27 April 2009

Jeff, Shae, and I woke-up early this morning to begin our trip through Miyajima. We had breakfast that was provided by the Ryokan, and it was really good. I had the Japanese-style breakfast, and everyone else had the American-style breakfast. The Japanese-style breakfast actually turned out to be a lot more food (and better) than the Amercian-style breakfast, so I was glad that I made that selection. After finishing, we departed the Ryokan around 8am to begin our long day. We began by walking to the Ropeway, which was a gondola that took us up the majority of Mount Misen. The elevation to the very top of Mount Misen was 1,700 feet. We stopped on the way at a small vendor to get snow cones since the weather was already getting warm, and the old lady who served us was really cute! As we sat and enjoyed the nice weather, Derrick and Seth randomly ran into us. The Ropeway was a lot of fun, but it was scary as we descended higher and higher up the mountain with seemingly nothing below us. It cost us each 1,000 yen, but it was worth every bit of it since the hike probably would’ve killed me. Once at the top of the gondola route, we were at a secondary viewpoint of the opposite side of Miyajima, and there was a monkey park. We took lots of photos of the view and monkeys. It reminded me a lot of the monkey park we visited while staying in Kyoto.
After photographing the monkeys for a really long time, we proceeded to hike up to the peak of Mount Misen where there was an observatory. The weather was warm, and the hike took about half an hour. It was intense but very much worth it. The top was very simple and had only some large natural boulders and a three level observation platform. The view around the island was clear for all 360 degrees. We even ran into our classmate Blake while up at the top, but he was traveling around the mountain the opposite way. After many more photographs, we descended the mountain the opposite way we ascended it. It was all very steep downhill traveling, and it was hard on all of our knees and feet. We stopped at a stone dam and took some really cool photos and also saw some deer on the mountainside. It took us over an hour to descend the mountain, and we were completely exhausted by the end of it. At the base of the mountain, we stopped to visit Daisho-in Temple. It was located on the mountainside, so that involved a lot of stairs as well.
For lunch, we ended up running into Don while in the downtown area of Miyajima. We invited him to join us for lunch since he usually has no one to eat with. We went to a simple noodle and rice place, and I ordered oyster udon. Miyajima is famous for its oysters, so I had to try them. They were absolutely huge, but I really enjoyed them. Oysters have never been one of my favorites, but they were definitely very tasty, and I would recommend them to everyone. After lunch, we explored the shopping arcade area and just hung out. We had to conserve energy in order to make it through the rest of the day. The group was scheduled to leave the island at 4:40pm, but Don gave us the option of staying later if we wanted to. Jeff, Shae, Derrick, and I all decided we would stay a little bit longer in order to visit Senjokaku Temple. Senjokaku Temple is famous for its 1000 tatami mats that define its floor.
At around 6pm, we grabbed our luggage from the Ryokan and returned to Japan’s mainland via the JR ferry. From there, we caught the local train, then transferred to the Shinkansen to get to Okayama. We ended up missing the correct transfer point for the Shinkansen, so we lost a bit of time in finding the next transfer station, but in the end, it all worked out. We arrived in Okayama around 9pm and checked-in at the Toyoko Inn. This time, we had shared rooms again, so I was with Trudy as usual. Since we got in later, Jeff, Shae, Derrick, and I went to get dinner and ended up just settling for McDonald’s since we were unfamiliar with the area. Norio joined us since he wanted to take a break from his roommate. The rest of the night the five of us hung out in Jeff and Shae’s room since most other people were already doing other stuff. Tomorrow we are supposed to visit Kurashiki and a garden in Okayama. Don is taking a group at 10am, but he told us we can do stuff at our own pace if we want since this week-long trip is technically our “vacation” time and break from school. Jeff, Shae, Derrick, and I plan on sleeping in until around 10am, then leave around 11am since we haven’t had the chance to sleep-in in a really long time. We are all completely exhausted, so a long and good night’s rest will benefit all of us.