Sorry Mom, the Internet at the last 2 hotels was so slow that updating this was more frusturating than it was worth, but I have Wi-fi again, so here we go!
Day 4
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It was, as expected, fascinatingly nausea-inducing. I was silent for a good 3 hours after we left (and this is me we're talking about). The things that happened when the A-bomb dropped were horrifying. Did y'all know that since 1968, each and every time a nuke test is even rumored to have occurred, the current mayor of Hiroshima (and often Nagasaki) sends a formal letter of protest to the leader of that country? Obama has racked up 9 so far. Kim Jong Un, 1. One of the very significant goals of the museum is to illustrate how absolutely horrible nuclear weapons are, and how we as a world can and must eradicate them. I gotta say, they're pretty convincing. Something I never put together: Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is about a girl from Hiroshima. She got leukemia because of A-bomb radiation. When I saw the exhibit and the Children's Memorial, I almost lost it.
After the Museum, we went to Miyajima Island, home of the huge red gate that stands in the ocean and lots of sacred deer. The deer are actually pretty annoying, but the gate was cool. The coolest thing, though, was the Udon soup with oysters I had for lunch. Best. Meal. Ever. Also? I finally made some friends! Daniel and I decided, at 4 pm, to hike up a mountain that was 2.5 km of straight up vertical steps. Needless to say, we weren't going to make it up and down again before dark. We ended up climbing (and at that point yes, it was climbing) up to the ropeway instead of the summit and took the last cable car of the day down the mountain. Sharing our car was a German man who's name escapes me and an Italian dude named Fabrizio. Daniel and Fabrizio talked photography (you're shocked, I know) and German man and I talked food. It was fantastic.
Day 5
Traveled from Hiroshima to Kurashiki. Pleasant journey, except for the whole crowded trains thing. The Shinkansen are fine because there's reserved seating, but the local and subway lines? Forget about any illusions of personal space you might cling to. I thought it would get better after we left Tokyo, but no. I wonder if there is ever a point a Japanese person will say, "Nope, that train's too packed. I'll just wait for the next one." I have yet to identify that point, and I was pushed into some old lady's lap! So anyway, Kurashiki is actually too small to need public transportation, which works for me. We saw the old city, called the Bikan district, in one afternoon/evening. Based on what I've experienced in the US, when something is old and preserved and colonial, especially part of a city, it tends to be used in a manner related to that time period. In Philly, Old City has some colonial buildings that are classified as Historical and are used either as museums or something related to it's original purpose. In the Bikan district, most of the historical buildings were people's homes. There were some cool shops and some museums, but it was overwhelmingly residential.
After wandering around most of downtown Kurashiki, we wandered back to our hotel when on the way, we made a delightful discovery: a beer bar! Apparently, bars that serve craft brews are rare, so lucky us! And tasty beer! And a good night was had by all!
Day 6
Trained it from Kurashiki to Kyoto and arrived at the last hotel I will have to live in for the rest of the trip! The rooms have actually gotten progressively smaller as the trip has gone on. In Tokyo, we stayed at a Ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel). It had 2 rooms and a closet and a bathroom and it was marvelous. Also, tatami mats :) In Hiroshima, we stayed at the ginormously huge and prodigiously ugly Bunka Koryu Kaikan where we had a room with desk space and a chair, a closet, a bathroom, a comfy chair, and room to maneuver no matter which of these things were in use. In Kurashiki, we had the requisite bathroom and closet in the room, but our chair at the desk would hinder movement to the bed if the chair was in use. Here in Kyoto, where we will be living the longest (5 nights), we live in a shoebox. A bathroom, airplane lavatory-style but with a shower. No closet, but helpful hooks with hangers that poke out of the wall. A desk with a completely unnecessary chair, seeing as how one can sit on the bed and still comfortably use the desk. And the largest TV out of any room we've stayed in. Priorities, people.
Bitching about the room notwithstanding, Kyoto has been very cool so far. Visited the Heian shrine and it's very large, very shady garden. Good plan on a 80 degree day. Saw 2 Shinto priests blessing 2 separate tiny ones, each with respective beaming Moms and Dads. Seriously Tiny Babies. So cute! We might have done some shopping after that, and I might have found an Uniqlo, and it might be my new favorite store. Maybe. Here's to no more shopping, I hope. Amen.
OH!!! I forgot to mention, I made another friend! Way back 2 days ago, on our first night in Hiroshima, Daniel and I ate okonomiyaki. A British tour group came in, led by a Japanese-speaking Brit with a very loud red plaid shirt. Guess who we saw whilst getting on the train in Kurashiki this morning wearing the same shirt? We chatted. Then, guess who we saw while getting money at an ATM in Kyoto this afternoon? We chatted some more. We'll see if Loud-Shirted Brit shows up anywhere in our Kyoto tour.
Love,
Leah Murphy, internet-ed explorer
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