I am going to combine two days of posts. Sam and I spent the next two days hiking the Kumano Kodo, a network of ancient pilgrimage trails winding through forests and villages on the Kii peninsula. It is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The logistics of the Kumano Kodo are peculiar by Western standards. Most hotels and services in Kumano Kodo can be booked on a website called Kumano Travel. However, that site only operates from 9 to 5 Japan Time. Then you can’t search by need, meaning you can say, “show me the hotels near this town that can accommodate five people.” You need to look at all of the listings individually until it works out. Then, you don’t get to make a reservation after you find what you are looking for. You submit a request to the Kumano Travel company, and they go about making your recommendations. 

However, once you give in and realize this will not work like Booking.com or some other travel site, it’s not too bad. You can book your hotels, luggage transfers, meals, and anything else you really need. Samer and I also booked our bus ticket to Koyasan on this site. A person named Mayu answered all of our emails. They were fantastic.

Over the next two days, our time was spent on the Nakehchi trail.

Wednesday 

The trail does not start in the town of Tanabe but at Takijiri-oji shrine beside the Tonda River. You can take a local bus to this trailhead, which takes about 30 minutes. We hiked to Chikatsuyu-oji, which is about 8.5 miles away and has an elevation gain of about 2500 ft. It was raining when we got off the bus, and the humidity was intense even when the rain subsided. This was an ass-kicker off a first-day hike, but we all did it. 

This part of the Kumano Kodo is a peaceful mountain hike that is predominantly wooded, so there are no grand vistas. There are enclosed wooded views during the hike, and shrines and historical markers along the way. We broke for lunch near a significant one called Takahara Kumano Shrine.

We ended at a hotel called Guesthouse Housen, right along the trail, but on the far end of town. We were all beat by the time we reached the Chikatsuyu-oji shrine, and hoofing it the last bit through the town was rather miserable, but the reward was fantastic. Our hotel had only three rooms, so we fit perfectly. I was desperate for a shower and was the first to strip the grime from myself before dinner. The owners are a delightful couple who spent 30 years running an Izakaya and now have this hotel. Their son runs the bar and snack car out front for travelers who aren’t stopping. I had a Japanese beer called Heartland that I liked. For dinner, the hotel prepared each of us an enormous hotpot! It seemed like too much food, but after a day of hiking, I realized I was famished and ate almost all of it.

Thursday

For myself, I decided to re-calibrate for day 2. The 8.5 miles were exhausting, and by the end of it, I was no longer enjoying it. Our destination was Hongu, which was about a 15-mile hike, and our hotel was another 3 miles after that.

I wanted to see the Kumano Hongu Taisha, a 100-foot-high torii gate, and enjoy a hot spring. I didn’t think I could cover 18 miles in time, so we did 5 miles instead. We walked from Guesthouse Housen to an old Log Bridge and then took the bus into Hongu.  I am confident that we could have done it, but a lesson I learned from previous trips is that being a completionist does not bring me joy.  Seeing beautiful things does, so I am glad we changed plans.

When you first get to Hongu, you quickly see the largest torii gate in the world. Built in 2000, the gate stands at the original location of the Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine. We visited the visitor center, saw the shrine, and then checked into our hotel. Initially, we had wanted to stay in Yunomine Onsen, but there was no space. We found a hotel in Kawayu Onsen, which was off the beaten path. It’s unique because most Japanese hot springs are indoor, nude, and gender-segregated. This one is outdoors on the bank of a river, so you can take a dip in the tub and then jump into the cold river. 

We stayed at a hotel called Kawayu Tateishi that was right on the Oto River.   We enjoyed dinner together at the hotel, a few drinks, and fell asleep on an absurdly uncomfortable pillow that I was told was designed to support my posture.   One of the dishes was Ayu wweetfish with roe still in it. I did not like that at all, but most of the rest of the meal was very good.

Next: Japan – Day 6: Koyasan