Above: View of Mount Fuji on the shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima.
Leaving Tokyo
Today we say goodbye to Jacqueline as she flies home to Vancouver. On the other hand, Alice and I take the shinkansen south to Hiroshima, about 4h away.
All three of us left the hotel around 0930 to give ourselves plenty of time, even though Tokyo station was only 2 stops away. It’s often the walks within the stations that are confusing or time-consuming.
Sure enough, Tokyo station was big and busy. We found the shinkansen area of the station before finding a rooftop garden to relax and say our goodbyes to Jacqueline.
Going past the turnstiles into the shinkansen area, we realised that food options were rather limited and pricey. The other parts of the station had been like a zoo with the crowds and we kept postponing our lunch purchase from each convenience store that we had seen. I wish I had bought a cheap lunchbox from the hotel foyer as they looked delicious.
The 1048 departure from Tokyo station left on time. Alice was seated in front of me but with spare seats for a good portion of the way, she sat across the aisle from me and chatted. The four hours just flew and we were soon in Hiroshima.
On the shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima.
Arriving in Hiroshima
I knew our APA hotel was one block and a river crossing away. It didn’t seem that easy trying to find a level street crossing and avoid the stairs down to the underpass. Then we had to find an obscured entrance to the pedestrian bridge that was also hidden by the car bridge.
Hiroshima was frigid compared to Tokyo and it was made worse by quite strong wind.
Our arrival coincided with the official check-in time of 1500. We rested till about 1700 before heading out in search of dinner.
The restaurant next to the hotel wasn’t open. Neither one of us wanted to venture too far. Alice had found a ramen shop that does a local type which has a stock made from chicken and fish, called onomichi ramen. We ordered a bowl each and some fried chicken. I opted to have the spicy version. It ended up being a very big and heavy but delicious meal.
With food in our belly, we felt refuelled enough to do more walking and exploration. Some two hours later, we were back in our hotel. That’s after saying that we didn’t want to go far tonight.
The hotel comes with an onsen. It was heaven after the walk in the cold. I reckon it helped me sleep better as well.
Onomichi ramen for dinner.