Today was spent exploring the remote Iya Valley area, enjoying scenic drives, viewpoints and stopping at a few of the local tourist spots.
Some pretty autumn colours caught our eye at a layby so we stopped to see the view.
Iya Valley
We followed a narrow winding road to some view points. First was the rather random ‘statue of a peeing boy’
Another at a little roadside picnic spot
And finally the Iya Valley river bend observation point
Oku-Iya Double Vine Bridge
We then continued to drive all the way to the furthest point we’d be going today, the Oku-Iya Double Vine Bridges.
The area has lots of mountains and river valleys and traditionally these were crossed via suspension bridges made of vines. Three of these vine bridges remain today (albeit with hidden steel cables reinforcing them these days!) and 2 of them were at this stop.
After walking through some forest the ‘husband’ bridge appeared, spanning 44 meters across the river. Walking over took a while as it swayed about and lots of gaps in the floor!
After crossing the bridge, the path carried down to the river, where we used the smaller ‘wife’ bridge to get back over to the other side.
Looking back to the higher first bridge from the river
Nagoro Scarecrow Village
Next we went to Nagoro Scarecrow village where one of the residents has been making hundreds of scarecrows over the last few years to make the village appear lively again after significant depopulation.
They are all unique and fill the former school, as well as being dotted all around the village.
Kouzanka
It was now lunchtime and luckily there was one restaurant in the area serving simple set meals. We both had the Karaage set meal which came with various small sides, plus rice and miso soup.
Ryugo Cliffs Suspension Bridge
As we continued our way back through the valley, we stopped at Ryugo Cliffs Suspension Bridge. This time it was a modern metal bridge, very high across the valley with some nice autumn colours.
Kazurabashi
The final stop for the day was yet another bridge! The third of the three remaining vine bridges. This one was in a much more accessible area so was pretty busy compared to the rest of the day
Next to the bridge was a short walking trail past Biwa Falls and down to the river itself
By the time we were leaving Kazurabashi the sun was setting and places were closing. We made our way back to the house via a little Michi-no-eki and also a supermarket where we got some local wagyu and veggies to cook for dinner. The plan was to use the BBQ that the house provided, but it was getting very cold in the evening, so we just cooked inside in the kitchen instead!