "we need to see ID or we won't let you in". We of course had not time to go back, grab ID, and return and actually have any time to do anything. Jake was on fire I was laughing that I got my own Gold's experience! 

Ok, back to Hiroshima and our tour. A member of our touring group owns a minor league baseball team and he found that the Hiroshima Toyo Carp had a game that night so most of the tour group went to the game. They were hosting the Tokyo Giants. This was fun because the Tokyo Giants were staying at our hotel. When we first got off our bus at the hotel I noticed in the lobby tons of sporting equipment bags but figured it was like a college-level team or something. The next morning when I came down the elevator several players got on with us and when we walked out into the lobby there was a crowd of fans taking their pictures as they made their way to the bus. 

Our little group did not go to the baseball game this was our first "free night" for a meal since basically night 1 in Kyoto and we were in a big city to boot so Mike had researched some options for us. We found "Cantina 23" which was essentially an American-style burger joint. We basically ordered the entire menu! French fries, nachos, wings, and of course delicious burgers. Fun night. Some additional pics of the walk home through Hiroshima below as well. 

Last item of the day. I took a picture of the toilet in my hotel room. Can't remember if I already wrote this or not but the toilet situation in Japan is superb. Pretty much all bathrooms have bidet's. All of our nicer hotels had seat-warming toilets as well. It shocks you a bit the first time you sit down on a warm toilet-seat. That's usually a sign that you're sitting on a recently-used seat which is a very bad sign. Once you realize that's not the case it is a good sign! Very cozy. All types of pressure and temperature variances as well on these bidets! Even in most bus station stops and train stations the restrooms had toilets with bidets but universally they were clean. They didn't have garbage cans of course but they were clean!