Kintai Bridge & Iwakuni Castle

A lot of pictures from our hike from the Kintai Bridge to the Iwakuni Castle

"You are here"



Kintai Bridge over the Nishiki River
The bridge is 100% wood



Gondola's

Japanese warrior guarding the Kikkawa Cemetery
The Cemetery dates back to 1600

At the bottom of the hiking path

Spring water run-off along the hike. Note the cups hanging on the wall
This was taken on the way up the hill!
On the way down, we refilled our water bottles!!

Trying to take a picture in front of a waterfall

Over-looking the Kintai & Iwakuni

We both kept thinking "Gorillas in the Mist"
It was nice and cool while on the hike

Stage at the top of the trail

Seating for the stage at the Iwakuni Castle

Iwakuni Castle

Another view of the Castle

Cormorant Clock at the Iwakuni Castle

I have no idea why these statues have bibs, but it was cool looking, so I took a picture

Love it!! Someone actually knitted a beanie for this  Garden Buddha!!
I wonder where I can get this Buddha to bring home...he is cute!

Cool water feature

Yumm! Just what we needed after our hike.
Very interesting that when we walked up to the counter,
they immediately gave us an English menu!

Hahah, Hello Kitty is everywhere!!

Today we had a great hike of Mt. Shiroyama, and the Iwakuni Castle. We started at the Kintai Bridge along the Nishiki River, and started our hike. The hike starts off at a huge incline. We don't really know the elevation that we climbed, but we know that Iwakuni is at 2.1 meters above sea level, and the Iwakuni Castle sits at 761 meters above...2490 ft elevation climb. It took us about 45 minutes.
I would say that 95% of the trail is covered by tree canopies...makes it a lot cooler, but increases the humidity. It was very green and lush, with waterfalls every so often.
There were several places where people had left little trinkets or tokens, to whom, who knows!
Once we reached to top of Mt. Shiroyama, we had great views of the Kintai, as well as Iwakuni. The castle was interesting to look at architecturally. Inside the castle was a small museum, mainly samurai swords! From the top floor (4th floor), you could see over the canopy of the trees.
The hike back down the trail went fairly quick (it's all downhill). We did get some rain, but we did not care.
The canopy of the trees kept us dry for the most part!
After the hike, we walked around the Kintai some more, and had an ice cream. It was funny that the workers at the ice cream stand brought us an english menu. So glad they did, as what looked like strawberry was actually red bean! The Japanese are really into their ice cream, and will make ice cream out of almost anything!
After walking around a bit more, we finally decided it was time to call it a day!