Tsumago

I left my holdall at the ryokan for forwarding to Matsumoto.
It was still raining so I ordered a taxi to take me to Ise-shi Station where the rain stopped. I took the JR Rapid Mie to Nagoya, a journey which was not covered by the JR Pass so I had to pay the inspector. Different Prefectures have different rules about the validity of the Pass. From Nagoya, I took the Chuo Line to Nakatsugawa and then a bus to Magone.
The countryside was fairly flat and dotted with green and yellow rice paddies.
Magone was one of the main villages on the Nakasendo Way, the name of the Postal Route between Kyoto and Edo, now Tokyo. On this Sunday afternoon, it was very touristy. so I walked through the village to start the hike along the Way. After a short while, there was thunder and lightening so I sheltered, even contemplating returning to Magone to catch a bus. However, a German lady came along the trail at about the same time as the rain stopped and the sun came out so I continued with her until she veered off the trail to look for something.
The trail went uphill for the first 2km reaching the "lucky" height of 777m, and then it descended for 4km to Tsumago in the Kiso Valley. Tsumago was much quieter than Magone, perhaps because all the tourists ahd left by 16.30. The trail itself had been quiet despite this section of the Way being one of the most popular.
The walking was easier underfoot than the Kumano Kodo. The trail could have done with a few more signposts. The trail was mainly along forest trails except for the final kilometres into Tsumago and around the earlier landslide.
I stayed at Daikichi, a family-run minshuku.
There were German and Dutch couples at dinner where we sat on the ground with our legs stretched under the table to eat the Japanese set meal. which included grasshopper, rainbow trout, and horse sashimi.もっと詳しく