Japan: Shimonoeski, Ogori, Iwakuni & Hiroshima

We made it to Japan on Wednesday, August, 28th. The ferry from Korea was cruise- like, even in 2nd class. In Shimonoeski we already noticed some stark differences from Korea, for example, it seemed a lot more organized, less loud. People also seemed to stare less at us. After we found a map at a ¥100 shop we started to bike out of the city. We quickly found a shrine and stopped to take a look. We are starting to learn the differences between a shrine and a temple. After the stop we cycled onto Ogorie, a small town. In Japan it is possible to "guerilla" camp, so we found a spot under a bridge for free. After buying our first meal we found out how much the $ to ¥ was going to hurt us. We cycled 53km to get to Ogorie.

We woke up early and had early plans to make it a long day. The plan was to cycle to Hiroshima within the next few days. We decided to cycle to Iwakuni. The cycling in Japan has been pleasent so far. We've been able to avoide highways by cycling on sidewalks, and small farm roads. On the way to Iwakuni we were pulled over by police- for cycling on a freeway, the Japanese drivers are so polite to bikers we had no idea we were on a freeway. By te time we had gotten to Iwakuni we had done 91.47km. It was a long and hot day(90% humidity!)

Iwakuni had a beatiful bridge and is nestled in the beatiful green mountains. We were able to see another shrine and we are starting to get the hang of the traditions on Japan when visiting a shrine- pay, bow, pray, clap twice, bow again. We stayed in a hostel that night and had a much deserved Japanese style bath- we were the only ones staying in the hostel!

This morning it rained and we waited for it to subside. We stared biking out of town at around 10am. We stopped when we saw a sign for another shrine- itsukushima-jinja, a UNESCO world heritage sight. It is as beautiful as the pictures. It looks as if the red gate is floating in the water. We had to take a short water taxi to get there and a lot of the day was spent in Miyajima. We then went back to mainland and cycled our way to Hiroshima. An easy 39km got us to the hostel and we were able to catch the Peace Memorial Museum before it closed. Of course it was a somber evening but I'm glad we were able to see it- it's always an education. Tomorrow is another day of cycling and I'm excited to see what more beautiful sites we will see.