So on arriving in Hiroshima I reacquaint myself with the hostel experience with the hope of meeting more travellers along the way. When I arrived in my 4 bed dorm room they all had curtains for each bunk. First time I’d seen it. A touch anti social but it also kind of made sense.

I asked the hostel for a recommendation to try Hiroshima’s version of okonmiyaki and they suggested Denko Sekka

Took me a while to find as it appeared that every eatery on the 6 floor of this mall was a okonomiyaki place and the signs were all in Japanese. A bit of character matching and spotting the Denko Sekka t-shirts worn by the staff helped confirm I was in the right place. Another cosy dining experience they sat me between two couples I had to tuck my elbows into my kidneys for a while.

A twist on okonomiyaki I had experienced which included a choice of soba or udon noodles and all the fillings sandwiched between 2 small pancake size omelettes. A number of fillings and options include seafood and a fried egg. I opt for the Hitoni Yasashiku (double pork, egg, noodle, oyster, spring onion and shredded nori). Nom nom nom

I wake up the next morning to clear blue sky and blazing sun so opt to go to Miyajima as the famous shrine by the sea it would hopefully yield better photos.

Pretty cool as I can get there on the local JR train and JR Ferry as part of my JR train pass

The ferry ride was pretty quick but enough to get a glimse of the shrine gate from a far. There are lots of small platoons in the water along the way and I figure they are some sort of fish farm, but later learn they are oyster farms.

This shrine is on a raised platform over the sea and its red exterior contrasts nicely against the sea.

 

I walk through the town which is mainly made up souvenir shops and restaurants to the ropeway.

The ropeway was a bit of a trek to get to, pretty old and $15 to get up! The view from the top was pretty cool and you see how many neighbouring islands Hiroshima has.

I opt not to sit down and lunch, but snack along the various places on the way back to the ferry with the aim to head and see the A-Bomb museum before the sun sets.

First I eat a battered custard donut on a stick. So Oishi! but not really something for Lunch. 

Next I have a prawn and fish cake thing which is sausage shaped on a stick. So much flavour packed in. So glad I ordered when I did because some fella came over and pretty much ordered the rest of what was left.

Then given the oyster farms I thought I better try some and get some grilled oysters with garlic butter. So damn tasty my mouth is watering writing about it. 2 oysters for $2 I thought was a bargain!

I head back to Hiroshima and the peace park. I have to say the whole experience of the peace park, A-Bomb memorial and the museum was an extremely somber experience. I mean I learnt about this at school many moons ago, but the extent of the events and the impact caused a lump in my throat on more than one occasion. A horrible loss of life in an instant. Even after all of that I’m not sure I’m decided on nuclear weapons. I certainly disagree with the principal and hope the world never sees another one denote.  However do I feel safer that some western powers have that capacity? I think I do. Despite learning that Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to the use of the A-bomb on Japan, I do hope the current powers have more sense. It does scare the living hell out of me that some of the other world powers are doing everything they can to enable their nuclear capability.

 

The following day I head to the Mazda Museum

It was a great tour of their history and was great to see the live production line. Definitely better than the Toyota museum I went to, but I understand the Toyota plant tour is supposed to be one of the best. Again surprised to see the early American influence, and that actually it was a German that invented the concept of the rotary engine. It was pretty staggering to see how much of Hiroshima Mazda took up and how much influence it had on the local economy and infrastructure.

 

Great showcase of their portfolio of cars from years gone by

 

Also a pretty good marketing tool to understand their green credentials

So during my research I came across the local speciality of tsukemen. Unlike the normal soup ramen this bad boy was cold in temperature but hot on the Scoville scale. The noodles are served on a plate with a selection of greens including cabbage, cucumber and spring onions.

The dipping sauce is served in a separate bowl and all you can see is a spicy red liquid filled with crushed sesame seeds. As you dip your noodles the sesame clings to the noodles holding the spicy sauce to the noodle. On the counter resides a bowl mound so high of sesame to top of your dipping experience. You have to pick on a scale of 1-10 how spicy you want it. I opt for what I think is a safe 6, but it certainly had me in a sweat by the end of it.

I always like a hot meal over a cold one, but this one would definitely be a regular lunch spot of mine if it was in London.

I head back to the station to head to my next stop Fukuoka