Day 3 - Mountains again, Gandalf

On the last day of our trip - Monday - we decided to head back to Miyajima to take the ropeway up to the top of Mt Misen.

First was a four-person gondola:

Then a larger cable car the rest of the way. Not satisfied with the views from the transportation, or from the top of the ropeway, we steeled ourselves for climbing the rest of the way to the top of the mountain. But first, we took at look at the warning signs:

Luckily for our luggage (less so for my camera) there were no monkeys out that day. Perhaps it was too hot. It was certainly too hot for any sane people to be climbing a mountain. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that. Not that I'm English.

We made it to the top after much sweating. There were many views to enjoy. The looks out over the Seto Inland sea towards Shikoku, "our island" (though I don't think you can see it here).

After making it down in one piece, we headed back to the mainland, back to Hiroshima city, and timed things perfectly so we could jump on the fastest Shinkansen this time, the Nozomi, which was a first for me. The Nozomi apparently can reach speeds of 300km/h over this stretch of track. We did the journey back to Okayama in 36 minutes, a cool 25 minutes faster than we did the same distance the day before.

With little time until our bus back to Tokushima, we rushed to the town of Kurashiki, which is famous for its preserved historical quarter. I wish we'd had more time to spend there, as there are so few places in Japan where the old isn't encroached upon by the new on all sides.

We literally had just enough time to walk out to this area, do a lap around it, then head back to the station. I feel like I'm cheating when I take photos of a place I haven't properly investigated. Ah well, maybe another day. Far into the future.

We got our bus back to Tokushima, which despite the rail link seems by far the best mode of transport between the two prefectures. On the bus I nabbed some sunset pictures. Behold!

Who needs rose-tinted spectacles when you have a digital camera, eh?