The Closer Castle

During Matt's long weekend over Easter we decided to go castle-ing with our friends! If you have never heard of castle-ing before, then there might not be very many castles where you live. That is certainly not the case on Okinawa! According to Wikipedia there are twenty-one different castle ruins on our island and we gotta see them all! Therefore, we go castle-ing for fun. 

The term here for a castle or fortress is gusuku. Most are in ruins with only the stone walls and some foundation stones remaining. I had previously visited Nakijin castle when exploring some sights in northern Okinawa, but this day we did not have to travel far from our home to enjoy time at Katsuren castle. 

We headed up some steep paths and then up some even steeper stairs. This castle was well-fortified with steep slopes on every side. Each stair was at a downward angle so I had to hold onto the hand rail in order to not slide all the way back down. After the steep climb up stairs, the view at the top was stunning. You could see the ocean in every direction!

The day was cloudy, but I could make out our home in the distance. It is a tan building with an identical tower beside it on the very left edge of the frame.

Can you see it?

It is so neat to live on an island with such interesting and beautiful sights EVERYWHERE! Stay tuned for our next castle-ing adventure!

The outside walls.

They had a cave for refuge during battles.

Lily season on the island