Kumano Kodo - Day 1

Tuesday August 29, 2023 - from the itinerary: At Kii-Tanabe you will visit Tanabe Tourist Information Center at 9:30 AM and have an orientation session with the Kumano Kodo staff, where you will get all the information you need. After this, you can take the 10:15 bus to Takijiri-oji to begin your trek. If the orientation takes longer, the Kumano staff will tell you, which bus you can use next. You will also have a daily luggage service until the end of the Kumano Kodo (until day 20, until Nachisan).

You will hike 4 km today to reach Takahara. Takahara is known as "Kiri-no- Sato" (village in the mist) because the picturesque views are often obscured by mist. Here you will spend the evening.

Walking time: 2–3 hours (4 km)

My hotel was also called Kiri no Sato

Today is day 1 of the Kumano Kodo which equals markers 1-17. From Takijiri-oji to Takahara - the village in the clouds. This should be another highlight of the trip.

The Kumano Kodo 熊野古道, meaning 'old roads to Kumano' consists of five pilgrimage routes (the Kiiji, Nakahechi, Ohechi, Kohechi and Iseji) that were historically used to reach the three grand shrines of Kumano (Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha), known collectively as the Kumano Sanzan. The Kodo ("old ways") are a key part of the region's World Heritage designation and have been in use for over 1000 years. The Kumano region has a deep history of over 2,000 years. The Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route was formed over 1,200 years ago. The route was a link between the three provinces of Kii, Saitama, and Wakayama. It was an important trading route during the Heian period as it served as a link between the three provinces.

This pilgrimage is paired with the Camino del Santiago in Spain and you can become a dual pilgrim if you get stamps at the proper places along the trail. Here's an example of the "passport".

Breakfast was a Japanese breakfast buffet. Not so appetizing...

I had to walk about a kilometer to catch the bus in to town and it was hot.

According to the weather it already felt like 91 at 8am. There was already an older lady waiting for the bus and we started a conversation - I using Google translate and I had no idea what she was saying. Suffice to say I was in the right place for the bus. The local buses here use a different system than in the larger cities and you pay on the bus which I didn’t understand. Bless her heart the lady gave me bus pass-250 y - to pay for my journey. I could have easily paid and it was probably a lot of money for her. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. I got tears in my eyes....

I had got to the Tanabe Information center at 9 and I had a briefing scheduled for 9:30 which gave me just enough time to get over to the Tokei-Jinja Shrine. This shrine dates back to the 5th century and is in the World Heritage. The name means cockfighting which is how the local ruler decided whom to back in the Gempei War in 1180. When I was there a local priest was praying with a woman, but I was not allowed to enter. Yet again being the ugly American.

I got back to the information center in time for my briefing and saw this interesting building along the way.

Miwa was in charge of my briefing which was so thorough and I guess that was a good thing. I received another 10 booklets/maps/detailed itinerary that I had to carry with me.

I missed my bus and waited another hour for the next one and had a Grapefruit ice across the square while waiting

The info center was giving away free Ume which is a local apricot specialty which was quite tart.

Yesterday I took the shuttle to the hotel with a couple from Richmond California who stayed at my hotel (Chris and Lyla). We met again at the Info center and took the local bus to takijiri-oji, about 40 minutes - and the start of our hike (see above maps). This Oji is one of the 5 most important oji due to its location near the Tonda-gawa river (a site for ritual water purification) and the entrance to the Kumano region. I didn’t see them after that, but we ended up staying at the same inn at the end of the day - the Kiri no Santo

Another bathroom shot:)

Here are some shots of the beginning of the trek. I got my first stamp at the beginning and someone left the top off the ink pad so ended up with red ink on my hands until it sweated off.

Shortly after the trailhead as the trail ascends (and it was really hot)

there is the Tainai Kuguri cave entrance. You can try to squeeze through. Tainai Kuguri means “to pass through the womb” (be reborn). You can see the exit hole in relation to the size of my pack. Women who make it through the cave are said to have easy labor. Well, I won’t experience that, but I did push through the cave and it was really difficult - so at the start of the hike I was already muddy and sweat through all my clothing. Ready to continue up the hill which felt like it never ended in the heat.

It finally did after 371 meters (about 1200 feet) and I stopped at the Hill Tsurugi Site Mound for a rest and a bite to eat. While I stopped I saw loads of beautiful big black butterflies - one had white spots. I think that was a raven butterfly. The other with the swallow tail I’m not so sure - it looked completely black. They were the size of small bats

After getting to the top of the hill, the rest of the trail was easier. There was a nice viewing area

And a place where you could try hearing an echo which didn’t work so well for me.

There were 2 more up hills and then I arrived at the village of Takahara which is known as the “village in the mist”. It has glorious views of the Hatenashi mountain range and is where I planned to spend night 1

That said, I completely missed sign post 7 and ended up passing the Takahara Kumano-Jinja shrine. So I actually walked further than I had to today, luckily the return was downhill. The shrine mentioned above is surrounded by ancient camphor trees (more than 1000 years old) and it’s believed to the be oldest shrine along this route ca 15th century.

My Inn is the Kiri no Santo. I am thankful my room has a good air conditioner and soon the temperature came down to a cool/comfortable range.

I washed all my clothing at the onsen bath and put it outside on the porch to dry. I was soaking wet when I arrived and my clothing was dripping. I only took a liter of water which was a bit of a mistake. Tomorrow will be the full amount and will top up along the way.

Here is my hotel room (and toilet) and bunny picture.

Today's hike was much harder than expected. That said, it was to take between 2 and 3 hours and it took me about 2.5 or a bit less, so right on time. That included doing all the goofy cave climbing.

Monday’s yakuta

There were some lovely views as the sun set and we relaxed on the patio before dinner. And as it set the mosquitos came out and had a field day on my arms and ankles.

Owners name is John who created a lovely dinner of fusion Western and Japanese. It included a sort of taco spiced mince with red peppers to dip into it. Sukiyaki, Tofu, sushi, pickles, etc. I also had locally made plum wine. For dessert was tiramisu.

I was invited to have dinner with:

Izumi, who, it turns out just got over covid 3 weeks ago so I hope I don’t get it, runs/owns KTI Kyoto Travelers Inn in Kyoto

Her daughter Brittany and Dominic, the boy friend

Dominic

Izumi used to live in San Francisco where she was in management at Neiman Marcus. Brittany was born in the US. Dominic is German and is working on his masters in International Relations.

This praying mantis joined us for dinner, but didn't eat much.

Tonight is a blue moon which I think is tomorrow night because the moon doesn’t look full tonight. Maybe it has something to do with crossing the date line.... Tonight was a clear sky and Takahara was not a village in the mist today.