The Kumano Kodo
What: hiking the Kumano Kodo ancient pilgrimage
Where: Kumano Kodo
No. of Nights: 3 (Days 11, 12,& 13 of 21-day trip)
Osaka to Watarase Onsen, Kumano Kodo
In many ways it feels good to be getting away from Osaka (you can read about Osaka here by the way): because I'm now en-route to Kii-Tanabe by train! From here I must then take a local bus to Watarase Onsen. It's refreshing to be leaving behind that rather depressing concrete jungle, Osaka, and venturing into the world of the ancient forests and pilgrimages of The Kumano Kodo.
In case you don’t know, The Kumano Kodo is a series of ancient sacred pilgrimage routes that crisscross the Kii-Hanto (the largest peninsula of Japan, basically south of, and in between Osaka and Kyoto). These sacred trails were (and are) used for the pilgrimage to the sacred site Kumano Sanzan or the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano: Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha and Kumano Hayatama Taisha. The hiking routes (some of which I hope to explore) weave through the mountainous Kii Peninsula. Once reserved for emperors and samurai, the ‘Kumano Old Road’ is today open to all modern-day inquisitive wanderers. Over the years, Buddhist temples and shrines of Shinto (Japan's native religion) were built, making the route's iconography more familiar for the ‘common folk’ like me or you, unless you’re an emperor or samurai that is! And in 2004 The Kumano Kodo and its sacred sites were given World Heritage status – one of only two pilgrimage routes recognised by Unesco
Originally I was booked in to stay at a different ‘ryokan’ – but since I had to shuffle things about, I also cancelled that one, and have instead booked a nicer looking, more traditional, Japanese-inn – well to me it looks much nicer, although the overall review score is slightly lower. It's on a half-board basis, which is sweet! So I will stay here for three nights and I plan to walk for two full days. Following which I will make my way to Kyoto – the land of the Geisha! Of course I haven’t spoken much of this yet, but my imagination is being filled to the brim day by day by the beautiful book I’m reading, “Memoirs of a Geisha”.
Train, then local bus: peaceful, green and remote!
So on this train journey along the western coast of the Kii Peninsula, I begin to feel much more relaxed... for now I am moving further from Osaka and mostly I can see only trees, hills and mountains... and not only is the outside world all very remote-looking, even the train is emptying out as we progress along the way. Outside, it’s all a dense lush plethora of greens, blues and yellows, the trees so full of contrasts, and such an array of trees, the diversity is inspiring. I sit quietly, very content listening to music and reading my wonderful book.
Once I arrive at Kii-Tanabe I go straight to the information-centre. The two ladies who welcome me are fantastically helpful and one of them even goes so far as to call up the inn on my behalf, who inform her they’ll be picking me up at such and such bus stop! This is brilliant news, because I hadn’t had the faintest idea how I'd be getting there and it is now gushing with rain and the night will soon be upon me! They even help me finalise my hiking itinerary, telling me what buses I will need to take and when! They hand me a very useful booklet with details of each of the hiking routes. This proves to be the perfect companion as I intend to follow several of the routes exactly as laid out in the booklet, and the booklet is really spot-on - if you're there, get one of these!
I have some time to kill before taking the two hour bus ride to Watarase Onsen (yes, effort must often be made to reach beautiful places!), so I head into the only coffee-shop, a basement café – it ain't great but the staff more than make up for it, as usual. I have a coffee and then amble back to the bus-stop. Passengers must board at the back, and intuitively I choose to sit right at the front of the bus and am positioned to be able to steady my suitcase with one hand and sit my rucksack on my lap. The French couples who decide to sit at the back, evidently hadn’t figured the back is where people are going to be constantly clambering on, and so they will basically be caught up in all of the hustle and bustle of this local bus journey, which also apparently becomes the school bus journey – with school having seemingly just finished for the day!!
It gushes down the entire journey, but the scenery is magnificent and I am feeling more chilled by the second. Now with only around half an hour to go, the bus is virtually empty (just like the train), apart from three other hiking tourists. So basicallyy, I’m heading to a place that is remote compared to an already remote place.
A French girl who had been sitting at the back with her boyfriend comes to the front to get a better look at the surrounding wilderness, and she seems to be checking me out for some reason or other. Anyway, I don’t pay her much attention apart from a fleeting wink, but it does give me a warm feeling, just the fact that she is here, looking quite pretty and glancing over at me, and the fact that she seems to find me interesting, and it is dusk, and it is raining, and we are surrounded by the lush green vegetation with rain gushing down; the atmosphere is cosy and exciting.
I am waiting for the Watarase Onsen stop, so when we make a stop some place else, and a very smartly dressed man in suit and tie calls my name whilst gesturing me to step off the bus, I'm puzzled! The French girl looks at her boyfriend then at me, maybe half wondering
Mini-bus journey from Kii-Tanabe to Watarase Onsen, The Kumano Kodo
whether to join me and exlaims to her boyfriend “wow what service!”, stepping off I shout back “mais oui, au revoir”, and shoot them a smile and a wink. He takes my case and puts it into the sleek minivan and we drive off. This is perfect! Now I am even more excited! And yes, what service!!! This certainly heralds a new adventure!
Hotel arrival, into another world
We drive along small winding roads for about 10 mins to then arrive at the hotel! I am checked-in by a very nice young gentleman who speaks rather ok English. He takes me to my room and explains all the things I need to take note of, of which there are many! This is typically Japanese! By now I’m feeling remarkably relaxed anyway, as if a huge weight has been lifted form my shoulders. Osaka can be heavy, I think.... Everything has seemed so calm since I left Osaka, and everyone is super friendly and smiley. He explains that this is my kimono and that I put this piece on followed by that other piece on top, and it’s optional to wear it at dinner-time, but that lots of people do so anyway. He proceeds to tell me about all the different bathes: a family bath (for which a key from front desk is needed), an indoor communal-bath, an outdoor communal-bath and a set of 4 outdoor private-baths which can be accessed by crossing a bridge spanning the river and then using this other key…. At this point my eyes do start to glaze over, as I am pretty hungry now and true to the Japanese way, things can be very complicated!!! He tells me about a few other random bits and pieces and then asks me to get ready and make it down for dinner for 7. Yes, yes I will – I’m famished! It’s now 5 to 7 anyway!
At Watarase Onsen Hotel Sasayuri: paintig of 5 beautiful Japanese women dressed in exquisite Kimonos
Dinner: sumptuous feast
Now then, the dinner! Well the dinner is incredible. Let’s call it a banquet! It consists of around 14 dishes, some served at the start and then the others brought out one by one as the dinner progresses. Well what a feast, I feel like a king! and I am facing the bridge that leads over the river, and it is lit up by hundreds of little sparkling lights, it looks very pretty…and I melt even further into a zenful state as I sip
on the local sweet yet pungent plum-wine.
But as you may know by now, I don’t eat crustaceans, shell-fish, or offal, but I do eat most normal fish (i.e. basically fish that looks like fish, apart from the likes of eel and generally anything which doesn’t look like a normal fish, I guess!!!). This is not an easy thing to explain here, so my google companion works relatively well! That said, I do catch sea-urchin, eel, lobster and some offal in this tightly meshed net I cast to separate my dislikes from my stomach! Therefore I thankfully manage to avoid scoffing these down along with everything else! To be honest, sea-urchin is probably amongst one of the most disgusting things I can think of eating! I don't know why things like this make me feel so sick, but they do! Just looking at it makes me feel very queasy. It is placed right next to the fish sashimi and usually that in itself would put me off the innocent neighbouring food, but I’m feeling adventurous (and hungry) so undeterred I eat the yummy sashimi anyway (avoiding all contact with the awful looking urchin!). I’m told the sashimi consists of Hamachi, (a type of yellowtail), Tai (Sea Bream), Maguro (Tuna) and Sake (Salmon). Yum yum yum and yum!
The waitress is very friendly and every time she comes to my table (which is quite often to give me a new dish or to show me what to eat next and how), she bows, nods and tries to say at least a few words to me. Her repertoire of English words is like mine of Japanese.
After the long dinner, I head back to my room and chill for 30 mins, before putting on my kimono to then go check out one of the bathes – I still need some time to first digest!
Over the bridge and into the land of Zen
I wonder over the bridge, which gently bounces to the rhythm of my slow saunter, each step seemingly sending me into a deeper more relaxing trance, like some sort of guided
meditation. The lights sparkle and the sky is dark but filled with stars. How romantic!! I find the bath! Nobody else is about. These are the ones you get to yourself anyway, an entire outdoor stone bath of about 20m2, steaming hot! I wash and step into blissful heat which envelopes my whole naked body. It’s now about 10pm and this beautiful heat sends me directly into the upper hemispheres of utter blissful relaxation. The lighting is dim, there is no noise pollution and the air is crisp – steam rises and my heart-beat falls into the zone of zen.
At hotel Watarase Onsen Hotel Sasayuri, this bridge takes you across the Yomura river to the Kawayu hot springs and amazing steaming outdoor bathes
Day 12
Hiking the Kumano Kodo
I wake up feeling excited about the walking ahead!
I eat the Japanese-style breakfast, luckily not quite the feast of the previous night but still, a large number of unusual dishes nonetheless. The conge cooked in onsen water is definitely not my favourite – think of hot rice soup tasting (and smelling) of sulphur dioxide!?
Full-Japanese breakfast (apart from mini-croissants)
The minibus delivers me to the beginning of my trail! What service! And we agree the pick-up time at the same location – I will be doing the entire 25km loop if all goes well (and if I can stop burping up sulphur-dioxide!)
Kawayu Onsen
The small village of Kawayu Onsen is really pretty – a small onsen river runs through it and the steam climbs up past the surrounding mountains, which are enriched by millions of trees, and into the beautiful interconnecting blue skies. Over the small bridge sits a little shrine and adjacent to this is a little local coffee-shop. I order a ‘normal’ coffee rather than the onsen-water
coffee, and an American couple (in fact the only other people in sight) ask for the onsen coffee – I think yuck! We are all sitting outside next to the river so I strike up a conversation. They are a friendly couple and we chat about this and that, I also tell them my intended route and they’re happy to see my map as they’ve come slightly unprepared. Unfortunately, my coffee’s an onsen one too! I drink it anyway, but the slight sulphur taste is a bit sickly – again! Then I bid them farewell and set off!
Kawayu Onsen is a geological thermal marvel located on the Oto River, a tributary of the Kumano-gawa River. “Kawa” means “river” and “yu” means “hot water”. In Kawayu Onsen hot spring water bubbles to the surface of the crystal clear river.
Along the Akagi-goe section turning towards Hosshinmon-oji - I put those stones there!
Akagi-goe section
The starting-point is easy enough to find, and I follow the signpost marking out The Kumano Kodo! It’s a long (relatively steep) climb, this is the Akagi-goe section of the loop, 6.5km’s long. The climb goes on for several kilometres. It is beautiful. A pesky little fly won’t stop bothering me and it takes about 30 mins till the little f*cker’s finally escaped my head’s orbit!! I begin to relax into it, and the path is strikingly beautiful. There is a sense of serenity here, and I naturally find myself getting heightened feelings of spirituality along the way.
Hosshimon-oji
I’m looking forwards to reaching Hochimon-oji, because to me it looks as if it’s a small town where I’ll certainly be able to get some lunch, and by now I’m getting hungry – if the worst comes to the worst I do have a couple small bananas to keep me going!! At the very least I need some more water pronto!
Unfortunately, there’s no such town, not anything at all (apart from the famous shrine, which is naturally lovely to
see). But on the cusp of dehydration, I start talking to another couple – asking where the vending machine is? But they have no clue!
I walk on and thankfully see it! I load up with water and continue the trail.
Hosshimon-oji to Hongu Taisha section
They then catch me up and we start talking. I end up talking with them for the next 7.5km’s, on the Hosshimon-oji to Hongu Taisha part. They’re a cool pair, he’s from Sweden, she's from China.
We arrive at Hongu, where there is plenty to see. “Hongu is located among the mountains in the interior of the Kii Peninsula south of Osaka in the middle of The Kumano Kodo network of pilgrimage routes that link the shrines throughout the peninsula” ref. from a very useful tourist information website.
How do you wash your hands at a Japanese shrine? Here we are:
Cleaning your body and mind at a Water Place before visiting the main shrine:
1. take a water scoop with right hand.
4. switch scoop back to right hand and pour water on left hand, then rinse your mouth (do not spit back into water).
Dainichi-goe section
We then part ways as they can’t do the last stretch, ‘Dainichi-goe’. It is 2km from the town Hongua to the start ‘Oyunohara’ where it is only a 2.2km trail to Kawayu Onsen, thus completing the loop. But it turns out to be a tough climb, just over a 250m ascent, for 1.4km, to the top of the mountain, rather relentless and I’m feeling somewhat relieved to get to the summit now.
And now downhill all the way!
It’s lovely to walk back into the town, I feel revitalised and am replenished with that feeling you get after a full day of good old outdoor exercise. The driver picks me up and I am feeling so exhausted when I sink into the comfy seat, I almost fall asleep! But I feel incredibly good.... I can’t wait for the feast ahead, the plum-wine, and the bath later!
Another feast and blissful evening
Tonight is a completely different menu, and as yummy as the preceding night’s!
One of the waitresses is new and she is ridiculously courteous!! I feel a bit embarrassed, because as she leaves the table each time, she is repeatedly saying “you’re welcome” (in Japanese of course) and bowing to me whilst walking backwards and still facing me – so that every time I look back at her, she bows some more. To delicately break this slightly awkward interaction, I must basically look away, but then I instinctively double-check she has walked off and of course again she catches me looking at her and therefore must bow some more – and so on and so forth! She is so sweet though, and very professional and polite, but it is bit awkward too!
Again, the bath is bliss! I sleep like a baby!
Day 13
(2nd day of hiking)
Today, another unnecessarily huge breakfast. The things I enjoy most are the mini-croissants and the delicious salmon, which are sitting amongst God-knows what else (only joking, but there are a lot of things I can’t stomach, especially at this time of the day!).... After this I get ready, then head back down to the lobby where I drink a real coffee before jumping in the minibus I had pre-arranged the night before.
Hiking: Kogumotori-goe section
I now embark on hiking the (unbeknownst to me at the time) rather challenging Kogumotori-goe section.
2. scoop water and wash left hand.
3. switch scoop to left hand, and wash right hand.
I do not realise this (until I stop some 10 mins into the walk to admire the absolutely magnetic surroundings), but the map tells me the first 5.2km are uphill!!! This will be followed by some downhill and further uphill sections before descending all the way down into
Koguchi, which with luck will hopefully have some eateries etc.
Taking it all in
Anyway, I sit down on a tree trunk and look around me to take it all in. I feel very relaxed and the only sounds I hear are those of the birds and the thick forest gently swaying with the wind between its trees. There’s one species of bird in particular, that's making some distinctive calls to its fellow birds. I try to mimic these but it’s almost impossible. Geekily, I enjoy doing so anyway! The sun’s shining and I see the blue sky revealing itself where it can, between the dense forest canopy. I rehydrate and move on. I don’t come across a soul. I do come across several shrines and an old (now abandoned) tea house – it used to serve tea to pilgrims taking this route in the distant past. After, I come across a small orange bridge crossing the thin stream descending into a waterfall further down. it’s pretty, very, very pretty.
what have you – although they don’t catch anything whilst I’m there at least. No food at all for me either!
So, I’m now very, very hungry.
The walk was tiring but super duper rewarding.
I must wait one hour for the next local bus. This takes me to Watarase Onsen where the driver is picking me up. At the bus stop I pass the time talking to a Canadian couple.
Tonight, I have my last 15-course feast. Delicious. Then bath of course, then sleep!!
Ahh I will miss this, all of it!
But tomorrow it’s Kyoto, I’m very excited!!!
Koguchi’s a small village with nothing really here apart from stunning scenery and big encircling birds of prey, which are readying to swoop down to kill a rodent or