A deer ate my map.

After a hearty breakfast put on by the hostel (only 400 yen) which included fried egg, meat, toast, fruit, lettuce (with a dressing that made it a little odd for breakfast) and tea (massively been craving tea) we set out for the peace memorial. The first sight was the A-bomb dome which was some kind of hall before World War Two. The remains of it have been kept as a reminder I guess of the destruction created by the atomic bomb. With a fence encircling it and guards surrounding it the place doesn't scream out peace. But the dramatic look of the ruin against other modern buildings is quite powerful. 

We then entered the museum, learning of the devastation that Hiroshima underwent and how at least 140,000 people died between the landing of the bomb in August to the December of the same year. Although it's an incredibly sad museum to visit, it's definitely worth seeing. It makes you realise the power of the human race and the cruelty and suffering that we can cause. 

Coming out of the eery museum we decided to get a train and visit the Miyajima Itsukushima Shrine (the big red one in water). After a train and ferry ride (both were free as we had our rail pass) we arrived on the island of Miyajima. Our first obstacle was the deer that walked up to us. We were quite surprised with it at first but then it seemed sweet. That was until it ate our map. Straight from Matt's hands. We had to get another one. The island has many wild deer roaming freely, happy being within close proximity to humans. Probably because of the food tourists are happy to give them. But the shrine itself was pretty cool. The tide was out whilst we were on the island and kept going out so it may not have looked as good. We also strolled through a park and picked up a steamed bun with beef on our way back to the ferry port. It was quite a nice bun but a little greasy. I feel I could have done much better if I'd made them. 

Back in Hiroshima we grabbed a tram (or street car as the Japanese seem to call it) mainly for the amusement of using the tram but also to save ourselves half an hour walking back into the centre. We walked round various streets, trying to decide on what kind of food to eat and settled on an omelette type meal. It was a pancake topped with cabbage and bean sprouts and some kind of sliced meat (hopefully not horse), which was then topped with noodles and finished off with an omelette. A bit of barbecue sauce (the Japanese use too much barbecue sauce and often ruin meals but this was rationed so better) and a sprinkling of some herb and we were off. The plate was massive and at 850 yen not bad. It wasn't haute cuisine but it filled a hole nicely. 

We then returned to the hostel and had another free drink (this time plum wine, my new favourite drink) and then another after that (only 400 yen per drink). I'll sleep well tonight.