Day 7 Japan
Today was pretty quiet. Mostly a sightseeing day around Hiroshima for stuff that is not A-bomb related.
After a nice sleep in I headed to the Hiroshima Castle which was OK. The castle grounds were a pretty crappy park and inside the castle was a pretty average museum about the samurai who lived in the castle. They had a few interesting displays, some good armour and an interesting array of samurai swords but overall it was pretty boring. The entire inside of the castle could have been the inside of any office building as well. There was no character to it at all. I did get to put on a samurai helmet though.
I headed toward the Shukkeiun Gardens after that. A nice little area in the city that is supposed to have a series of different garden styles in a small space.
On the way I had an Ingress battle with a local enlightened agent. I mostly wanted to knock the fields down and I succeeded in that but wasn't able to take the portals completely. Must have been a few people recharging. It was fun and I think I spotted the guy as I was leaving sitting outside a convenience store having a smoke.
The gardens when I arrived were really nice. Basically a small botanical garden in the city. It was a beautiful place to wander around for a while. There was a bride getting ready for her wedding in one of the pagodas by the lake who was the object of a few photos from the people in the garden. A couple of vans outside as well when I left so I got the impression this was a finely timed exercise with a bit of money spent on it.
Walked around a big shopping district for a while on the way back to the hostel to do some laundry. Fresh fruit is so expensive here. Might have been an upmarket store selling organic stuff but there was a pack of 4 mandarins for over $10. Ridiculous.
Stopped in at one of those cool little ramen places for lunch then did my laundry.
Met a couple of new roommates. A Mexican girl (I think it' she first time I've ever met a Mexican) and a British guy. Started chatting to the British guy in the common room who was leaving Japan (too expensive) to go lounge on the beach in Korea for a couple of weeks.
Laundry done and I ended up going back to Okoni-mura for dinner again with the Mexican, a Brazilian, an Australian and a Canadian all staying in my dorm room. The Aussie guy was young. Sort of what I think of as a traditional backpacker who probably belongs on a Contiki tour where he can just get shitfaced around the world.
A pretty quiet day all up but Hiroshima is a beautiful city and one I'd gladly go back to. It feels very international as well. I reckon it's one of those cities you could easily move to and just fall into the groove of living there quite easily.
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