When you post from long distances, sometimes things don’t go perfectly. While hanging out in LA with good WiFi (since our flight to Miami was canceled), I decided to review my site production pages. A few pics never uploaded and this post about Matsue Castle and the Horikawa River was missing altogether. Who knows what else I’ll find when I look at my large monitor. In any case, here’s a flashback:

I was happy to get to Matsue. We docked in Sakaiminato, about 45 minutes away, and enjoyed a scenic ride through some very agriculturally-oriented countryside. One fact, this is the ginseng capital of Japan.

It was a lot of laughs to take the boat ride around the 400-year-old canal/moat system that circles Matsue Castle. The Horikawa River Cruise was about 50 minutes and went under 16 bridges, 4 of which you had to basically get down as low as possible when the fabric roof over your head was lowered.  This might not seem difficult, but we were sitting on the floor of the boat, shoeless, as usual. Each boat holds 12, but we had 10. There are very welcome heated blankets in the center.

A traditionally dressed boatman manages the craft and even sings a traditional folk song at one point. I read that information on the boats was only provided in Japanese, but we had a recording in English that helped us understand our surroundings. It was nice to see more Samurai homes along the shore, listen to birds singing, see waterfowl, and then, what was either an otter or a large rat . . .

Seeing 10 not-so-young passengers get in and settled on the floor, and then out at the end was truly comical.

The rest of our goal for today was to see Matsue Castle, one of 12 surviving original castle towers dating from 1611, considered a National Treasure. It has six levels reached by 87 steep, slippery (again socks only) wooden steps. It’s a well-defined museum with clear information, including some English, to explain the structure, building, and combat elements.

We enjoyed seeing the brackish Lake Shingi, and a treat for my husband was traveling on the Eshima Ohashi Bridge, often called one of the scariest bridges in the world. Look it up on social media pics, it appears to have a 45-degree incline – but not really. Distant shots with a telephoto lens enhance the angle. It is still a giant bridge at 144’ tall, and I do NOT. LIKE. BRIDGES.   

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