Miyajima 2019: Leaving Miyajima

I was unfortunately out of time on Miyajima and needed to continue my journey across Japan, so I grabbed my backpack and headed to the island’s ferry terminal. It took about 12 minutes for the ferry to cross back to the mainland and I spent the whole time on the deck taking in the scenery. I was determined that one day I would return to Miyajima, if nothing else because I needed to break the streak of bad weather I had experienced on the island with my previous two visits. Miyajima was behind me now, however, and it was time to look forward to the next destination of my journey.

The rest of my day would be spent getting from the Miyajima area all the way up to the northern coast of Chugoku to visit the towns of Matsue and Izumo. First I had to grab a local train back to Hiroshima, and from there I got on a shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama, where I then transferred to an express train that would take me north to Matsue. I unfortunately barely missed my connecting trains at both Hiroshima and Okayama, so it wouldn’t be until after dark that I finally arrived in Matsue, which is where I’d be staying for two nights. Photos and stories from Matsue and Izumo might be ready to start being published at the end of this week but right now it’s looking more like next week when those will start going live on this website.