Day 1
Sanyo Line (山陽線) The Mountain Side
The Sanyo Line is a train line stretching from Osaka-fu (大阪府) as further as Hiroshima. We took this line and there were endless stretch of mountains. The silence especially in the towns was deafening. So this was the other side of Japan. Despite living in a semi-province so-called city in Saitama, there was even more province (田舎 / inaka) in these stretch of mountains. The kanji of SANYOU line literally means “the southern side of the mountain,” which basically pertains to the Sanyo district in this side of Japan. Along the way, we stopped in Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture and ate udon. This was our 4th change train from our “hacienda” in Saitama. Well, for the 1st time, we overlooked our route and rode the slower train. Afterall, it was our first time to be in that place. C’mon, even the Japanese make mistakes! :-D
We arrived in Hiroshima at 230PM. It was tiring because we had to endure sleeping in the train. The best part of the Sanyo Line trains is that it is seats are reversibly designed to face each other and it has toilet inside. The painful part is that most of the schedules are local trains so travel takes longer time compared with the Tokaido Line.
Hiroshima (広島), The Wide Island
So this was it. This was the land where men first saw terrible destruction in an instant. The entire city block of Hiroshima can be better enjoyed when you ride their trams. Notable sites like the A-Bomb Dome have tram stations plying the area. We walked for about 15 minutes from the station to our hostel. K’s House Hiroshima was very affordable and decent in terms of price. For only 3,900 yen a night, it was a real budget and money’s worth. Staffs speak fluent English (Yahoo!) and equipped with amenities like a real house. You could hang out with other gaijin guests in the living room area. Wireless Internet access was free and overflowing supply of coffee.
After checking-in, we decided to eat first before touring the whole city. We ate my deliciously cooked chicken “adobo” and my colleague’s fried fish. The hotel receptionist also tried to sample my adobo and she liked it. She even asked for another chicken leg.
After the voracious meal, we set off with our DSLR cameras. It was like a real photographers’ photo shoot session. First stop? BIC CAMERA. Whew. Ernest was craving to buy a compact camera bag for his NIKON D60 with zoom lens attached. So we head off. Along with the gaijin-friendly map we took from the hostel, we went to the station then from there, walked towards different spots. We took a lot of pictures and it was quite a bit of trial-and-error session. Most bicycles in Hiroshima were small. People rode them all around carelessly. If people in Tokyo were mad riders of bicycles, people in Hiroshima were even more careless. Speeding, riding without lights lit on and most of them don’t ring their alarms to warn people of their presence. But despite this, people were very warm. Maybe it is because of the long presence of gaijins within the area. I felt like I was home in Hiroshima. Hiroshima was quite laid-back and not so crowded. It also felt like I was not in Japan since the scenery resembles like that of a city in Europe.
The Sanyo Line is a train line stretching from Osaka-fu (大阪府) as further as Hiroshima. We took this line and there were endless stretch of mountains. The silence especially in the towns was deafening. So this was the other side of Japan. Despite living in a semi-province so-called city in Saitama, there was even more province (田舎 / inaka) in these stretch of mountains. The kanji of SANYOU line literally means “the southern side of the mountain,” which basically pertains to the Sanyo district in this side of Japan. Along the way, we stopped in Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture and ate udon. This was our 4th change train from our “hacienda” in Saitama. Well, for the 1st time, we overlooked our route and rode the slower train. Afterall, it was our first time to be in that place. C’mon, even the Japanese make mistakes! :-D
We arrived in Hiroshima at 230PM. It was tiring because we had to endure sleeping in the train. The best part of the Sanyo Line trains is that it is seats are reversibly designed to face each other and it has toilet inside. The painful part is that most of the schedules are local trains so travel takes longer time compared with the Tokaido Line.
Hiroshima (広島), The Wide Island
So this was it. This was the land where men first saw terrible destruction in an instant. The entire city block of Hiroshima can be better enjoyed when you ride their trams. Notable sites like the A-Bomb Dome have tram stations plying the area. We walked for about 15 minutes from the station to our hostel. K’s House Hiroshima was very affordable and decent in terms of price. For only 3,900 yen a night, it was a real budget and money’s worth. Staffs speak fluent English (Yahoo!) and equipped with amenities like a real house. You could hang out with other gaijin guests in the living room area. Wireless Internet access was free and overflowing supply of coffee.
After checking-in, we decided to eat first before touring the whole city. We ate my deliciously cooked chicken “adobo” and my colleague’s fried fish. The hotel receptionist also tried to sample my adobo and she liked it. She even asked for another chicken leg.
After the voracious meal, we set off with our DSLR cameras. It was like a real photographers’ photo shoot session. First stop? BIC CAMERA. Whew. Ernest was craving to buy a compact camera bag for his NIKON D60 with zoom lens attached. So we head off. Along with the gaijin-friendly map we took from the hostel, we went to the station then from there, walked towards different spots. We took a lot of pictures and it was quite a bit of trial-and-error session. Most bicycles in Hiroshima were small. People rode them all around carelessly. If people in Tokyo were mad riders of bicycles, people in Hiroshima were even more careless. Speeding, riding without lights lit on and most of them don’t ring their alarms to warn people of their presence. But despite this, people were very warm. Maybe it is because of the long presence of gaijins within the area. I felt like I was home in Hiroshima. Hiroshima was quite laid-back and not so crowded. It also felt like I was not in Japan since the scenery resembles like that of a city in Europe.
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