traveljapan

Miyajima Island: Busted gondola leads to good things

/ viabackpack / 1 Comment

✍️: Erin 📸: Jan & Erin

Thanks to a broken gondola that doubled our hiking time (and distance!), we were given a beautiful sunset as the ocean hit high tide and surrounded the Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate.

The oft-photographed gate is just off Miyajima Island in Japan. The island is accessible by ferry after about an hour’s train ride southwest of Hiroshima, and it’s a must-do trip if you’re in the Hiroshima area. The island offers steep hikes to stunning mountain views, with a series of fantastic temples and shrines along the way — including maybe my favorite temple in Japan.

Read more here …

Hiroshima (2 of 2): Stay for the city

/ viabackpack / Leave a comment

✍️: Jan 📸: Erin & Jan

We got to see a lot of Japan, but I think we saved the best for last. I loved Hiroshima. The main draw for tourists like us is undoubtably the Atomic Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Park. And rightfully so. They are somber but necessary places to experience.

But the city is also eclectic coffee shops and intimate sake bars with incredibly friendly staff. It’s home to a baseball team with avid fans. Hiroshima’s okonomiyaki (fried-noodle pancake), unique even in Japan, can’t be beat. And at least one Thomas the Tank Engine bus ferries young students wearing matching hats.

Hiroshima is definitely the city we’d most want to visit again in Japan despite seeing its primary tourists spots.

Continue reading →

Kyoto temple stay: meditation & dark gardens

/ viabackpack / Leave a comment

✍️: Jan 📸: Erin & Jan

One of the coolest experiences we’ve had so far was taking a meditation class and staying overnight at the Shunkoin Temple, a Zen Buddhist temple in the hills of Kyoto. We wanted a break from the nonstop touring of the city’s temples and shrines (more on that later ) to learn more about the history and beliefs behind them.

The deputy head priest, Takafumi Kawakami, offers meditation classes and opened the temple to overnight stays as a way to introduce Zen meditation to anyone who’s curious. He does a great job bridging the gap between cultures for us Westerners, in part because he lived in the U.S. for a few years and speaks fluent English.

Meditation room at Shunkoin Temple
Read more here …