Haiku and Mountains

Ancient sacred path

Unfamiliar birdsong

Mother and son walk

Oh, how the body aches but hey, no blisters, no injuries just deep muscle soreness, and a full heart as balm. We walked the Kumano Kodo, the 38km ancient pilgrimage in the Kii Mountains from Takijiri-oji to Hongu Taisha. It was up and down and then more up and down, and more and so on.

We stayed at a minshuku (traditional Japanese accommodation) right next to Takijiri-oji so we could get an early start. Originally during our planning sessions we had tried to use the local tourist bureau’s booking system but it was the (with a capital ” T”) most cumbersome website ever, that I had likened to a set of Russian babushka dolls, and it had said there was no accommodation at the trailhead but through Airbnb we found this place. It was lovely to meet some fellow walkers and interestingly there was a father and daughter combo from France and a lovely 3 generation combo of mother, daughter and her baby son from Hawaii. Very Camino like at the communal table for our delicious home cooked meal and lots of conversation.

The first steps began with an ascent of 800m in the first hour. And boy, was I loving my new walking poles steadying me over the rocks and tree roots. I never thought I would use poles but after some reflection on injuries I got in the Camino and their sequelae I was determined to avoid issues. I am a convert!!

Along the way we stopped at various shrines and memorials collecting stamps in our Kumano passports like adults playing some kind of reality Pokémon Go. There were a minimum number of stamps we had to get to qualify for our Dual Pilgrim credential, we were careful to not miss them, and this had led to us doubling back, luckily only about 400 metres, at one point when an ambiguous sign had confused us and we had thought we’d missed a stamp. Most of the signage was excellent… my favourite sign when I was doubting the way was “Not Kumano Kodo” thus removing any uncertainty and leaving me free from any lingering anxiety to stride along.

Our hosts for our second night had recommended an organic bakery cafe in Chikatsuya that was a little off the trail. We did clock up an extra kilometre I would say in trying to find it despite the small size of the village, but it was worth it. I am absolutely loving the vegetarian “sets” (as they are called) that give you miso soup, a bowl of rice and then a plate of various delicious morsels that will always include some tofu, a house specialty (in this case a croquette) and fresh and pickled vegetables served on little dishes within the plate. I get quite excited when it is all presented and can just ooh and ah at the presentation, let alone the actual eating.

We toiled up another mountain mostly on asphalt, ie the local road onward to our Airbnb by Tsugizakura-oji. Here many years ago pilgrims had found a cherry tree grafted to a cypress. Who knows how that happened, but I like to imagine that some archaic horticultural experiment had taken place with some success. Unfortunately it is no longer alive, I was disappointed, but some venerable big old trees still guard the shrine entrance and that was a consolation. We collected our stamps and made our way down the drive to our hosts for the night. We had an interesting stay with the family of six, half kiwi, half Japanese and we were packed off the next day with a decent supply of typical local packed lunch. For me this must include onigiri… lightly flavoured riceballs (triangular prisms really) with nori covering them and sometimes a filling of tuna or salmon or, as Marcus discovered yesterday (to his chagrin) umeboshi, (sour plums – wince – and he did). Onigiri have become a staple for the mammal-meat-avoiding person that I am – easy to find (all convenience stores have them), portable and quite delicious.

Mmmm… so it seems food is a recurring theme… and it is. When you work up an appetite walking 38km over 2 days walking up and down mountains, it matters! Then there was also the feast for eyes with vistas of tree covered mountains and babbling mountain streams, the odd camellia tree in flower and wisteria vines, also flowering with trunks as big as a sumo’s thigh, many azaleas and some rhododendrons but with my limited knowledge of local flora I may have gotten them all wrong. Pines dominated most of the forest which is perhaps thanks mostly to monoculture forestry practices… ho-hum… sigh. And for fauna… we saw some snakes soaking up springtime sun, heard many birds, spied some land crabs, only small, that had become roadkill (trampled under trampers feet) and a number of different flying bugs that had us freaking out that they might be the super hornets (imagine, Australians scared of bugs!). They weren’t osuzumebachi because we would have heard the different tone of their buzz… the “run for your life” tone!

I found the walking on the second day really hard, at least for the first half. I just couldn’t find my mojo. But after a good lunch and a relax by a babbling stream I found the will to go on. It also helped that the worst of the ascents sand descents were over. Marcus and I shared our end of Camino experiences as we approached Hongu Taisha, our destination, our Japanese Santiago. That was pretty special. As we got closer the path became more populated, and despite the fact that we’d traversed many mountains we accelerated past the day trippers, buoyed by our goal.

Just a week before we arrived at the temple, Hongu Taisha celebrated its 2050th anniversary!! We made our way down to the visitor centre where we were presented with our credential and our dual pilgrim badge. There was some pomp and ceremony, at lest more than at the Pilgrim’s office in Santiago. We then went back up all the stairs despite the aching legs to play the Taiko. The drum playing is a ritual that is only offered to dual pilgrims – I was not missing that opportunity! We played out the rhythm that the priest demonstrated (well, we attempted to imitate). It was a fitting end to a pilgrimage short in duration but intense in exertion. But the significance of pilgrimage is always the internal journey, the personal meaning. It has been wonderful to share it with my oldest offspring. Arigatogozaimus!!