Japan: Week 5

This site is no longer going to be updated. I have upgraded my site and the new location is:

http://worldgallivant.com

1. Kumano Kodo & Gorge
2. Katsuura, Nachi, & Nagoya
3. Nagoya & Yamaguchi
4. Akiyoshidai & Asa
5. Asa & Matsue
6. Matsue & Kanazawa
7. Kanazawa & Wajima

Here is a map of the route we took and the exact places. Wow did we make it far during our first week. We were traveling at the speed of a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train)! Sadly Google Map doesn't allow you to have all those points while in public transportation mode, but we did travel the entire way on JR train.

 

Rice field in Takahara about 4 hrs
into our pilgrimage

Woods on between Takahara
and Jujo-oji

Val found the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage on the National Geographic website. After the Onaida Nature Trail I was a little hesitant to go on another Japanese hike, but since National Geographic recommended it, we thought it shouldn’t be too hard, so we began our pilgrimage. The beginning of our hike began in a slight sprinkle but it eventually dried out. The cloud formations and atmosphere or the whole hike was miraculous. With the mist rolling in through the woods, the bright orange crabs crawling by, dark red wood chips covering the walkway, and the bright green leaves, the pilgrimage was interesting, but not as easy of a hike as we had hoped. At one point, we came out at a hilltop village surrounded by rice fields all the way near the top of this mountain range in the Kii Peninsula. By this time, we were completely exhausted, even though it was only six in the evening. We opted to set up our home and go to sleep. The next day we finished our pilgrimage, which ended at the next closest bus stop that would take us to the shrines.

Dorokyo Gorge in Shiko

Dorokyo Gorge in Shiko

Kurano Nashi Grand Shrine Torii

We eventually made our way the Grand Nachi Shrine, which was located by one of the tallest waterfalls in Japan. At the top of the stairs to the shrine, we were greeted by the unforgettable scent of incense. The pagoda with the waterfall in the distance was remarkable, even now it looks like it was photo-shopped, and the experience was surreal. The shrine was one of the best that we visited and the different shops that lined some of the walk-ways were nice. I found a fantastic re-usable bag for Val.

Kurano Nashi Pagoda
with "tallest" waterfall
in Japan

Leaving the Kii Peninsula we headed for Nagoya, which is also the closest connection to the Shinkansen to our next location. Interestingly we could not find a park in Nagoya to camp out in, but we did find a park-ish area that was around the Nagoya Noh Theater and that is where we slept. It was a great find for us. It was a little farther away from traffic, so it was quieter. In addition, it had less foot traffic as well, so we were able to sleep in.

After visiting a few other destinations, we eventually made it to Kanazawa. Before leaving this destination for the rice fields, we had to check out the castle. We had previously checked out Himeji Castle, but could not enter the main castle as it is under renovation. Here was us hoping we could see the interior of Kanazawa Castle…alas the actual castle was destroyed hundreds of years ago and they are working on reconstructing the castle following old photos, plans, and pieces that had survived from the original.

Urban Camping

This site is no longer going to be updated. I have upgraded my site and the new location is:

http://worldgallivant.com

We read a lot about urban camping in Japan, before ever going over there and doing it ourselves. The main thing that made me feel confident about it being safe was that my mother had approved of it and even found it herself AND that on one of the recommendations it had said a police officer had suggested the park first.

Beppu, Beppu Park

Along the way we had asked many tourist centers if there was a place to camp at _____ (fill in the blank), they all would reply that they cannot officially recommend it, but that many people do camp there.

We would of loved to have more ideas of places to stay or that would be good. As we became experienced Japan Urban Campers, three criteria had to be met:

1. A bathroom
2. Two solid, old trees
3. Those trees had to be at a distance of 13 to 16 feet apart (Mother's feet, heel to toe)

Here are a few of the places that we stayed at all around Japan. The only one that we wouldn't recommend is Himeji Castle Park as the security guards didn't really like it, but if pressed to find a place late at night in Himeji we would go back and know that we would have to take it all down before 5 am.

A few of the places we would really recommend/ our favorites:

• Yokohama, Seaside Park: beautiful and a nice way to see the city lights and close to a bathroom
• Shirahama, Shirarahama Beach: we never had to take the hammock and Nube down during our 2.5 day stay, as almost no one walks behind the storage containers placed up by the cement walkway (this was during the weekdays, not sure how that would change during the weekend and high travel season). Very close to a nice bathroom. Beautiful beach.
...