Miyajima to Hiroshima

We're in Hiroshima now and again, we're behind on our blogging as we didn't have internet connection yesterday in Miyajima. Miyajima is an island located near Hiroshima and was a perfect break from the city life of Japan. We stayed at Iwaso ryokan - a traditional Japanese inn. They serve a kaiseki dinner in your room and we slept on futons which they lay out for you at night in your room. We took the cable car to the top of Mount Misen and then had the bright idea of walking down. Now, it sounds easy enough to walk down a mountain - for God's sake, we're Canadian, how hard could it be. But being that it's a mountain in Japan visited by many tourists, they had stairs built pretty much all the way down the 553 meter mountain and we all discovered that it's easier on the legs to walk down a path then hundreds of steps made of rock. Not that we should complain as we saw a Swiss or Austrian family, with little kids, walking up. We assumed they were Swiss or Austrian because frankly, who else would even think of walking up and looking like they were out for a leisurely stroll.

Unfortunately, I caught a head cold and was coughing and wheezing and disturbing my roommate throughout the night as I was so stuffed up. A floor is a hard place to sleep when you're feeling like crap. It meant that I had to spend the afternoon today, napping in my hotel room after drugging myself, while the others went to the Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Hiroshima. I think it was quite draining for them - it is a very emotional journey as you learn about the dropping of the atomic bomb, the after effects and the rebuilding of the city. Tomorrow, we are off to Kobe as we head into the last few days of our vacation. So far, we have managed to have a good time without having to vote anyone in our group off the island.