Day 1 : Singapore to Miyajima
We took an overnight flight from Singapore to Fukuoka. We were lucky and were travelling Singapore Airlines Business, so were looking forward to a good rest on the plane. As it was just DH and I, we decided to pamper ourselves since we were redeeming tickets with our points.
Upon arrival in Fukuoka airport around 9am, we went to the luggage transfer service counter, It is on the left as you exit the gates. We had brought 2 big luggages and a cabin bag, My big bags are half empty as I was intending to do some shopping!! We arranged for our 2 big bags to be sent to our ryokan in Kyoto 2 days later. So we set off with our cabin bag.
Outside the terminal are the buses. We took the one that would bring us to the domestic terminal to take the Fukuoka City Subway Kuko Line to Hakata. A few things that we needed to do at Hakata station:
- Change our JR pass voucher for our 7 days Sanyo Sanin Area Pass for unlimited travel on the Sanyo Shinkansen and the local trains in the area.
- Go to BIC camera shop next to the Hakata train station building to buy our Iijmio SIM data card. Paid JPY4080 for 2GB data, valid for 3 mths. Its works on NTT DoCoMo network. Coverage was every good.
- Reserve seats on the next Shinkansen from Hakata to Hiroshima. With the JR pass, seat reservation is free.
Then we were good to go!
Our Shinkansen ride from Hakata to Hiroshima on the Nozomi was about 1hour. It was close to lunch time when we arrived, so we went to Bukudanya Tsuke-men for lunch. It is just near the Shinkansen exit at Hiroshima station. Tsuke-men is a noodle that comes dry together with its ingredients and is served with a bowl of sauce topped with sesame. You choose the level of spiciness for the sauce when you order. You dip your noodles and the accompanying ingredients into the sauce before your eat. It was delicious!
Lunch at Bukudanya Tsuke-men, Hiroshima
After lunch, we headed off to the Hiroshima Peace Park Museum. We took a bus from outside the train station. Ok, we were a little lost here but just somehow made it after we asked around…..hahahah. So if you ask me what bus we took, well, it was definitely not the Tramline 2 or 6 which we had planned to take. But we still got there! Hahaha….we were quite chill about it and the backup plan was we can just get down the bus and grab a taxi.
The A-Bomb Dome, also known as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial is what remains of the former Prefecture Industrial Promotion Hall. When the bomb exploded, it was one of the few buildings to remain standing, and remains so today. It was unfortunate that the Dome was covered in scaffold for repair works when we visited.
A-Bomb Dome, Hiroshima
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
We walked around the Peace Park before going into the museum. There were lockers at the entrance of the museum for you to deposit your bags. Inside the museum, the mood is solemn as you move around quietly to see the displays of the damages caused by the atomic bomb. Truly a sad day for humankind when we inflict such torture on our fellow human beings. I hope not to have to witness such a tragedy in my lifetime.
We had planned to take the ferry to Miyajima directly from the Peace Park, but the ferry only ply the route about once an hour. We decided not to wait, but to catch a bus to Hiroshima station to take a local train to Miyajimaguchi to catch the regular ferry to Miyajima. The local train and ferry to Miyajima from Miyajimaguchi is covered by our JR pass. If we had taken the longer ferry ride operated by Aquanet directly from the Peace Park to Miyajima, we would have to pay separately for that.
Upon arrival at MIyajima, we walked to our ryokan from the ferry terminal. The streets of Miyajima has many free roaming deers. They look cute but beware! They will be after your food! We had booked ourselves at Ryokan Kinsuikan for the night. The location of this ryokan is excellent. It is about 5 mins walk from the ferry terminal and a few mins walk to the shrine and torii gate.
Accosted by deers along the streets of Miyajima
We had a ocean view room and was able to see the torii gate from our room. Room was of a decent size with 2 sofas facing the window. Being able to sit by the window looking out into the sea was great. I can sit there the whole day!
Torii Gate, Miyajima
After settling down, we took a walk to the Torii Gate and the Itsukushima Shrine. It is best to see the shrine and torii gate at high tide so that they look like they are floating on water. When we were there, tide was only slowly coming in.
Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima
You need to pay a small entrance fee to go inside the shrine. After visiting the shrine, we took a leisurely walk along the canal and rows of old shop houses. It was so beautiful with the Sakura in full bloom!
Sakura trees in full bloom line the streets of Miyajima
Then it was back to the ryokan for our dinner. We had booked our ryokan stay with dinner and breakfast included. Dinner was delicious, with oysters and other local produce of Hiroshima. Hiroshima is known for their oysters. So must eat oysters when you are here. We had a multi-course dinner (Kaiseki) served in our room. Presentation was excellent! Our server spoke good English and was able to explain to us the various dishes that were being served.
Multi-course Kaiseki Dinner served in our room @ Kinsuikan
After dinner we went for an illumination cruise with Aquanet to see from the sea the Torii gate and shrine all lighted up. You can email Aquanet to pre-book this cruise, or you can book through Kinsuikan. Booking through Kinsuikan has the advantage of them sending you to the pier and picking you up after the cruise. Price is the same. As the tide was high, we were able to sail under the Torii Gate that night.
The illuminated Grand Torii Gate at Night, Miyajima
After the cruise, it was back to the ryokan to enjoy the onsen. Our room has an ensuite toilet and bath. The public hotspring baths (onsen）are in the basement, one each for male and female. The public onsen (hotspring) was not crowded at all even though we were there during peak sakura season and I had the whole place to myself for a while that evening.
I love onsens. I always sleep so well after a soak in it!
Incidentally, night time in Miyajima is more quiet and peaceful after the day trippers have departed. We made a note to wake up early the next morning for a walk before the day trippers arrive.