Day 10. 17th May 2016. Tuesday.

We woke up early to have breakfast and try and not miss our train to Hiroshima via Himeji . We had to get to Kyoto Station to get on the 10:49 Hikari to Himeji first. This time, we were up and ready and way ahead of schedule. The luggage had already been forwarded to Hiroshima the day before (easy to do, staff was friendly and accommodating) but we still had a few day packs with us. 

We boarded the Hikari, and soon enough, had arrived at Himeji Station. First, we had to find somewhere to store our bags. There was a luggage room where, for a fee, we tied our bags together and left them there hoping they would be safe. Next, we had to find where the Himeji Loop Bus left from. We took a few wrong turns before finally figuring out where the stop was and after waiting in line for a few minutes, a quaint bus pulled up and we got on. The castle is about a ten minute walk from the station and we had exactly two hours to see it and get back to the station. The boys were a bit hot, so we found a nice shaded bench to sit and people watch while Godwin tried to find a nice place to get a good shot of the castle .

So Himeji Castle. Also known as White Heron Castle, because its white, is spectacular, imposing, and a world heritage site. Its one of a few original Japanese castles that escaped the war. Also, its been in a Tom Cruise and a James Bond movie! Anyway, once we had decent pictures, we decided to hoof it back to the station, as I wasn't sure how long the loop bus would take to run the loop and we had only about two hours between the trains. So we quickly walked back to the station, Godwin ahead so he could go get the bags. Again, yay for us, we didn't miss the connecting Shinkansen to Hiroshima. 

The train ride to Hiroshima was uneventful. The station is huge and we picked up lunch at one of the many eateries and headed outside to find where the Sheraton was. I asked a railway official and he pointed us towards the correct exit. Zane was fast asleep and Godwin was carrying him. One of the many places we missed having his stroller. The hotel is literally a two minute walk from the station. Our luggage was waiting for us in our rooms. Once we had freshened up a bit, we went back out to find the bus to take us to downtown Hiroshima. The sightseeing bus is free with the Japan Rail Pass and the stop for it was outside the hotel, so that was pretty convenient. We drove past the Peace Memorial Park and got our first glimpse of the Atomic Bomb Dome. Didn't get off because the next day would be dedicated to this area and I wanted to take my time processing it . 

We ended up in downtown Hiroshima, which is a pretty amazing city. Its bright lights, good shopping, clean and modern. Loved the vibe. We ended up doing more shopping that we needed but the boys had fun. Japan has tax refund for tourists, but they have a weird system of stapling the receipts of your purchase onto your passport. I had used mine, and it was covered in staples. I made them use only one page to staple and finally, at the last shop, I was like enough with the making holes in my passport, please use tape. And they kindly obliged. 

We also tried Okonomiyaki which Hiroshima is famous for. Its a Japanese savoury pancake where you sit on a stool and they cook it in front of you with whatever ingredients you choose. Okonomi literally means what you like and Yaki means grilled. We walked by lots of lovely bars, karaoke places, small restaurants. And the entire city has free wifi, how cool is that. We took a bus back to Hiroshima station, it was a regular bus, not the sightseeing one, but it stopped at the other side of the station. And the station is massive. We got lost inside for about half an hour and finally had to use our rail passes to go through it to get out the correct exit, after asking a few people where the exit to the Sheraton is!

Then it was back to our lovely rooms at the hotel and the end of another day in Japan.

Coming up:Paper cranes and the most spectacular sunset ever!
Steps walked:14,610