Kumano Koda - Day 5 - Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine

Our last day on the Kumano Koda trail. We chose to catch a boat down the river rather than walk the last leg. It was more appealing to sit on a traditional boat and float down the river, much more so than struggling up over an 800m challenge trail with our packs that never got lighter and only served to weary our legs.

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It was a good choice. The boat trip was fun with our guide presenting in Japanese and English. she was pleasant and interesting, and entertaining with a piece played for us on a wooden flute.

Taking the boat also provided us with an opportunity to see another large shrine, in fact two on top of the planned Nachi Taisha shrine. The world heritage Kumano Hayatama Grand Shrine.

The shrine was large and gaudy with its bright orange paint. It was in excellent repair and spotless. I rather liked it.

This is a working place of worship, as are most of the shrines in this area. There was a ceremony of some kind in progress upon our arrival.

At this shrine we coincidentally me the host of our next lodging. She recognised us through my WhatsApp photo. I suppose as foreigners we do stand out, especially at low season, but to have that perception it's pretty good. She was a very generous host, offering to take us with her friends to another perhaps more interesting shrine: the older original Kamikura-jinja shrine.

We gratefully accepted her hospitable offer, and had a great mid day adventure with lunch at a traditional restaurant, good conversation with her friends and exploration of an unplanned side trip, as well as a drop off to the Nachi Taisha trail head. If for that alone, I recommend a stay at her premises (Nachikatsuura via Booking.com)

The "ancient shrine" follows ancient principles - you need to work hard to get to your spiritual leader. There is a symbolic gated entry with stairs leading up into the heavens, and they do ! It's a long steep way up.

Without our backpacks we literally sprinted up to the top. It could be the 4 days of fitness training too. The others were somewhat tired once they reached the top, but happy for the workout nether the less. Everyone felt that the effort was worth it.

Early to bloom, the cherry blossom glowed in the sunlight, adding to the symbolism.

After a very pleasant lunch in a local restaurant we were dropped off at the Daimon-zaka slope. This trail is popular for those classic tall tree and mossy path way photos abound on the internet and magazines.

Why miss that cliche opportunity ? We spent a bit of time trying to get 'that' photo. I gave up and chose one at random. The walk was pleasant too, as its slope was on the gentler side compared to our earlier ascent.

Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine is a special place. I am glad that was at the end of our trek as it makes for a fitting conclusion. We spent perhaps a couple of hours wandering around the village and its shrines and to the waterfall.

I was almost going to stay here, but glad I did not. Our train to Kyoto tomorrow was an early one so the choice to stay at MaruHouse was a good one, and it was substantially cheaper. Maru was so generous with her time again, taking us to a spa: this kind of hospitality is not available in bigger business concerns - unless you pay for it of course.