Hiroshima, Japan

Saturday April 21st, 2018

Looks the weather will be great for our visit,

One aspect of cruising is the early mornings when I am pretty much the only passenger up and about. This was one of those mornings as witnessed by the following images.

Our location during the night

In the Navy when ships are steaming the open ocean as a convoy there is a term called ‘in company with’, that is what came to my mind as we transited the ‘Suo-Nada & the Iyo-Nada’ during sunrise. As this beautiful image presented its self, ships of every size appeared out of the haze and slipped silently into our wake.

Our arrival at the dock was met with this beautiful display of the power of a harbor fire boat.

Another bonus of sailing with Holland America are its wonderful and loving crew. As we arrived at the entrance to the MDR on deck 4 we were greeted by this beautiful Indonesian couple, and seated in the midst of our Indonesian DR stewards, wearing beautiful ‘batik’ shirts.

Our Rijstaffel Menu was typical Indonesian fare;

What a treat! We were sufficiently ‘fueled’ for our next excursion.

After a lengthy wait for processing by Japanese Immigration, we motored to the ferry terminal, boarded a very efficient ferry and were deposited on the world heritage island of Miyajima …. along with several thousand Japanese tourists (It was Saturday).

After a ‘short walk’ of over a kilometer, our group of 34 straggled to “The O-Tori Gate”, the Icon of the island, past what has become a tourist trap of shops and food venders.

The island is sparsely populated with the protected “Messengers of the Gods” in the form of small deer, who will ‘snap and search’ anything on your body that smells like food.

It was a very hot day and I am sure many folks brought back sunburns.

Tomorrow we visit Kochi, Japan and celebrate Barbara’s birthday.

Jack W Cummings – Far East Adventure 2018