And We're Back in Japan

Tuesday we returned to Japan at the Port of Hiroshima.  Unfortunately, it was quite a fiasco on the ship.  All of the guests had to go through Japanese Immigration again.  Since there is no terminal at the Port, the Japanese authorities came on the ship.  Between some technical difficulties and the need to process 1200 guests, the wait was incredibly long.  We docked at 9:00am and we had a 12:45pm tour.  So we waited to go down until CD Bryn said the line was starting to move smoothly.  Turned out to be not so smoothly.  The worst part of the wait in line was that I was in front of a woman who would not stop bitching.  I regretted not having my earbuds to drown her out.

Anyway, our excursion was the Highlights of Hiroshima.  The first stop was the Shukkeien Garden.  Just another beautiful Japanese garden.

This is the tree in the garden that survived the A Bomb.

After the garden, we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park & Museum.  Suffice to say that experience is emotional and difficult at times.  The park with the remnants of the dome and the various monuments is well done.

Inside  the museum is the difficult part.  It starts with a before and after display of Hiroshima.  Then the difficult photos of the aftermath of the A Bomb and recovery follows.  I did not take any photos of the graphic images, just a few to capture the flavor of exhibits.

And here is another tree that survived the A Bomb.

I feel that the museum is very well done and conveys the message of the horror of what happened without assigning blame.  Only a wish for peace and that it would never happen again.  And our excellent guide conveyed the same message.  It felt a bit different from our visit to Nagasaki many years ago where I came away feeling that there was an element of blaming the U.S. in the exhibit there.  I am sure that we could have lively debate about deployment of the A bomb.

Today, Wednesday, we were in Beppu, Japan.  It is a city known for its hot springs.  We decided to forgo the hot springs and just took the shuttle bus into the city center.  We did walk over to one of the hot springs for a quick look but couldn't see much inside without indulging.

Along the way, we did pass some interesting fish and what seemed to be the red light district.

After that, we walked through the mostly closed shopping streets.

So Beppu didn't have much for us until we hit the highlight of the day - egg salad sandwich from Lawson.

In comparison to 7 Eleven, Linda preferred the texture of the Lawson but the flavor of the 7 Eleven.  For me, the Lawson won on all accounts.

After lunch on the ship, Linda relaxed with puzzles and I went for a jog/walk around the park and along the waterfront.  It reminded me of the old days when I was a real runner.

So, we were separated for a bit, but we still stayed in touch.

Tomorrow is a welcome day at sea.  We're looking forward to bingo, wine tasting, and relaxing.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

A Busan Quickie

Today, Monday, we were in Busan, South Korea again.  We were wondering why, on this Land of the Rising Sun cruise, we were stopping there.  It turns out that Japan has a law similar to the U.S. Jones Act which results in cruise ships having to stop somewhere outside of the country.  So Busan is the Ensenada of Korea.

The weather was not great with temps in the mid-50's but at least the rain held off.  We again took the shuttle bus in to the city.  

This time we thought that we might try to go to the Yongdusan Park where the Busan Tower is located.  We walked up to the Gwangbok-dong Fashion Street to make our way to the escalator up to the park.

When we got to the escalator we discovered one problem.  While there is an escalator going up, it is only stairs going back down.  Not good for Linda.  So, we continued our walk up the fashion street.  We were very tempted to buy a No Brand Burger even though we don't eat beef.  Hey, they say it's good enough!

We made our way past some interesting sculptures.

Walking back to the shuttle bus stop we went via the Nampo Underground Shopping Center.  At least it was warm.

Back on the street, we did one more pass through the fish market.

Near the shuttle bus stop, there is a pet store with the cutest puppies in the window.  No, I was not tempted.

Well, that's it for South Korea.  Tomorrow we return to Japan in Hiroshima.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry