The Time We Visited Miyajima the Three of Us

To Miyajima we go!!!

We really like Miyajima. It's pretty, has a nice hike, it's full of deer, and the fried momiji manju with custard cream is to die for. So naturally, when we finally found out when the annual ALT Hiroshima conference is taking place, I didn't hesitate to make plans to visit Miyajima the day before the conference began.

August 11th was to be the day, a Sunday, and to my surprise, also a major festival day on the island. I hesitated a bit, thinking about the hordes of people it bound to produce, but in the end, we realized that we will be far away from all the commotion in general, either up in the mountains or down at the beach. So off we went.

We packed our bags, got Rini in the stroller, and caught the local train to Hiroshima city. It cost just under ￥2000 per person to get to Hiroshima city, but it was a nice and easy ride. We checked into our hostel when we arrived and dropped most of our things off, then headed back to Hiroshima station to keep going to Miyajima. At the hostel, we decided to buy a 2-Day Pass (another ￥2000 per person), which included the ferry to Miyajima, the ropeway to the top of the mountain, and free street car for those two days in Hiroshima city. Considering the ropeway by itself was to cost ￥1800 per person, I think we got a fair deal. So once we arrived to the ferry to the island, since we had our passes already, we were able to skip the long lines to the ticket booth, and get on the ferry right away. I really like boat rides and Rini seemed to enjoy herself as well, so all was good.

The best place to get fried momiji manju, I promise!

Once on the island, we could see that there were definitely more people than usual, but it wasn't too bad. Food stalls set up specifically for the festival were already churning out all the festival food goodness one can ever dream of. One of the reasons I like Japanese festivals so much is the food. Other than the usual staple of Japanese foods, like fried soba or okonomiyaki, and festival foods, like cotton candy, there are squid on a stick, frozen pineapple slices, corn, candy apples and strawberries (yes, candy strawberries.... it's mouthwateringly delicious), and a couple other things that I don't know the name of unfortunately, but it was one of the best "unhealthy" foods I ever had, which was probably still more healthy than most foods in America in the same situation. And of course, the fried momiji manju, that I've only ever seen on Miyajima. Momiji manju are these specialty cakes in Hiroshima city, shaped usually as a maple leaf (momiji means maple leaf), and they tend to have fillings of red bean paste, custard, or chocolate, but there are many other kinds as well. We prefer custard flavor the best, but all flavors are worth a try. What's amazing is that on Miyajima, these little cakes get a stick shoved into them and get fried, which makes them oooh, a million times better. One of the things I will seriously miss when I leave Japan, is not having the option to eat these devilishly good treats.

James with one handsome smile after another,
just had to add them all.

Anyways, let's back away from the sweets and food of festivals on Miyajima. Once we were on the island, we headed straight for the ropeway to the top of the mountain. On our walk, Rini fell asleep, and we also happened to walk past our favorite fried momiji manju place, so we picked up a couple to eat as we walked. It was really hot and sunny, so we made sure to use plenty of sunscreen. Luckily, Rini was in her stroller, so she got some shade as she napped. There's a bit of a walk to get to the ropeway, which was doable with a stroller, and in all honesty, we might have been better of with our Ergo Baby carrier, but it was just too hot to even imagine strapping Rini to us. We made it though, slowly, but surely, and Rini didn't nap long anyways, so she was able to walk a bit on her own, too.
Luckily there weren't too many people waiting in line for the ropeway, and we were on our way to the top quite fast. We had to leave our stroller at the station, but it was not a big deal. It was a nice ride, and though the weather was humid and muggy, it didn't bother us quite as much during our ride to the top. Once we arrived, we looked around a bit and enjoyed the view, which was quite a bit limited, due to the heat I guess. 

There was almost no visibility.

Posing at the top.

A quick hi after the ropeway.

The famous Mijayima gate.

We didn't spend a lot of time at the top for three reasons. First, because we've seen it before when we climbed the mountain on our previous visit; second, because it was incredibly hot and sunny; and third, we wanted to make sure we caught the bus to the beach, which only seated 9 people and did one round every two hours or so. We took a few more pictures on our way down, then decided to wait for the bus that moved between the ropeway station and the edge of the town. We were quite lucky, as we were one of the last people who fit on the bus. The bus in general doesn't save much time for anyone who can walk well, but we had Rini and our stroller to deal with, so it probably gave us the couple minutes we needed to make the difference between  missing our beach bus or getting there just in time. We had to rush a little between the two buses, which was hard, as the number of people on the island increased quite a bit, so I decided to run ahead and get in line, while James pushed Rini n the stroller as fast as he was allowed.
Luckily, we got to the bus with a good 5 minutes to spare, but there were quite a few people waiting around, and I got worried, that maybe we won't fit on after all. However, once the bus pulled up, it was plain that no one was interested in our particular bus, as we were the only ones to go to the beach. When we arrived, we rented a tarp to sit on, then changed into our bathing suits. Sadly, the facilities were no where near as nice as the ones at Innoshima, but the beach more than made up for it. The water was super warm, and we spent at least an hour in there just playing and swimming. Rini enjoyed herself much more this time around, too.

After all the hiking and swimming, Rini was out mighty quick.

When it came time to leave, we caught the bus back to the ferry, bought a bit more festival food, and tried to take pictures with the deer. I was a bit sad that we couldn't stay for the fireworks, but with Rini, we had to get back to the hostel and rest. We caught the ferry, and once we arrived to Miyajima port, and saw just how many people were still planning to get to the island, I was glad we left when we did. 

Over all we had a wonderful time, and while we're sad that this was probably our last time visiting, I think we did great at making the best of the day.

Enjoying a cob of corn on our way back to Hiroshima.