Up until now these days were moving oh so incredibly slow. We had managed to cover a majority of Kyoto's attractions in such a short space of time. As it was the last day for us in Kyoto we woke early and organised our luggage and headed to our final destination. Nijo Castle. According to Lonely Planet the gates opened at 9am. We arrived shortly after 8:30 and decided to grab some breakfast since we lucked out with the hotel. Checking on the admission price my travel buddy noticed a sign. "Nijo Castle is closed on every Tuesday in December, January, July and August. If Tuesday is a National Holiday, we will close on the next day, Wednesday". The Castle saw us coming. It was July and it was Tuesday. Lonely Planet confirmed that we had in fact been foiled by the Castle. Thankfully being engineers we had a contingency plan. Nishiki Markets! We arrived much too early. Shop fronts were still opening with majority of them still closed. Nothing special, plenty of food products, preserves and sweets.
Not too long after we were on another train heading towards the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The Tourist Information Centre (TIC) provided us with a tourist's guide for the city and directions to our hotel. Tram was the primary mode of transport and we were immediately being whisked to out next sojourn. Like the previous hotel check in was mid afternoon. Given this opportunity we dropped our luggage off and headed into town to explore the city with the notorious history.
I'll try to keep the activities of our half day in Hiroshima brief. The riverbank was the main location for most of Hiroshima's historic sites are located.The A-bomb Dome which in the books of history is the location where the First Atomic bomb was detonated 600 metres above. Other memorable sites along the river included the Centograph, Peace Bell, the clock tower, Children's Peace Memorial inspired by Sadako and stalls full of cranes.
Final destination was the Peace Memorial Museum. We spent almost 2 hours here. Quite simply this part of the trip was the most awe inspiring. I was left feeling a combination of humility and embarrassment. It felt like walking into a capsule and seeing the monstrosities and devastation that was the nuclear bomb. Spine tingling, eye opening experience especially for somebody like me with little prior knowledge of the event. Definitely a must. At the end of the museum there's a chance for participants to leave a note to be filed into the archives. Seeing notes of hope and inspiration left by hundreds of thousands of people (if not millions) from different locations and creeds was definitely heartwarming. The ones I could read (English) shared the same sentiments of grief and enlightenment after being awoken from a slumber of ignorance.
In retrospect there's was a particular feel to the city. Without sounding all sappy there was a romantic feel, a resounding calm most probably created by the atrocities of the past. Definite feeling of resolve and unity. Weather that was imposed on me after learning the events that took place or that is instilled with the people at the city I'm not sure. Headed back to the hotel and finally checked in. The walk from Comfort Hotel into town is short and very convenient. For dinner we had Okonomiyaki at small joint enjoyed with some Sapporo brew.
After dinner we walked through the streets or Hiroshima, the area was covered so it was a semi-indoor/outdoor area. I was still searching for that Yube cream for my sister. Again no luck. Does this blasted cream even exist? We wanted to find a hairdresser as we were donning 6-8 week haircuts. Our guide had recommended a place called Replay Haircut. We spent a good 30 minutes searching through the streets for this place. Eventually we stumbled upon another hair place. Not Replay but we walked in. We attempted to explain to the lady at the desk that we needed a haircut. We received more sign language in the form of her forearms being folded mid air to make a large cross. A large cross? That meant no. No, were closing? No, we cant cut your hair? Either way we left this place and continued our journey for Replay hair cut.
We found Replay and the service was exquisite. Rather largish studio with one main hairdresser and 3 assistants. As usual they greeted us warmly as we entered. After an awkward introduction we explained that we needed a haircut. But not any haircut, we wanted Japanese hair styles. Despite having to fork out 45 bucks or so I can tell you the experience is something I could quite easily get accustomed to. The overall procedure took close to an hour, this included hair washes and head massages, basic cut, more washes and the final touch up with a nice shoulder and neck massage. Being a barber type person refusing to pay no more than 10 bucks a haircut I was definitely surprised at the experience that was a proper haircut. We left the place sporting new Japanese hair dos. We would be able to blend into the Japan crowd without looking out of place. The only problem is that we didn't speak a lick of Japanese...
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