For this two day trip we decided to travel with a small luggage to travel light with just the basics. The rest is up to the reception, and we'd go back there tomorrow night for a couple of days. We started our journey by taking the Hikari shinkansen little after 8 h bound for Okayama, where we arrived after just over an hour. There we left the backpack in a locker for 300 yen, as we had to return to the station to continue our journey later.
Okayama has few tourist attractions, but one of them is first order: Korakuen, one of the top three gardens in Japan. It was built by the daimyo Ikeda Tsunamasa in the seventeenth century as a playground for your family and your guests. The other people had denied entry to the abolition of the feudal system following the Meiji restoration of the nineteenth century.
To get there we took a tram for 100 yen, as you walk the walk from the station was very long. We enter through the front door Korakuen after paying 400 yen each. The garden seemed very spacious with large lawn (perhaps too many), lakes with lotuses, wooded hills, houses ... I walked to the Sawa-no-ike, the largest lake garden, dotted with lovely islets . On the shore there was a small hill, Yuishinzan with a viewpoint that there was a spectacular garden view.
Sawa-no-ike, Korakuen
the bottom Yuishinzan, Korakuen
views from the Yuishinzan, Korakuen
Splashing Korakuen were some small buildings arranged in perfect harmony with the garden, adding even more charm. More typical were the teahouses as Enyo-tei, where he was received daimyo when visiting the garden. Another interesting site was the Ryuten, daimyo resting place, where there was a creek that ran through the building and got soaking feet.
Enyo-tei, Korakuen
Ryuten, Korakuen
Ryuten, Korakuen
We spent an hour visiting Korakuen and really liked it, although we believe that the Kanazawa far exceeds what. We went through the south gate and from the bridge Tsukimi took a look at the Okayama-jo, Okayama Castle. It was built in the seventeenth century, but following the bombings of the Second World War was almost destroyed. It's curious architecture of Japanese castles, palaces paints have more than anything else.
Okayama-jo
We took the tram to the station where we picked up our luggage backpack. We had to catch a shinkansen to Hiroshima, but that time passed many Nozomi, which fall outside the Japan Rail Pass. We had to wait half an hour for Sakura, so we took to get something to eat at the station. We got off at Hiroshima and took a local train on the JR Sanyo Line to Miyajimaguchi where ferries to Miyajima.
In Miyajimaguchi two ferry companies, JR Miyajima and Matsudai, but only the first is included in the Japan Rail Pass. There is also the option of taking ferries from the port or the Peace Park in Hiroshima, but they are very expensive and are not covered by the JR Pass. The ferry from JR was not very crowded, and the ride was fast. From the ferry had great views of the famous torii of Miyajima and Itsukushima temple.
Miyajima torii views from the ferry
We arrived at the port about 13:30 Miyajima and the first thing we did was go to our accommodation, Ryoso Kawaguchi, a very nice ryokan located in the town of Miyajima. We were not able to check-in as we had arrived before time, but we were able to leave the backpack. The lady who greeted us was very friendly, gave us a map of the island and informed us that the high tide would be at 8 o'clock in the evening. At that moment it was low tide, so the lady recommended we go see the torii before the tide started to walk to the same base.
13b See Japan: Okayama & Miyajima in a larger map
We had half a day to visit Miyajima wined so no more at the ryokan. That hour the people of Miyajima was a bustle of tourists strolling through its streets full of shops with all kinds of souvenirs. As in Nara, there also were many deer, and one of them had an accident: we sat down to rest in a place and we made recklessness walking away our Rough Guide. In an instant a deer came up and bit to try to eat it. We had to struggle with him to retrieve it, but fortunately the guide was not damaged (it was not ours ...).
The first visit we made to Miyajima was his most famous and visited place, O-torii. This gate was built in the ninth century, but the present structure is a reconstruction of the late nineteenth century. Both the torii and Itsukushima temple are declared world heritage by Unesco. As it was low tide, it was a good time to see the torii closely, we could walk to touch (on this website you can check the tide times).
O-torii, Miyajima
Up close, O-torii much more impressive from afar. We could see the shape of the trunks of wood construction, with its imperfections and textures. On the basis people had put coins in the cracks of the wood to make wishes. It was awesome to be at one of the most typical and well-known images from Japan.
Okayama has few tourist attractions, but one of them is first order: Korakuen, one of the top three gardens in Japan. It was built by the daimyo Ikeda Tsunamasa in the seventeenth century as a playground for your family and your guests. The other people had denied entry to the abolition of the feudal system following the Meiji restoration of the nineteenth century.
To get there we took a tram for 100 yen, as you walk the walk from the station was very long. We enter through the front door Korakuen after paying 400 yen each. The garden seemed very spacious with large lawn (perhaps too many), lakes with lotuses, wooded hills, houses ... I walked to the Sawa-no-ike, the largest lake garden, dotted with lovely islets . On the shore there was a small hill, Yuishinzan with a viewpoint that there was a spectacular garden view.
Sawa-no-ike, Korakuen
the bottom Yuishinzan, Korakuen
views from the Yuishinzan, Korakuen
Splashing Korakuen were some small buildings arranged in perfect harmony with the garden, adding even more charm. More typical were the teahouses as Enyo-tei, where he was received daimyo when visiting the garden. Another interesting site was the Ryuten, daimyo resting place, where there was a creek that ran through the building and got soaking feet.
Enyo-tei, Korakuen
Ryuten, Korakuen
Ryuten, Korakuen
We spent an hour visiting Korakuen and really liked it, although we believe that the Kanazawa far exceeds what. We went through the south gate and from the bridge Tsukimi took a look at the Okayama-jo, Okayama Castle. It was built in the seventeenth century, but following the bombings of the Second World War was almost destroyed. It's curious architecture of Japanese castles, palaces paints have more than anything else.
Okayama-jo
We took the tram to the station where we picked up our luggage backpack. We had to catch a shinkansen to Hiroshima, but that time passed many Nozomi, which fall outside the Japan Rail Pass. We had to wait half an hour for Sakura, so we took to get something to eat at the station. We got off at Hiroshima and took a local train on the JR Sanyo Line to Miyajimaguchi where ferries to Miyajima.
In Miyajimaguchi two ferry companies, JR Miyajima and Matsudai, but only the first is included in the Japan Rail Pass. There is also the option of taking ferries from the port or the Peace Park in Hiroshima, but they are very expensive and are not covered by the JR Pass. The ferry from JR was not very crowded, and the ride was fast. From the ferry had great views of the famous torii of Miyajima and Itsukushima temple.
Miyajima torii views from the ferry
We arrived at the port about 13:30 Miyajima and the first thing we did was go to our accommodation, Ryoso Kawaguchi, a very nice ryokan located in the town of Miyajima. We were not able to check-in as we had arrived before time, but we were able to leave the backpack. The lady who greeted us was very friendly, gave us a map of the island and informed us that the high tide would be at 8 o'clock in the evening. At that moment it was low tide, so the lady recommended we go see the torii before the tide started to walk to the same base.
13b See Japan: Okayama & Miyajima in a larger map
We had half a day to visit Miyajima wined so no more at the ryokan. That hour the people of Miyajima was a bustle of tourists strolling through its streets full of shops with all kinds of souvenirs. As in Nara, there also were many deer, and one of them had an accident: we sat down to rest in a place and we made recklessness walking away our Rough Guide. In an instant a deer came up and bit to try to eat it. We had to struggle with him to retrieve it, but fortunately the guide was not damaged (it was not ours ...).
The first visit we made to Miyajima was his most famous and visited place, O-torii. This gate was built in the ninth century, but the present structure is a reconstruction of the late nineteenth century. Both the torii and Itsukushima temple are declared world heritage by Unesco. As it was low tide, it was a good time to see the torii closely, we could walk to touch (on this website you can check the tide times).
O-torii, Miyajima
Up close, O-torii much more impressive from afar. We could see the shape of the trunks of wood construction, with its imperfections and textures. On the basis people had put coins in the cracks of the wood to make wishes. It was awesome to be at one of the most typical and well-known images from Japan.
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