On a grey, non-descript day we decided to explore the tourist walks in and around the city....by that I mean the one walk that goes up a hill behind Hiroshima train station to the Peace Pagoda...

What was purported to be a well sign-posted trail was in fact not sign-posted at all...but given the location perched on top of a hill it was fairly visible from below, so after a few dead-end streets and an awkward conversation with a lady walking her dog we managed to stumble upon the dirt trail behind the temple parking lot....

Once at the top we were somewhat non-plussed by the bizzare pagoda of peace...  it is a weird silver buddhist dome thingee that was impossible to get a decent picture of given the grey on grey conditions, but maybe on a blue sky day it would have made more of an impression...

Taking in the cityscape was probably the most memorable part of the day, as not only did you get a feeling for just how sprawling the city really is, you can also admire just how ugly it is....Japanese cities, like so many other things in this country, take no regard for aesthetics in urban planning or building design.... It was nice to go for a walk however......