Hayatama Taisha

This morning we visited the third and final of the major shrines of the Kumano Kodo, and what we consider the finish line of our pilgrimage.

Closing the door on the dedicated walking portion of the trip is bittersweet - I'll miss the simple structure and purpose of each day, but am also excited to move into a different (much shorter) phase, and under no illusions that the step count is going to go down, particularly in Osaka.

Similar to the alleged phases of Camino, our start (Nakahechi) was a physical challenge, with far greater elevation and tricky terrain than either of us expected, the middle (northern and central Iseji) was in relative isolation, and the end (southern Iseji) was a parade.

Across both routes we've walked a total of 231km over 13 days for an average of 18km per day. We are still fans of each other. No blisters. Mild chafe. High morale.Read more