Hi again, from electric Osaka we took a tube, train and cable car up the mountains to a famous monastary Koya-san which a bhuddist saint established. It is a tranquil place with temples and forest so green, with tall towering trees and moss covered rocks and gravestones. Stayed with the monks who gave us a vegetarian dinner with many tastes and textures and colours to devour. I walked thru the cemetary at dusk and saw some beautiful ancient and modern monuments to the dead, it stretches for about a km in the woods. Pilgrims come to pay their respects and the town is considered holy. After the worst nites sleep on a futon with a tiny pillow filled with dried peas, I spent the night trying to sleep but was up every hour too hot, too uncomfortable, too tired. The sleeping mat and bag on the Inca trail was more comfortable let me tell you. I awoke looking less than rested and we headed back to Osaka the same way we came and boarded a bullet train bound for Hiroshima.
On arrival at Hiroshima we were set loose to explore and I got myself and another girl lost as the maps were not that clear and I was still in a sleep depraved state. Anyway we got to the contemporary art museum and the manga library and met the rest of the crew for okonomayki Hiroshima style which is quite different to the style we are used to. It is cooked in layers with the addition of udon or chinese noodles. I washed mine down with a glass of saki... then I had to go to bed as I was dead on my feet.
This morning we took a tram to the Abomb site which was such a moving experience. We had a guide whose motherwitnessed the explosion and an in utero survivor and went to the peace museum. It was horrific reading about the events that led to the bomb and the devastation and utter suffering the victims endured. I cried, I could not help it. Truly shocking and everyone should come to see the museum and strive for nuclear free world. Some images were stomach churning, men women children disfigured and burnt, the accounts and drawings from survivors, I cannot imagine going through such Hell, and that is what it must have been. The town is dedicated to peace and preservation now. We soon head to Myajima Is to see some beautiful scenery and deer, a relief from a harrowing morning.
That would be so sad. I always think about it as the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th. So for me its a happy day but imagine to people who lost family on that day !
ReplyDeleteReally ? A pillow made with peas in it ? OMG how uncomfortable would that have been !
Cya soon cuz !!