Just above, the inner ward, the last bastion of defense when the lower castle was under attack. There may have been another way to reach this structure from the upper castle that lay beyond the castle on the slope, but if so it is now decayed and overgrown.
Left, a strange surprise. Somebody had built themselves a hooch within the inner ward! At the risk of sounding melodramatic, as soon as I saw this I immediately took my walking stick and went into a defensive posture, waiting for a Tom Hanks look-alike (from "Castaway") to jump out of some hidden passageway and attack me! My wife was waiting for me at the upper castle and I tried to reach her on the radio to warn her... wouldn't it figure that the radio now went dead??!!
I quickly searched the grounds to ensure that I would not be surprised. Once I realized that I was alone, I examined the hooch more closely. Bedding, empty food cans, and a Vermeer print in a frame ("Girl with a Pearl Earing," c1665) placed along the wall. The hooch was probably some homeless guy's place. I had a distinct feeling that he was nearby, watching us in hiding having heard our approach and waiting for us to leave.
