Day 3 and 4

This morning we headed out to a Bamboo grove again in the foothills of Kyoto.  Was really worthwhile, not only did we see these but again some world heritage gardens, temples, old shogun buildings.

In the afternoon Hoopers and Slates went to a Japanese "Movie World" type place...was probably aimed at younger kids but we did get to see the entire collection of power rangers ever made..

That night after a more traditional dinner we finished the night with a few drinks that turned into  a bit of a blowout last night in Cafe Luigo or something like that. It must of been the strange food or something in the drinks because was difficult to walk straight and I remember staggering back to the hotel around midnight, fortunately we only had around 30 meter walk back to the hotel.

This morning we caught a bullet train down to Hiroshima which took around 90 minutes. Got there still feeling more than a little seedy and got some hangover fuel outside the station.  Actually another quirky thing about japan is the lack of bins.. there doesn't seem to be any rubbish on the grounds and yet you can never find a bin.  Also the whole place is so clean and orderly, no graffiti anywhere.. not even public transport. Great to think there is societies where people don't feel the need to do it.

From here caught a tram into town, and eventually found our way to our Ryoken, this  is a traditional japanese inn.  The old lady who runs this is extremely helpful and obviously a natural people person, she really makes you feel welcome.

We decided to go to Miyajima island where they have the famous O-torii Gate and world heritage gardens.  As you can see in some of the photos the gardens again were stunning and has been a real highlight for me.  When we arrived by the ferry the tide was out and you could walk out to the gate.

After we walked our way up towards a cable car that ran up the mountain.. The mountain range on the island went up around 600 metres so the views from the top were pretty impressive.  When we got back  down a hour or so later, the tide had come in so we got another few photos of the O-Torii Gate with water around it.

The island itself is home to a lot of deer that wander around the streets and shops and don't seem the least bothered by people or cars.

Hiroshima, doesn't get the attention in the tourist guides like Kyoto and Tokyo, but even in the small amount of time we have had here it certainly seems to be a lovely city and well worth coming to.

Had dinner at a little bar and grill place around the corner and decided for an early night.