TRAVELweek: Day 2:: Miyajima

Monday October 31, 2005

view of miyajima from ferry

i only learned of miyajima a few days before my departure, but was thrilled to hear that this one of the views of japan that everyone sees. what makes it so amazing is the fact that there is this huge torii in front of the shrine that is in water. so as you approach it you see this giant floating torii and this floating shrine in the water. so being as it was only a train ride and ferry trip away, and all of it was free since i had my railpass, why wouldn't i go?

yay! more deer!!

after getting off of the ferry, i was surprised to see the deer roaming around just like at todaiji. how cool!! it just kind of reiterated the fact that everyone in japan is friendly and courteous, even the animals. anyways, so i started on my tour of this island and found that miyajima is known for their rice spoons. here are just a few examples of them.

it's HUGE!!!

i also started exploring the town with it various shops, all which sold these rice spoons, chopsticks and other touristy items. they also had these little cakes shaped like maple leaves filled with some sort of sweet center like red bean, green tea and my personal favorite, CHEESE!! it was really good. it was some sort of processed cheese, but dude, it was still good.


as i continued to explore the place and stopped by the main shrine, i could only imagine what it must be like here when it is high tide. the be surrounded by water as you pray must be a surreal experience. how calming must it be there? calming i guess. anyways. i kind left that shrine in a peaceful place, especially after seeing a wedding there. anyways so i was walking out to see the rest of the island and i see this deer at the end of the bridge that i'm standing at. it starts approaching me and immediately reach into my bag to grab my camera. it's one of these older male deer so i'm like, "i don't have a picture of one of these yet so how perfect!" so i'm standing there fumbling to turn my camera on it's getting closer and closer and then suddenly it totally rams it's head into my stomach. immediately i yell out (with hand up in the air) "WHATS UP BITCH!!" like he just punked me. so i'm standing there with like a dirt mark from his dirty ass head and people looking at me. i kinda wanted to kick that deer's ass b/c i know i could have taken him, but then i just said, "fuck it!" and then just started to explore the rest of the island.

autumn in miyajima

view of some of the shrines

i can tell you after that experience i won't be getting close to any deer. imagine if he had horns and he plowed into me. i probably wouldn't be here, i'd be in a hospital recovering from being impaled by deer antlers. but the funny thing is that it could have happened. as i was walking around some of the trails i see this other male deer in the distance and he's totally got horns and he's looking at me with these intense eyes and i'm like "forget this, i'm leaving this place. later bitch!" and then i head to some other part of the island.

i get it your protectin your young, but sheesh...

i got some really nice pictures of some of the shrines. it's such a beautiful time to be here. in the main hall i got a chance to get this couple while they rested and enjoyed the view. i walked by the to see what they looked like and honestly, i think she could do better, but good for the guy.




so after my trek across the sea, getting hit by a deer, seeing a dead deer with a glove on it's face (i have a picture, but it's on my other camera and i seriously thought it was alive until this german tourist checked it's breath and told me that since it had dust in it's eyes that it was dead) and almost getting attacked by another deer i was exhausted until i saw the torii.

damn deer messed up my shot...

this time the tide had gone down and there were a whole bunch of clam diggers, well, looking for clams. so i checked it out. the thing was totally huge! so i went back on the ferry, boarded the shinkansen and then back to the dohokan.