Kumano Koda - Day 1 - Chikatsuyu

The Kumano Koda trail is a UNESCO listed heritage walk, one of only two in the world, the other being the Camino de Santiago in Spain. This walk is a network of routes leading to major shrines. This was a fantastic walk, worth doing whether its a day, multi-day or simply a series of transport based excursions.

From the comprehensively detailed: Kumano Tourism board

For over 1000 years, people from all levels of society, including retired emperors and aristocrats, have made the arduous pilgrimage to the sacred sites in Kumano. These pilgrims used a network of routes, now called the Kumano Kodo, which stretched across the mountainous Kii Peninsula, weaving its way through remote villages and forests on a mixture of well-trodden trails and ancient cobblestone paths.

We chose the Nakahechi trek, which is a popular starter route and used the 6 day -5 Night Takijiri-oji to Kumano Nachi Taisha via Hongu route as suggested by Kumano travel with a few variations. We used Kumano travel to book accommodation along the way as it saved a lot of time and the prices were not unreasonable (note there is not much in the way of budget accommodation on the Kumano ). If you do it yourself which we did, there is a lot of work to research it. The information however, is readily available and the rewards are there as you get a deeper insight into what you are doing.

I like walking and the allure of a UNESCO listing, the thought of visiting an area where traditional values and lifestyles may still exist sold it to me. It turns out that our home stay experiences provided that; the hosts were polite, our meals presented beautifully, green tea, tatami mats, futons: just what the doctor ordered.

The walk is well documented, maps can be picked up at the travel centre located at the trail head and fortunately for us, English is the world go-to alternative language and so there are translations everywhere including on the signage. There was not a chance for me to digest the Japanese written language given its complexity.

On our first day we learn about the meaning of undulating. Let's translate it - long uphill climbs. Having just come from a tropical trip in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia: Steph was - should we say, less than conditioned for this work out. 13 km of walking doesn't sound a lot, but loaded with a pack with a 250m ascent as a taster wending its way up to about 550m over the distance it is a challenge.

This region is also known for its rainfall, and hence the appealing verdant photos, so we tested out the wet weather gear. Luckily I did a bit of reading, thought about my Tasmania treks and brought the appropriate outdoor clobber.

After a two hour immersive experience with a continuous uphill path ahead, we came across a guesthouse. Unfortunately there was a sign saying it was closed. Luckily two fellow lady hikers who were also somewhat wet saw us as we were about to leave and bade us to come in. One of them spoke Japanese and was able to gain a hot cuppa for all of us along with a nice warming fire. Having spent a year living and learning Japanese and swapping her skills by teaching English. The Finnish people: with their excellent education system, many will learn 2 languages. This young lady could speak 4 and was on her way to learning a fifth !

Like the pilgrims, we are compelled by some secret of the sacred rites and boldly continued with our journey. Though challenged, we are excited and propelled into the unknown (well not quite !).

It must be those rubber stamps housed in small boxes by each shrine. Like the rewarded child of yore, we sought them out and added more colour to our booklets,

Juxaposition in tradition - the formality and sophistication Japanese tea: most welcome.

Chikatsuyu village is set in a valley. It is fairly nondescript. I would suggest moving on to the next village further up for a more picturesque township. For us the distance was appropriate, given the occasional rain and lack of walking fitness.

You can organise transportation of luggage to accommodation, for those who want to make life easier on themselves it is probably a good idea. Our budget did not allow for this luxury. Also there are strategic points where you can use public transport - for me this wasn't an option early on, and there is a risk of missing out on good sights.