An Hour in Iwakuni

It was only a short train ride from Miyajima to Iwakuni, the final intended sightseeing destination in my trip. Although Iwakuni is more of a quaint little town with nice scenery than a huge touristic area on its own, I'm far from being the first visitor to include it in my voyage to this side of Japan.
 Unfortunately, my time was about to run out, and I had only the chance to get a glimpse of Iwakuni before having to head back. I reassured myself that one hour was just enough to catch sight of the town's number one attraction.

The beautiful, ancient Kintai bridge has been destroyed and rebuilt several times in the course of the last 400 years, and figures in quite a few old paintings. Its structure is unique and the sight of it is kind of inspiring. But you have to pay a toll to cross it or merely to walk on it, and that's kind of a shame.

Notice that white structure in the mountain? That's the Iwakuni Castle. It's actually possible to go right up to it using the rope-way, or your own two feet, if you fancy yourself a soldier or something. I would've done so if not for the pressing time. Now that's where you put a castle, right? As much as the ones in the middle of the towns or cities are nice, this one propbably commands a much better view if you're standing at its top. Ruler of Iwakuni, smart smart smart smart.


And with that, my trip to the Hiroshima area came to an end! From Iwakuni, it was a train back to Hiroshima, a bus to the airport, and a plane back to Haneda airport in Tokyo and my own cozy bed, leaving me eager for the next trip already.