Hiroshima & Kyoto

The first trip Natalie and I took after she arrived was on the train south to Hiroshima. It was a pretty wet and gloomy day… sort of appropreate as we toured the Peace Park and A-Dome, one of the few buildings still standing after the bomb.

We then headed over to Miya-Jima (island) to see the famous shrine and water gate (torii) of the same name. But that wasn’t enough for adventureous souls like us. So we had to hike to the top of the hill in hopes of getting above the clouds and getting a view.

From here, it was an easy train ride back to Kyoto where we met up with some Japanese friends of mine and spent a beautiful sunny day touring the city.

About the author

Adventure Correspondent Cameron L. Martindell is a freelance adventure travel and expedition writer, photographer and filmmaker who founded Offyonder.com in 2000. He has contributed to Elevation Outdoors Magazine, The Gear Junkie, National Geographic, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Outside, Backpacker, Wired, Australian Geographic, Mountainzone.com and others. He has been to all seven continents and lived on five of them, including a four-month stint at the South Pole. Cameron has more than 10 years of mountain search and rescue experience, is an Eagle Scout, has been an Australian bush firefighter, competes in sailing regattas, plans national and international youth programs, guides Oregon rafting trips and Australian bush backpacking trips.

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