chochajin: (Sailor Moon: moods)
chochajin ([personal profile] chochajin) wrote2010-05-07 12:29 pm

[Japan Travel]: Miyajima - Part 2

Ah, finally!!! Here's part 2 of the Miyajima travel entry.
This is probably the entry with the most beautiful photos ever - at least that's what I think, but judge for yourself. Tastes are different, ne?

Miyajima Day 1 (part 2) (April 3rd, 2010):



So after leaving Daisho-in Temple I was on my way to the ropway for Mt. Misen.
Of course, it's not a very high mountain (~ 535m), so I could have climbed up, but I thought in order to save some time I'd take the ropeway instead.



On my way I met a lot of deer again. This photo looks like it's autumn (orange color) and spring (pink) at the same time XD



Quite an awesome view from there already :D



The red gate, the 5-storied pagoda, the ocean and sakura in ONE PHOTO!!! ;o;

That was in front of a small café that offered green tea. I wanted to take a break there, but when I saw the awesome view, I thought I have to take photos first before sitting down.
Suddenly the owner of the teahouse, a very old man, approached me, shouting that this is his house and that I should go away and blah~
I stayed polite and apologized (for taking photos in FRONT of his café?!!!!), then I went away without going inside and ordering anything, of course.
Just a minute before me a young Japanese male did take photos from there as well, but he was not shouted at. I take it that that man just doesn't like foreigners :/ *sigh*
You do have these kind of experience as well ... sometimes (x_x)



Zoomed.



Aren't they cute? ^-^



I took a short break and also took some more cherry blossom photos as they were so beautiful there (*___*)







I wanna live there!! ;o; ...... So beautiful!!! <3



Sorry, I'm spamming, but it's just so beautiful, I can't resist (*-*)>







The path that leads to the ropeway and also up to the top of Mt. Misen (if you want to walk) was really extremely beautiful!
Next time I go there I have to walk all the way up (*__*)v



See?? Nature pure! <3



Finally reached the ropeway and ....... had to stand in line .... a looo~oong line!!!! I can't remember how long I had to wait in the end but it was well over one hour (-_-'') ... probably I could have walked up faster XD .... *sigh*



And that's the cabe cars (^-^)> ... I finally made it!



You have to change ropeway cars once when going all the way up. At the station where you change cars I met this beautiful guy ^-^



Some cute "warning signs" again (^-^) Unfortunately I didn't meet any monkeys that day :/



Wow!!! Would have loved to meet one of those!!!!!!



The view from the top of Mt. Misen is breathtaking, don't you think?



Plus I was lucky! The weather was really great that day, offering a super great and clear view ^-^



On clear days like that you even can see Shikoku from there!!



On the top of Mt. Misen there's a lot to discover as well! I didn't have that much time ;o; Especially because I wanted to catch the last cable car of the day (around 5pm-ish) and be down near the red gate by sunset time again!!!!



God, it was really so beautiful up there and so many tiny things to discover. I really I wish I had more time. I REALLY NEED TO GO AGAIN!!! XD



Very interesting stones all over the place! This is called "kuguri-iwa" (duck-under rock XD)
That's near the Mt. Misen observatory! :)





And that's the Mt. Misen Observatory! It was quite crowded at the time I arrived there. There were some American guys climbing up the rocks there shouting how cool they are, quite annoying (-___-'') ... Oh well ... thanks to people like them "we" are the noisy foreigners, right? ( ̄へ  ̄ 凸



Never mind. The view was awesome and that's what counts, right?





Here you can see the foreigners I was talking about (on top of that semi-hug rock)...



I rushed back like WOAH despite the fact that I haven't even seen half of the things to see up there and was able to catch one of the last cable cars. This time I didn't have to stand in line ... for such a long time! XD



Back down at the station where I came from, I used the time to take a photo of a photo/poster of the observatory with no people because I didn't have a chance to take one without any people XD



And I also took a photo of a poster of the cable cars :D



Still in a rush (a race against sunset), I was finally back down and quite close to the red gate already, so I finally could slow down a bit (;´∀`)



Then, I met this 'lil guy (gal?). Looked a bit lost, but maybe it was just wondering where all the people were suddenly rushing to (=> red gate + sunset = must see! XD)



Itsukushima Shrine at low tide :)



Maybe it finally figured it's better to "go home" as all the people were busy with the sunset?! XD



Or ... maybe not. I wonder what it saw?! A cat? ^-^



Probably looking for food :)
And HOMG THE COLORS!!!!! (*__*)v



Almost sunset and finally low tide. I used the chance to also walk towards and then through the red gate :D
(and to take too many photos from many different perspectives XD)



On my way towards the gate (*_*)v



There it is. It's actually really huge once you stand in front of it! (°-°'')



(@゜Д゜@;)あら・・・? What are you doing here?! XD



At that point I was surrounded by 2342508234902384 other people with cameras in their hands and everybody was taking photos like WOAH!!! I've never seen something like this before!! XD
It was difficult to defend my own position that was quite good as you can see. As soon as you wanted to move to take a photo from another angle, your spot was gone XD



Never mind! Let's watch the sunset together! (^-^)b





Byebye sun!! (´∀`*)ノシ❤



Itsukushima Shrine at night.



Night view (*__*)



The red gate at night (sorry for the strange position of the gate as I don't have a tripod or anything, I can't choose freely from where to take photos but have to go where I can stabilize my camera with something -_- ....)

Actually .... something happened that day that ... ruined the really wonderful day a bit! After coming back from the ropeway and probably about the time I took the photos of the "lost deer" I must have lost the cover of my lense -___-; ....
I realized after sunset and went all the way back to look for it, but I couldn't find it anymore ;o; ... I was so cautious the whole day and in the end I lost it nevertheless!! ;o; .....
BAKAAAA!!! (-_-#)
It took some time until I could get a new one ... until then I had to treat my camera super careful! *sigh* (tbc! in Onomichi!! -_- ...)

As soon as the sun was gone it became SUPER FREEZING COLD!!!!! I was also exhausted and decided to go back to Hiroshima ...



... where I finally had a proper meal! :D First proper meal of the day, cuz no time for lunch on Miyajima (^-^'')> ......
Italian-Japanese(XD)-style: Omuraisu (omelette + rice) and gratin. Yummie! <3



Back in the hotel in Hiroshima.
Omamori (lucky charm) I bought in Miyajima.
You have to get rid of the round wooden thingie that says "厄" which means misfortune and then put in the transparent ball :3



Done! (^-^)v



And I also bought "momiji manjuu" which Miyajima is famous for. As you can see I bought different flavors (*__*) I liked them all btw. :3

Cameras used: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 and Pentax K-x
The Pentax photos seem to be wider as their height is shorter.


And that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed Miyajima as much as I did (^-^)v
The next day was quite busy. I left early in the morning, went to Fukuyama, Onomichi and then to Kyoto where I finally met my friends from Germany.
Stay tuned for more.

Thanks for reading. Comments are love! 

バイ☆⌒ヽ(*'、^*)chu

[identity profile] moldypotatochip.livejournal.com 2010-05-07 10:53 am (UTC)(link)
Such pretty sakura photos <3

lol @ the deer in the water!!

Your photos are lovely, what kind of camera do you have?

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2010-05-07 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you still have some sakuras left over there? :D

Because people kept asking me, I put the cameras I use at the end of each entry ^-^
Just have a look at it, there are even photos of the cameras I use if you click on the links XDDDD

[identity profile] ame-no-uta.livejournal.com 2010-05-07 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
das nächste mal, wenn ich nach miyajima fahr will ich dort übernachten, ist zwar total teuer aber das muss mal sein, es ist so wunderschön da (*_*)

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
Ja, sehr teuer x_____X
Aber bis zum Sonnenuntergang zu bleiben war echt ne gute Idee! Sonnenaufgang wäre auch schön, aber dafür müsste man wohl echt übernachten ;)

[identity profile] amvn.livejournal.com 2010-05-07 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahhh it's so nice to come be able to watch such gorgeous photos after a looong and stressful day at uni ^_____^ It's awesome you got to walk out to the shrine, and get a shot at the illuminated version by night *_* And the deer out at low tide is priceless XDDD
And I've always wanted to try momiji manju, they look so yummie! :D

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
Glad you liked the photos ^-^
Momiji Manju are indeed very delicious! I miss them and I wish I brought some more with me XD

[identity profile] leviosa8.livejournal.com 2010-05-07 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd never seen Miyajima in full bloom, I think. Those pictures are lovely.

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
It was one of the most beautiful sceneries I've ever seen (thanks to spring). I wanna go in autumn again. Have you been there in autumn? :)

[identity profile] leviosa8.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 07:52 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, but just like in spring, I don't think I have seen the momiji at their best, either. So take the chance it is so close to get well informed and go when they are ready. There are sites were they keep track of both the sakura blossoms and the momiji, with progress maps. It's awesome. I didn't care enough to check, but it might be worth for you. ^^

You probably know already, but just in case, a one-way trip in regular train to Miyajima is around 2300 yens, I think. And aside from the seishun 18-kippu, there are sporadic promotions for random weekends (JR anniversaries and stuff like that), so you can keep an eye on those, too. I know your biggest problem is time, but a Shinkansen to Hiroshima is way too expensive to compensate for a day trip. : (

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 10:44 am (UTC)(link)
Yah. I never knew that Miyajima is closer than Hiroshima from here until I sat in a train bound for Iwakuni from Hiroshima (also going to Miyajimaguchi) XDDDDD
I'll definitely go again. I still have no AUTUMN photos of Japan at all and that would be a great opportunity anyways. Problem so far was that I have no vacation in autumn, but with Thu+Fri off, that shouldn't be a problem as long as it's not raining on those 2 days the whole time XD

[identity profile] leviosa8.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 10:57 am (UTC)(link)
A one day trip to Miyajima is enough, you don't need to spend two days. You can even do Miyajima and Hiroshima on the same day: go by regular train and return by shinkansen at night.

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 11:02 am (UTC)(link)
I'd probably stay in Hiroshima over night and then go shopping there the next day ^^
I wanna spent another whole day in Miyajima, there's still so much to discover :D

[identity profile] mtassarion.livejournal.com 2010-05-07 08:14 pm (UTC)(link)
that gate is so nice

and in the twilight it doesn't look orange :P

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
It's not really orange, but not bright red either. I guess it was once red, but the color faded over time??? ^-^;

[identity profile] mtassarion.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 09:54 am (UTC)(link)
yeah that's probably correct

[identity profile] prismatic-star.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
Aaahhh soo pretttyyyy <3
I wish I were there right now >.>

[identity profile] angelbott.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
So beautiful! xD yummy foods.
ext_156066: (Ryo)

[identity profile] je12-vz09.livejournal.com 2010-05-08 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
i so love all the pictures! everything's just so beautiful, so perfect! i'm snagging 'em! hehehe... thank you for sharing all your travel photos. still gotta check the older travel-photo entries of yours.

[identity profile] meghsta.livejournal.com 2010-05-09 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
Gah, I feel so bad because I haven't been keeping up with your posts about your new camera. (><);; But how do you like it?

I love this post. Seriously. I've always loved those torii gates. (That's what they're called, right? I'm not getting them confused with another thing? ;;;) And that charm is really adorable!

I hope you enjoyed Miyajima as much as I did
Yes yes! Definitely did. *^^* Thank you for sharing! ♥

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2010-05-09 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
Don't feel bad please!!! (^-^) I understand! I'm usually too busy to properly follow other people's LJs, too! ;o;

Yes, "鳥居" is correct :D

Thanks for your comment ^-^

[identity profile] bluemchenblatt.livejournal.com 2010-05-11 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)
ich will wieder nach japan. meh.

[identity profile] kamishey.livejournal.com 2010-05-12 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
gorgeous pictures!!!
specially the sunset ones and the sakura ones ;D
im definitely putting this place on my "TO GO" list :D