Well I managed to skip a day trip in my last blog - before we stayed at the capsule in we went to visit the shinto shrines in Ise - they were very awe inspiring. The one we visited was the outer shrine, nestled up on a mountian in a forest. We took some pictures then headed back to the town to eat supper. We found a small noodle place and went in, the two owners were really friendly - even went so far as to mention a job opening teaching english at a local school. We caught the train back to Nagoya, and thats when we stayed at the capsule place.

A day later we went to Miyajima. Michael had to treck back to Kyoto because he forgot his camera at the hostel there. I got to the hostel - which was amazing to say the least (Right on the waterfront, 2 minutes from the ferry to the island, amazing view), dropped off my bags then headed over to Miyajima island. The ferry ride was short, we passed by the "floating" (tide was out.. wasn't floating) Torii gate. I got off the ferry and started up a small road, away from the crowds. I walked for a while, passed some cherry blossoms, went under a tunnel then ran into some of the islands tame deer. When I say tame I mean you could literally walk up to and pet them. They looked a bit haggard though, there was apparently a ban on feeding them a year or two back due to population issues. I went on up the hill, snapping pictures as I walked until I came to a small path that went up the mountain side. I walked up it, and it lead onto a larger nature trail, which went up to the top of Mount Misen. The climb took me just under two hours - but I was pretty thirsty when I got to the top. I came out of the forest on top of a monkey colony, I took a few minutes of video, then took the ropeway back down. I walked past a few shrines down to the torii gate - the sun was setting and it was very beautiful. I ran into Mike, so we took some pictures then took the ferry back to the mainland and had supper.

Today we are going to Fukuoka, which is on the southern end of the main island - staying overnight there then Mike will be heading back to Tokyo.

Photos from Ise and Miyajima