Day Three – Thursday
Whoa. I’m exhausted. Yesterday was a super-wet day and finding this hotel was a disaster. I was following the map from Google to Hotel Kinki, at least I thought I was, and ended walking up 600m too far. After eventually getting to the hotel and settling in, I had a nap. The drinks from the previous night and the lack of food made me feel kinda ill, but some KFC fixed that.
Way cute!
About 7:30pm I went for a walk to get some photos. While nearing the hotel I heard are “Hello! Where are you from?” and looked behind. A Japanese man wanted to start a conversation. Then he showed me photos of his Aussie/British/American friends and asked if I wanted to be shown around. So we went walkabout to the Ohatsu Tenjin Shrine where I got a stack of photos, and then onto The Blarney Stone, an Irish pub where foreigners like me hang out. Funnily enough, I’d already had maps to these places printed out and in my suitcase.
After a VB it was time to go. I was amazed that a man walking home from work took an hour of his time to show me around. You never get that kindness from strangers in Australia.
Day Four – Friday
After settling into my hotel again I found new Futurama and went to sleep with that on. I had five hours of sleep last night – biggest sleep for the past week – and this morning went to Hiroshima. After the rain yesterday, and the forecast of more rain today, I took the umbrella along. It wasn’t needed as when I got to Hiroshima, it was hot and sunny. The perfect day. To get from Osaka to Shin-Osaka and then to Hiroshima, I surprisingly didn’t need any assistance in buying the train tickets. Win!
The Atomic Bomb Dome was a very special place. It’s the only reason I went to Hiroshima. It’s so hard to believe that it was one of the few things left standing after being blasted by the atomic bomb. It’s surrounded by a fence so you can’t actually go in, but some parts are almost within reach.
Here’s a bunch of photos from today.
While nearing Hiroshima Station, I saw a lady I’d passed a minute earlier sprinting towards me. She asked if I need help and I replied with “Just looking for Hiroshima Station”. She then pointed and gave directions, before saying “I’ll take you there”. Again, total awesome-ness and kindness from the Japanese. They are such great people. Everyone is courteous, everyone bows. I love it!
And that’s it from me. I’ve nothing planned for the rest of the night as my feet are so sore and I’ve spent way too much money so far. If I can get by on 5000 yen a day I’ll be happy. Tomorrow I go on the Osaka All Star walk, so I really need to rest my feet for it. Seeya!
