[post of
Sunday 2nd of September 2012]
Last night
Gabriel didn’t sleep too much, so he could count the 7/8 earthquakes that have
happened overnight. We’ve camped on a wood platform so it’s a lot easier to
feel all vibrations from underneath. Even so, it’s Gabriel the first one in
waking up today, before Ainhoa. He takes this time trying to fix his bike, not
for the first time. The sound it makes when we cycle is worse every day, the
gears more and more difficult to change… we fear the worst soon. Would the bike
last until Osaka? At least, would it last until we find a mechanic for
bicycles?
We go back
cycling up and down hills the two hills between the camping and Miyajima
sanctuary. This early in the morning there are more deer than tourists. Gabriel
thinks that the deer have been brought in here for the children, so they are
entertained while their parents visit the sanctuary.
The famous
“torii” of Miyajima [the famous floating gate to Itsukushima Shrine] is really interesting, and it impresses us. Probably,
that’s because of the many pictures of it spread around in the sanctuary, on
each door, which contribute to the whole effect. In any case, this sanctuary is
beautiful, and everything around it (included the souvenirs shops) are very
interesting. By the time we leave to go on with today’s stage, the whole place
is packed with people.
We get onto
the ferry that goes straight from Miyajima to the Peace Hall of Hiroshima to
visit the museum and garden of the atomic bomb. The ticket of the ferry is some
20€ and it takes something like an hour to get there. Gabrile takes this chance
to have a little nap, while Ainhoa writes down this few lines for the blog. If
you go to Hiroshima, don’t forget there is this ferry. Just check the timetable
out beforehand. There are few ferries per day doing this route, but the visit
to Hiroshima Peace Hall is certainly worth a visit.
The museum
is impressive. Its walls are soaked with history of the city of Hiroshima, as
well as that of the development of the war. The majority of the tourists go
straight to the section about the effects of the bomb. We think it’s better to
know how ‘this’ was brought about before going straight to ‘see’ the tragedy. Those
were the last days of WWII: Japanese maritime forces we totally wrecked, US
weaponry targeted it as if they were of paper, and the high level of the
decision making department were not in agreement on what to do next. To attack
directly the cities caused high numbers of casualties, such as many hundreds of
thousands. It looked as if the war would never end, that Japan would never
surrender, and every single Japanese inhabitant would become soldiers. US
decided to put an end to the war in the most radical way. They had four atomic
bombs ready; the first one exploded in the skies above Hiroshima, destroying
everything in the 2,5 km radius around. The Japanese government had already
decided to surrender but had not reached an agreement in accepting all the
condition of the treaty. Instead of waiting for the Japanese to reach a new agreement, it was decided to
use another bomb, which was set to explode in Kokura. The pilot could not see
his target due to the bad weather, so changed its route, and target, and headed
toward Nagasaki instead, where it happened the same that had happened in
Hiroshima. Both Nagasaki and Hiroshima are still suffering the consequences of
the explosions, and they are doomed by atomic energy.
When we
leave Hiroshima, we are silent. We’re still ‘digesting’ what we’ve seen and
heard in the museum, but we cannot stop any longer. There are 30 km left of our
stage today, we have to literally climb a mountain, and there are few hours
left before the night. At the end, we get to Higashihiroshima, a tiny city
(mostly un-known to tourists) lost in the middle of green valleys. Here we
spend a lovely night in the house of our next host, Koubun.
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