Today was a day off from cycling, it must be sightseeing time. Not far from the hotel we caught a ferry which takes you down the Ota River and out into Hiroshima Bay to finish in Itsukushima (or better known as Miyajima) an island off the mainland.

This island has Itsukushima Shrine (a UNESCO world heritage site) with a Torii (a traditional shinto gate at the entrance to a shrine) standing out in the sea welcoming you to the island. To find out about the island go HERE.

There are wild deer here as well roaming everywhere without any fear of people, but they have become scavengers eating whatever is given / left by tourists.

It was a short walk to the shrine where a small entrance fee allows you to walk around, even with the many visitors there you could feel the peacefulness and calm hanging there waiting to wrap you up. There were several people praying in the temple.

As you do on a day off we walked to the top of Mount Misen, well I say walked we did cheat and catch a cable car most of the way up leaving a 30 minute stretch of the legs to get us to the top. The views were spectacular but still not crystal clear (we will get that clear day eventually!). On the way down we lit a candle in Reika-do Eternal Fire Hall, the fire has been continually burning for 1200 years.

A short clip of the view can be seen HERE.

You walk through many maple trees which are glorious this time of year.

We reversed this to get back down, walking via Toyokuni Shrine with it’s five-storied pagoda along with a number of other temples.

The ferries are very flat, they need to be to pass under the bridges when the tide is high, I felt like I would bump my head on one when we passed underneath.

To finish off the day we took another walk out down Heiwa Odori where there are some fabulous illuminations, and the really nice thing is you are not barriered off from them but encouraged to be part of them.