The Nakasendo trail linked Kyoto to Tokyo during Japan's feudal period (1185-1603). It was the road through the mountains travelled by feudal lords and their retinues, samurai, merchants and travelers. Along the route were 69 post town, where weary travelers could rest before continuing on the next leg.
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| Of this long trail, we only hiked about 10km in two days, which is why I titled this blog post "part 1" because there is much more of it to see on another trip. |
For our first expedition, we camped between the two post towns, Magome and Tsumago:
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| Also near our campsite were the Otaki and Metaki (male and female) waterfalls. *Side note: I've never seen Cameron so happy! He said, "I feel like a kid in a candy store. I feel like running!" And he did, all the way into the waterfall! The mist coming off the waterfall was a natural air conditioner, it was sublime :) |
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| As we began hiking to Tsumago, we stumbled upon a small village offering fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and spring water. There was just a small shelf (with no one standing around) where people left some yen in exchange for the refreshing vegetables. So we left some coins and enjoyed our snack! Btw, these cucumbers had great cucumber flavor! I've never had anything like it...must be vine-ripened. |
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| I love these dogs - they are so cute and mysterious - I mean, they won't let strangers (like me) pet them! Seriously, it seems like everyone in japan has this same dog and I've only been able to pet one once! They are playing hard to get and now I want one for myself :) |
The next morning:
Thank GOD for this place....
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| [rest room, not restroom!] |
...because on our way to Magome, we ran out of water along the trail. We were rather parched by the time we found this place. Just imagine - the hiking, the intensifying humidity and heat, plus a growing thirst -- and suddenly we come upon this free rest room where outside they have running spring water with (yet again) fresh cucumbers and tomatoes for snacks, plus an indoor sitting area to escape the sun.
Exactly what we needed! I motioned to my empty water bottle to the little japanese man who ran the place, and he communicated to me (through some combination of Englanese/ gesture/nodding and smiles) that yes, of course,
the water is good and free. I swear, water never tasted so good! Please don't be mistaken though, we weren't in any danger of serious dehydration, because the trail follows several small rivers and streams the whole way. It would have just been a matter of hiking down the bank to the flowing water below. But we found the rest room first :)
Inside the rest room we sat down at the lone table to enjoy salted cucumbers, tomatoes and hot tea -
personally, I was still chugging cool water. There we found a journal where travelers, who stopped here before us, wrote a little something. It was very interesting to see where all these travelers were from! Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, UK, Netherlands, New Zealand, and {{Gasp!}} even one token American besides ourselves (
did I mention the Netherlands? There was a ridiculous amount of entries from that country).
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Welcome to the enchanted Hinoki cypress of Kiso. The age of these trees are somewhere between 300-400 years old. Their limber was once used to build castles, old samurai residences, buddhist temples, etc. Tradition has it that "when one tree is cut without permission, one neck is cut" (and I quote that from a piece of paper some cashier guy handed to me, on the history of the trees, while we were shopping in Magome). Since cutting down the trees was clearly out of the question, we really enjoyed hiking though this beautiful forest instead! |
Along the trail, we saw so many unique and interesting things in nature, that I had to create a collage (otherwise I would bore you with never-ending photographs!)...
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Once we reached Magome, we had traditional japanese soba in one of the cute buildings along the trail. Soba is highly regarded in Japan and usually eaten on special occasions. Unlike any other pasta or noodle dish, soba has a distinguished flavor which comes from within the noodle itself, not the sauce. Soba noodles are hand-made with buckwheat flour and they are also hand cut. A person will dedicate their whole life to the art of making soba and they will never believe that they've perfected it. A very common thing in Japan is the belief that perfection is unobtainable. That's why they are so meticulous and detailed - to a point of near insanity - because they are always trying to improve their skill, whatever it may be.
I once read that the original written Japanese language, Kanji (you know, it looks like this 感愛雨) was one of those skills that people strove to perfect. The more aesthetically one could write these intricate characters, the more powerful/successful/elite you were. After all, a lot of what the Japanese did for centuries, and still do, is based on the pursuit of aesthetics. |
