Hiroshima

We caught our bus to the train station with a couple of Aussies from Melbourne. There was only the four of us on the big McCaffertys style bus and we were sitting directly behind the driver, yet he had to use the microphone. Our Aussie friends were really really lovely.

Alas, at the transit centre we had to part ways but no before we exchanged Facebook details.



Mick and I jumped into our shinkansen (super high speed train about 300 km/hr!!) and settled in for our 5 hour journey to Hiroshima. We had one brief change of trains and finally arrived at Hiroshima at 5pm. We grabbed some cash out at the post office & caught a taxi to K's House Hostel. Our room is super small BUT with an awesomely comfortable western style bed!!! air conditioning & our own bathroom. SWEET.

Without delay we caught the mega packed (squishy) tram down to the A-bomb Dome on the river. There are not enough adjectives to express just how beautiful, tragic, sad, moving, calming, amazing, breath-taking the A-bomb Dome & Peace Garden is.
We walked around the gardens looking at all the various memorials for around one and a half hours. We didn 't say much and it was a very emotional experience. I found myself getting a bit teary at the beauty and sadness of the place. Very moving. The A-bomb dome looked particulary good as nighttime fell and it was lit up.
It was now getting a bit dark so we started the walk back to the hostel. It was a lovely mild night.
Getting close to the hostel we went down a bit of a side street & stuck our head into a restaurant.
Inside the small place was decorated with all manner of retro Japanese things. 1950s advertisements, movie posters, toys and advertisments. The boss was a young fella who was really lovely and friendly and explained that is is into Rock and Roll.
We ordered some lemon sour drinks & had sashimi & Karage (spicy fried chicken).
We then walked the rest of the way back to the hostel & set up the computer in the common room.
Soon the room began to fill up with the other guests. We sat up until about 1am chatting with people from Denmark, Chile, North Carolina, Vancouver, California & a French guy called Batiste from Kangaroo Point in Brisbane. It was a really fun night.