Hiroshima (Day 3) - Ogonzancho

We're keen to see more of Hiroshima today, but more of the real stuff, if possible. We've noticed that it only takes a few blocks to go from feeling you're in Times Square to feeling you're in a seedy Bangkok backstreet; the odd whiff of raw sewage may be a contributing factor here.

While Hiroshima has many water-ways flowing through it, they haven't been dressed up too much with bars and restarants, which is kind of refreshing in a way.

We are heading for the closest mountain to down-town Hiroshima to a) get some exercise, and b) get a good view of the city.

We walk along one of the river ways for quite a while. There are not many people around. We feel like we've entered the equivalent of suburbia for a Japanese city. We head up the hill and follow a small road up and round the mountain. We know we are on the right track because there are a few people running up past us. The sun is out and it's a lot warmer today.

We get to the top and the views don't disappoint (although the smell in the air, and the squat port-a-loo does...). Almost 360 degree views of the city. We can see all the way from downtown where we came from, to the docks where thousands of Mazdas are lined up ready to be loaded onto ships. This city is way bigger than we gave it credit for.

We head back down the mountain to Shukkeien (a 16th century Japanese garden). We go a different way hoping to see more of the city but don't really see anything worth mentioning except a dodgey looking Pachinko & Slot.

Again, this is in complete contrast to the garden which is beautiful and tranquil, as expected. We do a loop and chill out with the carp for a while. The cherry blossoms are getting close to full bloom.

Not too much further on is Hiroshima Castle. We eat sandwiches in some ruins of the old castle and take-5. The grounds are set-up similar to most of the castles we've seen with a large moat around the outside, but this one has a bit more grass going on and feels a bit more inviting and a place you might hang out. There is an exibition on at the moment where there are hundreds of inflatable eggs setup that apparently light up at night. I guess we'll need to come back for that.

You can go into the 4 story castle, so we do. It's like a museum with lots of cool artifacts and history of the castle. You can even dress up like a Samurai. We head to the top and out onto a small platform that goes all the way around. You can see all of the castle grounds and get a feel for where you are in the city.

Two big days of climbing mountains and our legs are spent. We head back to the hotel and freshen up. We head to the balcony on level 14 to have a glass of wine (or 3) and watch the footy. What a perfect setting for it as the sun goes down.

Before we fill up on free crackers we head to a restaraunt at the end of town that seems to be well rated. We head in and see that the entire bar section is a hot plate and two guys are working their magic on it. We came for okonomiyaki, and hopefully this place delivers.

We actually end up ordering something similar to okonomiyaki, but without the egg part on top and bottom. Oops. It was damn good though.

We get chatting to a local, who is also acting as interpreter for us so we can talk to the owner/cook as well. Turns out he is a "local" from way back and used to come here years ago when he lived here breifly. He's about to move back to Hiroshima after working at the Japanese embasey in Malaysia. His English is good and he's super friendly, so we ask him a lot of questions and have a great chat (e.g. what side of the footpath to walk on? He has to ask the others and they all have to think about it before each giving different answers which says it all).

We say good bye to our new friends and head for the castle again, hoping to catch the egg lights. We get there just as they are switching off the last one :( Ah well, maybe next time we're in town.

We decide to call it quits and head home for the night.