This morning we left Tokyo and made our way to kyoto. Alivia and I are staying in Machiya which is a traditional japanese house that I found online. (www.kyoto-machiya.com)I was convinced that I was saying it like it was spanish, but they told me my pronunciation was pretty good. We found our way pretty easily from the Kyoto station in the light. (this is a writing technique foreshadowing the problems we will experience later.) Cameron met us, one of the people who work at the Machiya, and his english and japanese were both impressive. (I think he was british)
We dropped off our luggage and then we were off to Hiroshima. Now it may look close on the map, but it was actually about 2 hours away from Kyoto. (we covered a lot of ground. almost going the entire length of Japan) Fortunately we were on the express bullet train, so it was a pretty painless journey.
At hiroshima station, we misunderstood when they said to get number 2, we though the bus, they meant the tram. The first of many mishaps. We navigated our way to peace memorial park. we walked through the park which was lovely. We saw the tomb, where they put all the names of those who died. We saw the eternal flame that will not be extinguished until there is no more war. We also went to the children's park. It is quite famous. It is inspired by a little girl named Sadako who contracted Leukaemia after the bombing. At 10 years of age, she decided to fold 1000 cranes which are a sign of happiness and longevity. She never completed her task but her school mates did. Her quest received international recognition and cranes still arrive from all over the world. It made me cry to think of her suffering. Especially after seeing my Tutu suffer through cancer. I also think having a small child gives you a new perspective as it is just unbearable to think of a life, a one that has barely begun to live at that, suffering.
From there we made our way to the peace bell. You can go up and ring it. It is truly haunting. ( i love all the little chimes/ gentle sounds that are prevalent through Japan.) Anywhere inside the park you can see the A-dome. Just above it the bomb exploded. It looks like an Italian ruin. A hallow shell with some walls. The dome itself is a skeletal structure of twisted metal, though it is pretty much in tact. We sat in front of it for awhile and then made our way back to the bus to go to catch a ferry to Miyajima.
When we tried to get the bus, we realized we were a bit lost. Japanese people are so polite. The say yes to everything and really do try to help. the problem is they help even if they have no idea where to send you and since Japanese and English have no commonality, it can be very hard to communicate. This is why they always recommend if you are lost to talk to students as they most likely have some english speaking skills since they have to study it. But alas I digress.
We were told so many directions, when finally two women took us under their wing. They showed us the tram stop, which we had missed and realized there was a #2 bus and a #2 tram. After that we were golden. We took the tram to the little train station and bought Japanese donuts. Good but a little yeasty. Once you start traveling to miyajima you start to see the beautiful seaside. The surrounding area was beautiful and both alivia and i agreed that this was our favorite part of the trip. We took a ferry, the only one that is run by the JR line and included in our pass, and it was a tranquil, beautiful ride. It was such a juxtaposition that we just saw at the park and quite a different experience than the pirate ship. It did not feel overtly touristy just serene like you were experiencing a special taste of Japan. We did not get off of the ferry, we did not have a lot of time as we were hoping to get back to Kyoto before dark. We did see the island which has very tame deer roaming the streets. It was beautiful.
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