宮島 Miyajima

It was time for us to see something completey different compared to the depressing reality of the past. Hence, Sophie and me traveled to an island called 宮島 Miyajima. This island is famous for the 厳島神社 Itsukushima-jinja, whose gate rising grandly out of the sea is considered as one of Japan's most beautiful views. The shrine is also called the "floating shrine". It is placed very close to the sea, expressed by an atmosphere which is influenced by the ebb and the flood.

Due to the fact that Miyajima is an island, it was necessary to take a ferry from the mainland, thus we took a train from 広島 Hiroshima to 宮島 Miyajima to go on by the boat.

To get an impression what I'm talking about, I will carry on my tradition with showing a few pictures from this really beautiful place.

Places breeding のかき(nokaki) or better oysters.
An awesome view along the sea.
Now we are entering the island. We had a lot of luck regarding to the weather. Sometimes sunshine, but most of the time just convenient...not to hot and not to cold, and no rain. You know the deers from a lot of other places...they are everywhere.
And sometimes they "kuschel"...
Ahhh, protect me from buying useless stuff disguised as おみやげ (omiyage), little souvenirs. But this time I bought only a few postcards...but special ones, I swear ;)厳島神社 Itsukushima-jinja and in the background you can see the five-storey pagoda.
And now the nice gate, the 大鳥居 (ootorii). A sixteen-metre-tall gate dating from 1875. This is the seventeenth incarnation since the original one was erected by Taira no Kiyomori. The position in the water indicates, that the island is a holy Shinto place.
Miyajima has a biiiiig mountain called 弥山 (misen-san) with a height of unbelievable 530m. And because we are sportive people we climbed on top of the mountain to get a panoramic view across the island. But to prepare for the hike, first we drunk a "Käffchen" with a nice view between this bridge....
and this waterfall...
Starting the challenge...
Dangerous creatures...
Approximately 30m below the top...I like especially this little conical island.
Entry near the peak.On the top...enjoy the awesome view.
The mainland on the other side of the sea.Sophie and me were a little bit disappointed, because normally there are chilling a lot of monkeys on top of the mountain, but this day not one animal could be seen....:(
The gate on the way back...I couldn't decide which picture is the most beautiful, thus I provided all three perspectives.
I guess this was the last far trip inside Japan....
Mademoiselle Sophie, merci beaucoup for exploring some of the most beautiful places in Japan with you...