Vacation!

We've spent the last few days travelling around Japan with Toby's sister Naomi. On the first day, we spent many long hours travelling on the Shinkansen. We couldn't take the fastest train, the Nozomi Super Express, because Naomi's Japan Rail Pass doesn't cover it. However, the other trains aren't much slower. That pass is really worth it, she's covered for all travel on JR local trains, the Shinkansen, and even the ferry we took from Hiroshima to Miyajima. Anyways, the first day was spent travelling and we didn't arrive at the hostel until after 10. Unfortunately, youth hostels seem to have these curfew rules - you must check in before 10pm and you must check out before 10 am. So we were a little late but the room was quite nice. On Day 2, we spent the morning sightseeing in Iwakuni (we've been there before, you can see the bridge at my deviantart page). Then we went to Miyajima. We managed to take a ropeway in both places and especially in Miyajima, had spectacular views. We also got to walk out to the Tori in the water in Miyajima, due to an exceptionally low tide. Day 3 was spent in Hiroshima. We had to get up at 5am in order to make it to the Hiroshima Peace Park before 8am, where the annual ceremony is held. The crowds were enormous, it was extremely hot even at 8am, and security was tight. However, it was a wonderful experience. A short lady behind Toby cried when he offered to take pictures for her. Doves were released and music from Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai'was played, by what we later found out was an elementary or junior highschool band. The Hiroshima Peace song was sung by a gigantic choir, again comprised of young students. After the ceremony, we went and got some lunch, because it was just so hot and the crowds were huge. A long search for food ended us up at what turned out to be the same place we had eaten at during our last visit. The afternoon was spent at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Memorial Hall. Later that evening we enjoyed Yakiniku and watched colourful paper lanters float down the Motoyasu River - they're lit every year with messages of peace for the bomb victims and the rest of the world. We didn't make it back for the fireworks in Iwakuni, where the hostel was, but the lantern lighting more than made up for that. Day 4 was spent travelling to Nara, with a brief stop in Kyoto to look at the station and buy a tripod. The trip to Nara took quite a lot longer than expected and we arrived just after sunset. The youth hostel in Nara also has a 10pm curfew, which meant that on Day 5 we couldn't get to the Tokaiji Temple, which is a large complex with a giant bronze buddha statue. In Nara in August, the whole place is lit with candles on the ground and it would have been quite nice, but we were still able to get some pictures and see the closer areas. We did get to see everything worth seeing during the day, though, and we had a delicious dinner of shabu shabu. Tomorrow is our last day, and we're planning to have a look at the oldest wooden structure in the world, a temple about 10 minutes from the hostel, and the National Museum of Nara (inexplicably closed on Mondays), after which we will head home. Sorry for so much wordiness. There has been a lot more to tell but I'm sure Toby will fill in where I've forgotten.