A walk to Kochi Castle

I love walking around Osaka Castle in the evenings. The castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who ruled Japan in the latter half of the 16th century. The stone walls and moats surround the castle separating it from the bustling city. As dusk sets in, the sodium lamps light up the pathways surrounding the castle. The weeping sakura leaves along the wide moat briskly sway in the wind and the castle itself looks like a fantasy structure from the mythical age of dragons.

Today I went to explore the quiet town of Anegundi. As per the legend of Ramayana, the city used to be known as Kishkindha where Bali and Sugreeva, the monkey kings used to rule. The monkeys though have been driven away by the growing number of foreign tourists and it is just the mystifying boulders that remain to tell us the story of what was once a strange but interesting kingdom.

We take the ferry to the magnificent island of Miyajima to visit the centuries-old Itsukushima Shrine. The World Heritage site is located along the virgin forest of Mt. Misen over the waters of Hiroshima Bay. As dusk falls, the tide recedes and hoards of people make their way towards the beautiful Torii in the Sea.