Miyajima Island and Momiji Manju!!

So we took a trip out to Miyajima Island which is Japan's answer to Rottnest. Ok, so they have world heritage sites, but they also have some very friendly deer (very similar to the good old quokka). They also don't mind eating paper and souvenirs! Here's one of the locals trying to purchase a ticket.

The ferry trip from Hiroshima is only ten minutes but it feels a world away from the city centre. Miyajima is supposedly one of Japan's top three scenic locations and has one of the most famous Torii (gate to a shinto shrine) in Japan. It used to be that the commoners were not allowed on the island so to worship at the shrine they needed to go through the gate via boat. This torii looks as though it is 'floating' at high tide, but when the tide is out you can actually walk down to it along the mud.

They also have a mountain called Mt Misen and we caught a cable car to the top and had a wander around. There's monkeys that live up there too, but apparently they were out in the forest eating. They like souvenirs too. Anyway, we missed the last cable car so we walked back down the mountain in the ridiculous humidity. We were both soaking wet by the time we got back down!

While at the island we stayed at a traditional Japanese Ryokan (guesthouse/inn). We were greeted by our host Grandmother Fumiko who served us cold green tea and our first Momiji Manju on our arrival. Later that night after the hike down the mountain we were served a feast of Japanese food (see pics below).

This was to start. Sashimi, some seafood, cold noodles and tofu.


We also got a giant prawn.


Followed by "Japan's number one fish"

Followed by rice, pickles, Hiroshima beef and the most delicious miso soup I've ever had. It had lemon in in!

And for dessert some fruit. These grapes were selling at the Hiroshima train station for $30-$50 a bunch!! They taste just like plums! Nate reckons they are the best thing ever.

We also fell in love with the local sweet (each area in Japan seems to have their own unique sweet). Anyway, this one's called Momiji Manju and we skipped lunch one day just so we could sample some of the many flavours. It's a maple leaf shaped waffle/cake thing with a filling. They also make them everywhere on the island and you can watch the machines going all day long. It's so cool! The best thing was that they were served in air-conditioned comfort with ice cold tea as it was so humid outside. We managed to sample sweet red bean, chocolate, apricot jam, custard, apple and cheese(just coz we were curious)!