Well this is quite
different from Shanghai! Hardly a high rise in sight.
Trip to look at the Dragon's head rock
Trip to look at the Dragon's head rock
well
that's what they say!!
Then
on to Hallim gardens, rather lovely mix of different types of
gardens, opera playing over daffodil gardens and jazz in other parts.
I am as most of you know a sucker for bougainvillea and they had some.
We also stopped on a road where the coach appears to roll up hill, optical illusion of course and therefore difficult to take a photo, but they seem very proud of it!
We also stopped on a road where the coach appears to roll up hill, optical illusion of course and therefore difficult to take a photo, but they seem very proud of it!
Whole
island most southerly part of South Korea heavily into tourism,
mainly Chinese and Korean but rather cool for us. Very short visit
as sailed away mid-afternoon heading to Japan.
Welcome
to Nagasaki. The sun is out again which shows off the wonderful
natural harbour.
First stop on our tour is the Atomic Bomb Museum close to the site of the second bomb dropped at 11.02 am local time. We passed by the Peace Garden so a coach type shot of this powerful statue.
First stop on our tour is the Atomic Bomb Museum close to the site of the second bomb dropped at 11.02 am local time. We passed by the Peace Garden so a coach type shot of this powerful statue.
The
Mitsubishi shipyard which was the actual target is some way from the
bomb site across the bay
and clearly therefore virtually all the casualties were civilian, with Japan already on the back foot and no notice given it seems 'unfortunate' that more dialogue hadn't taken place after the first bomb. The museum tells the story and shows the effects many of which only became apparent long after the war had ended.
and clearly therefore virtually all the casualties were civilian, with Japan already on the back foot and no notice given it seems 'unfortunate' that more dialogue hadn't taken place after the first bomb. The museum tells the story and shows the effects many of which only became apparent long after the war had ended.
The
range of damage was considerable with lots of articles melted and
damaged by the blast as much as heat.
It is of course a sobering place but the emphasis everywhere on peace and not letting it happen again means that it is not quite as depressing as I feared it might be.
A
rather pleasanter visit to Dejima which was the trading post of the
Portugese during the period of 'Edo' when Japan closed it's borders
to European trade. A small island with just 15 people there during
the typhoon season, but nice houses,
and
a lovely garden.
Our
final stop was at Glover Gardens, beautiful houses situated on the
hillside overlooking the bay, just visible through the trees,
built by the Scotsman Glover and his English compatriots Walker and Ringer. (Clearly names with 'er' at the end essential!) the view from the top across the bay to the dockyard is lovely as already seen above.
built by the Scotsman Glover and his English compatriots Walker and Ringer. (Clearly names with 'er' at the end essential!) the view from the top across the bay to the dockyard is lovely as already seen above.
The
houses are not too shabby either
The
Oura church having survived the bombing protected by the hillside, is
catholic and was used by the European traders, built in 1864 it is
the oldest gothic wooden building in Japan. Christianity spread
inland from the coast during the 1500s but the Shogun's recognised
the threat to their way of life and banned most trading (apart from
via Dejima) and christianity for over 200 years towards the end of
the 16th century. This church and another memorial
commemorate the martyrdom of 26 people, including a few children, who
would not renounce their Christian religion in 1597.
This
was followed by a tram ride and lunch in a local restaurant with
some of my fellow passengers. Some very good 'shrimp' and local beer
with
an
amusing notice to boot.
Our guide had previously mentioned that up until recently they haven't travelled much and so foreign languages have been learned from books and so sentence construction and of course pronunciation has not been good, an understatement in this case.
Our guide had previously mentioned that up until recently they haven't travelled much and so foreign languages have been learned from books and so sentence construction and of course pronunciation has not been good, an understatement in this case.
A
tram ride back to the ship where we had a lovely display of dancing
from some primary school children
and then some drummers played as we left to another glorious sunset.
and then some drummers played as we left to another glorious sunset.
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