• Nature,  Travel

    To Miyajima Island

    People come to Miyajima Island for its floating tori. It’s a tori that thrills people simply because you can actually walk to the tori when the tide is down. The thing is, Miyajima Island is home to more than just Itsukushima Shrine’s tori. There’s quite a number of things you can see and do by foot here. As always, I didn’t get to do and see everything I wanted to while I was on this island but here’s what I encountered while on the grounds of Miyajima Island.

  • Ponderings,  Travel

    A Fleeting Encounter at the Niomon Gate

    Niomon Gate, pathway to Mount Misen

    Whenever I’m abroad, I always get amused at how we, as people can encounter so many people (strangers) only to see them once. It’s strange how the world works, isn’t it? When I was in Japan, this amusement (or amazement rather) seemed to heighten since there was hardly ever a day that I didn’t hang out on a train filled with people I didn’t know.

  • Nature,  Travel

    On Top of Miyajima Island

    View of Seto Inland Sea from Miyajima Observatory
    View of Seto Inland Sea from Miyajima Observatory

    Never in my life have I walked as much as I did while in Japan. Each day I was there, I walked anywhere from 20,000 – 30,000 steps and this was a good thing. A very good thing. (So good that I hope I can attempt to walk that many steps every now and then in the states.)

    One of my most intense “walks” in Japan would have to be while on top of Miyajima Island (Hiroshima, Japan). Yes, while on top of Miyajima Island.

    My travel companion and I had originally pondered the idea of hiking from the grounds of the island all the way to the top of the island. This of course didn’t happen. Due to time constraints, we decided it was best for us to take a one-way ropeway trip to the “top” of the island. I honestly was feeling a bit chicken about this since I had never been on a ropeway before but sometimes, there’s a first for things and this just happened to be one of those times.