Gradus ad Parnassum

We left Tokyo early in the morning to catch the shinkansen to Hiroshima, a five-hour trip.  It's impossible not to admire the Japanese railway system.  Besides being comfortable, clean, efficient, and easy to navigate, the snack choices dominate those available on other forms of public transit.  An ekiben from Shin-Osaka:

After a dropping off our baggage at the no-frills Hotel Granvia (conveniently located at the station), we left for Miyajima by train and ferry.  Miyajima is a jewel of cultural heritage and natural beauty, and unbeknownst to us, a trap for unwary tourists on holidays.  We had planned on a 10K hike up to Mount Misen but arrived a little too late in the day to complete the full circuit.  Slowed by the throngs of Japanese visitors on holiday feeding the locust-like deer that overrun the island, we only stopped for a few snacks (grilled ika: skippable, fried onigiri: outstanding!) on the way up Mount Misen:

This picture is right before the climb gets really steep, so I still look pretty cheerful.  On the plus side, once the climb really starts, the crowds thin to a manageable trickle.  The rest of the way consists of a never-ending series of stairs that pass through some truly stunning forests and rocky riverbeds. Fortunately for us, there was a ropeway from the peak of Mt. Misen back to the bottom.  The most famous sight in Miyajima is the Itsukushima Shrine.  It is indeed lovely at high tide, when it appears to be floating at sea, but I prefer it at low tide in the twilight.

After a rough day hiking and battling crowds, it was time to stuff our gullets.  Hirroshima-style okonomiyaki are nominally held together with a thin layer of batter on one side and a Bulldog-drenched egg on the other.  In between are a quarter-pound of cabbage, lots of bacon, and whatever else your heart desires.  They come with a spatula and a pair of chopsticks.  The chopsticks are a polite fiction: in reality the spatula is the implement of choice for shoveling food directly down your throat, and the very friendly proprietor will tell you so at Sarashina (one of the 20-odd okonomiyaki shops at Okonomimura).

Next stop, Kurokawa.