As my time in Japan was coming to an end I had two last stops to make in Hiroshima and Miyajima. I left Osaka in the morning and was excited to be in Hiroshima by early afternoon, but not before taking a few hours to spend on the island of Miyajima.
Miyajima is a tiny little island most well known for The Great Torii, an orange shrine that stands alone in the water, though it should be just as well known for its wandering deer population. As I disembarked the ferry that took us to the island I was greeted by a sweet little deer that was curious about the people it was seeing, as well as what snacks they may have to offer. Soon enough one deer became three, and they were not afraid to nibble on whatever someone had in hand. As I wandered there seemed to be countless deer throughout the island who were happy to be amongst the tourists and not at all bothered by the selfies everyone was excited to take.
After taking in the deer and the natural scenery of the island, it didn’t take long to come across the beautiful Itsukushima Shrine that the island is known for. There it sat beautifully in the water as if it was floating.
I decided to take some time and wander through the parks and side streets of the island. Between the lush greenery, endearing wildlife, and beautiful wooden architecture, I couldn’t help feeling like I was in Snow White’s back yard.
A few hours later it was time to make my way back to Hiroshima.
Hiroshima became one of my favorite cities that I visited in my time in Japan. It’s quaint but still convenient, and as always the people were absolutely lovely. I started my first full day in the city visiting Peace Memorial Park, an experience that was 100 times more moving than I ever could have anticipated. Perhaps it was because of the growing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, but every monument and every plaque seemed to hold so much relevant significance. Throughout the park there was an overwhelming feeling of peace and hopefulness that was really inspiring.
One of the moments that brought a tear to my eye was when I went over to the Children’s Peace Monument which was built to memorialize all of the children who passed away as a result of the bombing. As I crossed the street I noticed a few bus loads of children quickly filing in for a field trip. They all came in quietly taking a seat around the monument and removing their hats before their teacher led them in a moment of silence and started speaking about the monument.
There seemed to be field trips all over the park that day. Some classes had clip boards and were taking notes, some were split into smaller groups listening to a tour guide who would show them pictures and documents, but each group stood at every monument and took that moment of silence. I couldn’t help but be curious as to what Japanese students learn about that day in school. What were their teachers telling them? I have to imagine that their history lesson differs from the U.S. version in some ways.
After spending many more hours in the park than I had anticipated, taking in all of the history I decided it was time to get lunch. I found a tiny restaurant and treated myself to the most delicious pork cutlet and rice. Then I was off to find the Hiroshima Castle. It was gorgeous, sitting in the middle of a park surrounded by a lovely moat. I’ll never get sick of those Japanese castles.
Post Hiroshima I was off to Hong Kong for the weekend before continuing my travels on to Cambodia. It was a fantastic two weeks in Japan that I feel so lucky to have had.
. . .
Rather than going straight to the city we spent a few days on a neighboring island; Cheung Chau. It’s always hard knowing what to expect when going to a new place, but from our research we were really excited to be visiting this island that was said to be quiet and didn’t allow motorized transportation. A perfect relaxing getaway. After the quick flight from Korea to Hong Kong we took a train into the city and a ferry onto the island where we met our Airbnb host who led us to our accommodations.
Aside from the gorgeous beach, one of my favorite aspects of Cheung Chau was simply wandering the streets. So many of the buildings were painted in bright colors and it seemed there was street art around every corner. We spent one morning just walking from one side of the island to the other taking in its casual beauty.
Every few weekends or so I find myself wanting to get away from bustling streets of Seoul and Incheon and explore new parts of Korea. That said, the recent start of the warm summer months has really amped-up those feelings and has had me reminiscing of past getaways. One of my favorites from last spring was the day trip some friends and I took to Ganghwado Island in search of azaleas on Goryeosan Mountain.
Once we had made it further inward on the island we realized we were definitely lost and actually traveling away from our destination. At that point, we decided to hop off the bus and trust our luck to catch another bus returning in the direction of the mountain we were so desperate to find. Forty-five minutes, two peeled oranges, one snack sized bag of peanut M&Ms, and a few pictures later we managed to hail a lone taxi that seemed destined to pick us up. After a brief drive we were dropped at an azalea festival which we wandered for a bit before starting our hike up Goryeosan Mountain.
Finally reaching the peak late in the afternoon we were able to take in the sun and the spectacular views of the island. Being from the midwest where even a good sledding hill is rare, seeing the lush mountains that cover Korea is always a breathtaking experience.
After a few wonderful days in Jeju City, our vacation was dwindling down to just two more days. We had a few things left on our to-do list, one of which was visiting Manjanggul Cave, a UNESCO World Heritage sight that is a cave formed from a lava tunnel.
When we arrived, we were greeted by a vine covered staircase entrance into the cave. We followed along the one kilometer path through the lava tunnel enjoying the chilly climate that was so different from the sweltering streets of Jeju.
Our last day started with us packing our bags and quickly dropping them off at the airport before catching a cab to the beach to soak in some sun before boarding our flight that evening. We had an incredible cab driver pick us up who tried his absolute best to communicate with us in his broken English and we attempted our best broken Korean. Though we had to act out words for ‘beach’ and ‘swimming’, he had no problems telling us his opinions of what was at the time the upcoming 2017 presidential election.
After a few days 
Once we had taken 100 or so photos we decided to leave the refreshing mists of the falls and start making our way to Sanbanggulsa Temple.
In my travels I must have visited dozens of various temples at this point, but each one grabs my attention in a new way. They are so beautiful and feel so sacred and offer such an interesting insight into the beliefs of those who follow the respective religion.
Finally it was summer vacation. One thing I’ll say about Korea is that there’s a descent amount of public holidays, but they really don’t space them out efficiently. I joyfully boarded the small plane that would be taking some friends and I to 
We knew that the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall was within walking distance and at some places could even hear it. Finding it was another task entirely though. We walked around the island following maps and street signs for what felt like hours. Eventually we made it to the park for the falls, where we walked along the path stumbling upon little bits of character all the way.
After lunch our group split up. One friend and I decided to brave the 90 degree heat and walk the town. Along our way we found a bustling street market and a charming café filled with vintage books and tropical leaves on each stainless steel table top. I also had the best coconut ice of my life.
A string of national holidays in October leads to a number of long weekends in the beginning of fall and a lot of opportunities to explore the country. One of these holidays is National Foundation Day which is a celebration of the founding of Korean as a nation. While this year I’ll be doing some adventuring outside of the country, last year I used the the extra day off work to explore Nami Island {one of over 30 islands in Korea} with a friend.
Towards the end of the day we went off the beaten path a bit and discovered a quiet area on the edge of the island by some water to watch the sunset. As we started making our way back to catch the ferry home we realized that those “balloons” from the tree lined path were in fact little white lanterns that magically lit up the trail as we waited in line for the ferry. A perfectly charming ending to a long and exciting day.
Day four in Thailand was mostly a travel day with the morning spent in Ao Nang and a long ferry ride over to Ko Phi Phi. We made it to the island for sunset, a bit of beach time, a late dinner and some island exploring. Getting off of the ferry, Ko Phi Phi was already very different than the main land of Krabi had been. It felt more touristy, yet still like we were in a different world. There are no cars on the island, and it’s made up of twisty and turny brick roads filled with people, shops, and carts. It took nearly our entire stay there just to feel like we knew our way around. While it didn’t feel quite as authentic as our stay in Ao Nang had, it was a cute island none the less and certainly had its own highlights. Small yellow flag garlands welcomed us above all of the main streets, the beaches were out of this world, and the tree house bars were really exciting.
bbm travels 