Day 3 - Hiroshima (10 July)

By Danae

Do itashimashite. (Don't touch my moustache, is how you remember it). This is what I learnt from the Japanese tour guide today, as to how to say 'you're welcome'. Also, I learnt that the Japanese address people by their titles, and that the title for lawyer is sensai (along with teachers and politicians - god only knows why politicians are teachers, but anyway). And they address people by their last names. So I am Younger-san, a sensai. Well at least I retained something. I think I might have been having a snooze on the bus during important parts of his tour of Hiroshima and Miyajima today; unfortunately, this is a side effect of me hopping on any bus. I just CANNOT keep my eyes open! Oh wait, this is also a side effect of me having flash photography. Oh well. Let's just say the Japanese tour guide was full of useful information, if only I could keep my eyes open!

Miyajima is very beautiful - http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3401.html. Lots of mountains and it is famous for the shrine gate which is featured on many postcards. The region is also famous for its oysters and eel. I tried eel with udon noodles for lunch, which was pretty tasty. We also had maple leaf shaped cookie things, which were pretty crap.

Hiroshima was a very interesting place. I remembered more than I thought I did from school. It was extremely sad to read about the people, especially the children, that died due to the Atomic bomb being dropped. The museum and monument failed to mention that Japan were actually pretty blameworthy in the scheme of things, though. Damn war. At the peace museum we watched a short movie about the effect of the A-bomb on Hiroshima, and after that there was barey a dry eye left in the place. The A-bomb certainly flattened things like there was no tomorrow, and lots of people ended up dead/very sick from it. I remember making paper cranes at school to send over to the children's monument, dedicated to the children who died from Hiroshima. Many people were diagnosed with leukaemia after the bomb due to the radiation, including a girl name Sadako who made 1500 paper cranes before she died.

There were some Aussie bogans on our tour - why is there always at least one Aussie bogan on tours overseas? There is no hope for our country really. These ones were from Townsville and were carrying on about how 'Abos' were good for nothing. Mega cringe. On Miyajima we had been warned by our tour guide about the wild deer, and about how they favour paper and cloth products so to keep our maps well away from them. One of the bogans failed to listen to these words of wisdom and lost his map to a deer, much to the amusement of the rest of the tour.

That night I went for a massage at a quick-massage place around the corner from our hotel. Sensational. I didn't realise how sore my legs were until they were massaged. I think I will be needing one of these every night!