City of Peace

So we arrived in Hiroshima late last Wednesday night a little unprepared. We rocked up to our intended hotel to find out that it was totally booked out. As well as the other three chain hotels in the city. So we turned around and dragged our bags around the streets of Hiroshima until we came across another hotel. From the outside it looked very swave and so were the prices inside. We woke in the morning to claim the free breakfast that was included...we opted for the western style for a little change from rice and miso soup. We were so incredibly full after our small bowl of salad and one piece of jam toast. We headed out to find some cheaper accommodation. We found this sweet backpackers hostel called K's House.

Once we were settled we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and visited the A-Bomb dome. The A-Bomb dome was once the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall and was almost directly under the hypocentre of the bomb explosion. For some reason because of this part of the building remained standing and the citizens of Hiroshima decided that it should be a lasting memorial of that day.


It was an extremely powerful place. To be standing right in the spot that the bomb was dropped 65 years ago and to imagine being there going about your daily business, seeing a flash of light and everything being wiped out in an instant as far as the eye can see, including yourself.

We spent hours walking around the Peace Memorial Museum learning the history of Japan leading up to and including the war. There was a watch with its glass face smashed and the time stopped at 8:15 AM from the electromagnetic pulse emitted from the bomb as it exploded August 6, 1945. There were other artifacts such as burnt and torn clothes, charred lunchboxes and parts of stone wall with glass shards embedded in them from the force of the explosion. Also the imfamous steps where a human outlined has been burned. It only takes one walk around this museum to realise the destructive power of nuclear weapons and the danger their presence exhibits on our planet.


Another powerful tribute is the memorial of Sadako Sasaki who was 2 years old at the time of the bombing and subsequently diagnosed with radiation related leukemia ten years later. She believed that if she folded a thousand paper cranes it would cure her leukemia. Unfortunately she died before her target was reached. The memorial was created in memory of her and all the children lost due to the bombing. Every year thousands of paper cranes are sent from across the world and exhibited here.



We spent the night sampling various types of okonomiyaki which is a savoury pancakes topped with noodles, cheese, pork, cabbage, bean sprouts and a yummy sauce, you can also get it with eggy pestilence if you are that way inclined.

The next day was pretty lazy, Boos Boos wasn't feeling that great so Doodles ventured about solo. More on that to come...

That night we decided to drag Boos Boos out of bed and hit the town for a meal and some pachinko action. Since Doodles is an absolute doodle-head, he thought it would be a great idea to leave his wallet in the basket of the pushie outside the pachinko pallor. Five minutes later he realised, ran out and low and behold it was gone. 30,000 yen (about 400AUD) down the drain. Idiot.

Don't worry mum(s) we cancelled the cards immediately - in fact the replacements should be getting to you right about now.

The next day we packed our bags and dragged our considerably lighter pockets to Osaka...

Peace and Love
Doodles and Boos Boos