We had to take a short bus ride to get to Miyajima, which is actually a separate island outside of the city. The train ride took about 30 minutes, and then we hopped onto a ferry which took us over to the island. Luckily the bus is very cheap (only $2 or so) and the ferry was covered by our JR Pass. It was a 15 minute ferry ride over to Miyajima and as we were getting close to the island we could see the famous Itsukushima Shrine.
Miyajima is also known as “Shrine Island” and is considered one of the three most beautiful scenic attractions in Japan. It was first built in 593 and then rebuilt in 1168. The shrine has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. The entire island is consecrated as a shrine, and the famous Itsukushima Shinto Shrine is also known as the huge Torri gate in the sea. What’s special about the gate is that it was built on the seashore where the tide flows, making it sometimes in the water and other times on shore. Miyajima has been worshipped as a divine island since ancient times. The contrast of the blue sea, green hills and bright red shrine is an absolutely beautiful site everyone should go see!
As we were heading into shore, we saw the shrine in the water so I took a few far-off pictures. When we got on land, we went into Miyajima Village and right away saw many deer roaming freely around the town. It was fun petting the friendly deer (they were ALL over!) and taking pictures with them. Keith bought some of the island’s famous mussels from a small stand. They were huge and very tasty! We then had lunch at a delicious restaurant where we ate anago-meshi (sea eel rice), which is another local specialty. The meal came with soba noodles (buckwheat noodles that you dip in a light soy type of sauce…my favorite!), soup and green tea. All over the restaurant were pictures of Michael Jackson. The owners of the restaurant were obviously a big fan of him and they were extremely excited when they found out I also liked his music, so they played some Michael Jackson music while we ate lunch.
After lunch, we visited the famous five-floor pagoda, Senjokaku Treasure Hall, and the shopping streets. We then took a small hike up a small mountain to see the beautiful view of the city, the Torri gate and the ocean.
It was funny because by the time we reached the giant Torri gate, the tide was out and the famous gate was no longer in the water (which was what was so unique about it). Oh well, it was a fun experience walking right up to the gate and seeing all the 100 or so visitors walk beneath and through the shrine. It was also really neat seeing how tall the gate really was. If you looked closely on the shrine, you could see tons of sea creatures. If you poked at their shells, they would move and sneak back inside.
We ended our visit on the cute island with green tea ice-cream, which seemed to be the specialty of Japan…we saw it everywhere! We absolutely loved the green tea and the green tea flavor. It was also nice and refreshing for the hot day that it was.
Time to head to Kyoto- the big part of our trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment