Jaryd's Adventures

  Summary This will be a shorter post, since there was only 4 days left in our trip! We took the train all the way from Katsuura to Hiroshima, which took almost a full day (with a few transfers along the way). After spending a couple nights in Hiroshima, we went to Onomichi. There, we rented bikes and did a 2 day bike trip called the Shimanami Kaido across some islands to Imabari. Then, we flew back to Tokyo, and then back to Vancouver.  Full map Last few days Highlights Miyajima Island While we were in Hiroshima, we took a day trip to a nearby island called Miyajima. It was pretty touristy, but it was really nice! We got to see a Torii gate out in the middle of the ocean, and hiked up to the top of the island for a nice view of the area. They also had these deer that were pretty aggressive in trying to get food from the tourists.  On the ferry over Torii gate Deer! They were eating everything, including some of the paper maps  Statues with knitted hats  Top of ...

  Summary We spent the week exploring the Kii Peninsula, which is just south of Kyoto and Osaka. From Kyoto, we took the train to a small mountain town called Koyasan. From there, we spent 4 days hiking an old pilgrimage route called the Kumano Kodo Kohechi from Koyasan to Hongu Taisha. Then, we took the bus to a small fishing town on the coast called Katsuura, before making our way back to Kyoto. Highlights Kumano Kodo Hiking the Kumano Kodo was a really unique experience! It is not a very popular route, so we barely saw anyone else on the trail (in 4 days, we only passed one other group that was going the other way). Each day, you hike up and over a pass, and then stay the night in a guesthouse in the valley below. The trail connects Koyasan, where  Shingon Buddhism was founded to Hongu Taisha, where the head of the 3 grand shrines in the region is located. Along the way, there were some really interesting signs explaining the history and significance of the trail. We got ve...