Hiroshima

Busan, Korea to Hiroshima, Japan

I think we should change our Blog name to Adventures in Asia. I never imagined we would travel this much. We are so fortunate. And, every time we travel to another Asian country we are surprised how each country is so different. We heard so many stories about Japan before we went there, but nothing anybody said could prepare us for the experience we had. We heard Japan is quiet, peaceful, clean and kind. These statements were all true and then some. I swear, rolling my travel suitcase through Hiroshima at 4pm was the loudest thing I heard on the street. People will more out of your way and they are very helpful. On the subway you can’t talk on your cell phone. Actually, nobody talks on the subway. We were smushed between Japanese people and everyone was standing in silence waiting for their next stop.

We took the hydrofoil ferry from Busan, Korea to Fukuoka, Japan. It took 3 hours and the boat has a front fin that lifts the boat above water when jets are on. We purchased the Japan Rail (JR) pass for one week for $350 each. We were able to take the JR many times and saved a ton of money because individual tickets are expensive. Our first trip we took the JR from Fukuoka to Hiroshima. It was 6pm by the time we got there are we were ready to try our first Japanese meal. The hotel suggested a local restaurant. We ordered Okonomiyaki which is a Japanese pizza with noodles, cabbage, veggies, egg, and bacon all fried and crispy topped with teriyaki sauce. We could watch the restaurant cook right in front of us. We fell in love with this dish and had it 3 other times during our trip.

Hiroshima is the world’s center for peace. The city is spotless, quiet and the people are kind. We visited the Peace Memorial Park. The museum had artifacts from the time when the A-Bomb exploded. I can’t really describe in words how amazing this place is. The park really moved me. They suffered so much, so now they try to spread peace around the world. Paper cranes are sent from people around the world to represent their promise to peace. They continue to ask countries to stop developing atomic bombs. This was a great way to start our trip in Japan. Our pictures explain more about our experience.