Nonaka

I left Takahara at 08.30 and walked 13km along the next section of the Kumano Kodo to Nonaka., the Nakahechi section. There was drizzle or mist occasionally in the morning, and rain in the late-afternoon. The route included steep ups and downs, mainly inside the forest. I passed many oijis (shrines) and walked from Post 8 to Post 34, the posts being 500m apart. The route was well-signposted with toilets and cafes in the villages. The path was mainly a forest track with stones and roots although there sections of tarmac, usually roads, such as the last couple of kilometres this afternoon.
Each overnight stop provided a bento-box lunch for the following day.
There were no bears or leeches but I saw monkeys high in the trees and heard some birds although they were mainly unseen.
I passed or was passed by about a dozen others on the trail so this section wasn't busy. The views would have been great if it wasn't so misty.
At Nonaka, I walked up some steps past massive cedar trees, which were common at the entrance to shrines, to see Tsugizakura-oiji.
I walked back a couple of kilometres, using my umbrella in the rain, to the overnight accommodation which was a minshuku called 3rd Place Kumano Kodo. I had a 5-room annex to myself.
Dinner consisted of 20 items Japanese-style. The other guests were five ladies from Perth who stayed in an adjacent annex.
On the way back to my annex, I slipped down a badly-lit slope and lost one of the slippers provided in the annex.
There was nothing of interest to watch on TV which was the case generally although BBC World was available at a few hotels in the cities.Read more