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Kumano Kodo
  • Lexie Magill
  • Lexie Magill

Kumano Kodo

Nakahechi and Iseji trails, then a few days in Osaka Weiterlesen
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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    It me
    It meI mean1Not sure this is flattering but it illustrates paceMelon flavoured, a surprise and a delight

    Yunomine Onsen to Koguchi

    25. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Hit the road at 11.09am with a short bus to Hongu after spending the morning taking an important phone call (James) and mooching about drinking coffee looking at fish (me). We picked up some lunch supplies and set off just before 12, conscious of our deadline given tonights accommodation is a 15 minute bus ride off trail and the last service leaves Koguchi at 5.19pm.

    We spent a fair bit of it motoring, and I've only really been sweatier at Bikram yoga, but it was a good day. About 700m up and a bit more than that down. God I hate the down, there's just no rhythm. Still, my back was so bad two weeks ago bed to toilet was a 60 minute round trip, so I'm grateful for the fact I can do any of it.

    The thing about living in Tasmania and being spoiled with its diverse, stunning landscape is that every now and then when you're travelling, something dumb will tumble out of your slack jaw like "this could be South Hobart". I really tried to keep a lid on that but tell you what, ferns are ferns. Gorge here, gorge at home.    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    Haru baby
    That's the onsen there on the left with the pointy roofCold drink afterwards on the walk back to the guesthouseManifested this dinner by declaring I fancied curry tonight on the trailHaru baby and breakfastSqueezed in a quick jam sesh before we took off yeah baby

    Sansaro Cafe and Guesthouse

    26. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Options for tonight were limited to a spare bedroom in the family home adjoined to a cute yoga mum's cafe, or a very rural indeed, possibly no electricity homestead. I think James chose well, and I doubled down on that when I saw Haru, the sweet hound that lives here.

    We got in about 5.30 so as the host greeted us she suggested we whip up to the onsen before dinner at 7. There's no bathroom here (or not for guests anyway) so a ticket to the local baths is included.

    We knew this in advance and were too tired to overthink so dawdled up past the primary school to scrub and soak in what turned out to be glorious surrounds. There was an indoor and outdoor section, and I do recommend looking up at the mountains at dusk from a warm bath.

    When you go to an onsen the first step is washing yourself, there's a row of little stools and handheld shower heads and/or taps and buckets, and soaps and shampoos, and you are expected to be clean as before you actually get in the water. In the change room there was a cot and dedicated baby towels, I assume that's for if you wash your baby there I can't imagine they're expected to meditate in the springs.    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    1Ew - purple bit is today
    Steep1Spidder!1SteepSteepSteepYERSSSSSSSteep but the other goddamn way

    Koguchi to Nachi - whining bit

    26. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    It's going to be 33 degrees today and we've got 800m of elevation in the first four kilometres. All told, we'll do 1260m of up, 970m down, over about 16km on the trail, but 21km for the whole day. There's one opportunity to refill liquids. We are Pocari Sweated to the back teeth. We saw our 5th, 6th, and 7th snakes. We got chased by hornets. We walked through a billion spider webs. It's very very glam.Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    That's the culprit officer! 👉
    😭

    Koguchi to Nachi - falling over bit

    26. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    NASTY DOWNHILLS, NASTY ROCKS. On a section of big sloped boulders, I slipped and fell hard on my tailbone, scraping my lower back on the edge of the stone. Given pre-existing back issues I was fearful this was it, but I was able to get up and keep going, though it's since egged up and my tailbone is bruised as anything, can barely sit. James found me a stick to ensure I didn't slip again, and I spent the next few hours smacking rocks with it, lest they try anything again. NASTY. ROCKINSES.Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    1Ha ha very funny NOT FUNNY ACTUALLYOmg baby did you get too hot in da onsen, crawl if you can hear me1The 1580 building - we got to go inside! No photos thoughNow, with me for context, you appreciate the scale of the building.13This sign should perhaps be more prominent idk just a suggestion1Us sitting at the low tables every night

    Nachi Taisha and waterfall

    26. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Got to Nachi - the second of the three major shrines - bang on 4, a good hour ahead of James' estimate, hurrah! It was really stunning, the approach hid it from view so you popped out and wham. The waterfall here is the highest in the country, and the enormous building is the oldest in the region, built in 1580.

    An adorable trio of high school girls approached us to conduct an interview for school, they are learning about gender inequality and wanted to know:
    1. Where are you from? 2. Has gender inequality been solved in your country?
    If no (obviously no) 3. When is gender inequality present in your country? I happily disabused them of any notion Australia was a feminist utopia but did cheer them up by saying it's getting better and bullying James a bit in front of them to demonstrate. They also liked that we were from Tasmania, as always.

    Between a bus to the trail head, a really demanding walk, some logistical rework for tomorrow on the side of the trail, exploring Nachi, and then a bus to our hotel, it was a long day for anyone - add to that James slept terribly last night and has a headache and I had my fall - but honestly it was another good day in Japan. Roll on hotel pls, excited for a western bed.    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    Kii-Katsuura is a tuna port, and fresh sashimi was an exciting surprise.2As was the occasionally metal, always incongruous soundtrack James recognised from an anime.🚗🥹1View of the water and soccer practice

    Pal's Inn

    27. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    If I'm honest, on approach last night I was convinced this place was closed and had been for decades but no, it's just frozen in time. It's charmed us both immensely. We are one of three occupied rooms in the quite large seaside hotel, haunted by an excellent older gentleman who says brilliant things like "check in process now finish" but had forgotten to give us the room key and then blushing, and, proudly, "opening lid my job" when presenting us with our breakfast boxes in the morning.

    Last night we slept in twin beds bolted to an elaborate headboard, and fell asleep minutes after finishing our discounted 200Y chicken rice and noodle dinners from Lawsons. James did the laundry, I should text those girls and tell them we're going to be ok.    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    Lots of tsunami warning posters and evacuation centres in the coastal townsTaki station has cows near it, I guaranteePresumably for work to explain being late

    Kii-Katsuura to Ise

    27. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Having completed the Nakahechi route, the original plan for today was to walk around 22km to Shingu, stay the night, and then tomorrow, catch a fast train up to the Iseji trailhead in Ise, visit shrine, hop back on a local train to backtrack a bit, then walk 26km. While feasible, we thought that sounded a bit much in practice, particularly as we need to orient ourselves to the new route, so decided to pivot. We packed the Shingu accommodation in, booked a place in Ise, and spent the day on slower trains (5hr total) getting the big transit and the shrine out of the way, and resting my poor tailbone. Very much the right decision. A woman on the train came and pressed two tiny satsuma into our palms and smiled.Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender

    Comfort Inn Era

    27. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Despite sounding a bit suss, the hotel James booked on the fly is mint. Perfectly located close to the station, and it has - Magills, are we listening - a library with free snacks and drinks. Also a (relatively) enormous bathroom, the first western double bed we've seen since last Saturday night, and wonderfully comfortable nightgowns which I have regretfully neglected to commemorate or steal.Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    1Mist me bebe1Note sleepy dog

    Ise

    27. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Fancy place it turns out, Ise. Got the vibe it was a Japanese tourism hotspot, lots of boutique shops and gourmet shops and restaurants. There's also an absolutely giant park with shrines, lakes, and my new favourite thing, misting jets, in it.

    Japanese chicano culture is an interesting thing and apparently strongest in Osaka and Nagoya but alive in Ise. Outside a custom shop with an enormous low rider out front, a group of cholo looking guys talking to an old man with a sleepy dog struck up a super friendly conversation with us, that mostly involved miming how high the car could bounce. James asked to take a photo of the car - possibly to flatter them possibly because he was genuinely interested, who knows. I'm glad the dog made it into the shot.

    We saw the old man again later that night when we were getting turned away from every fully booked restaurant, and he excitedly recognised us. We managed to snag some udon and then tottered back to a bed with no gaps in it, hurrah.    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    New signage
    1Adorable community touches like cushions and crochet at the public toilets and train stations1Box said basically bear incidents on the rise, please borrow a bell and drop it off on other side

    Ise to .....

    28. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Wheeeee we're on the Iseji route now, and judging by the number of spiderwebs we walked through, the fact we didn't see a single other walker, and the surprised reactions of every Japanese person we spoke to beforehand, we might have it to ourselves. We caught a train to Kawazoe to start, given we won't have time to be purists about this trail and our accommodation is another 25km or so away. As the ellipsis suggests, there's a story there.

    Mostly flat and paved today, winding through towns and along rural roads with smatterings of highway sidelines and one mountain pass. Much more similar to Camino than the solid hiking of Nakahechi. It's better signposted than we thought, which is reassuring, but we will definitely get our money's worth of our esims with google maps.

    We hadn't worn bear bells until today, but given how strongly they were suggested (see last photo) and the isolation, we jangled nervously through the forest. Saw a centipede the size of a small sausage (James said it's the most painful bite you can get, isn't that nice) and that of course got photographed, along with the dead viper on the road earlier with a bit of guts coming out.    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    Nice town, be a shame if we didn't have any accommodation in it
    1Now I'm bashful

    ....Ise-Kashiwazaki?

    28. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    As it's a Sunday, we had a slower start this morning than we'd have liked. Accordingly, it was getting late in the day and there was really only one train heading the way we were going left, so if we wanted to get a bump we needed to think about it. Options were to wait around about 40 minutes to catch it two stops from Takihara or keep walking to the next station and just miss it.

    Sad to clip the day shorter, but pragmatists, we rode into Ise-Kashiwazaki and walked about 1.6k out of town to the accommodation that hadn't shown any availability when James tried to book it, but worked when I did. Odd. Foreshadowing.

    Looking for advice about how to get in, we pulled up the reservation email and realised I, Lexie Dee Magill, had for the first time ever in the world, made, a, mistake. ITS TRUE CHILDREN. I booked tomorrow. It's currently today. Oopsadaisy.

    James plucked me down from the highway barrier I was trying to climb over to drown myself, and we put our heads together. There's one more train heading the other direction. There's a hotel a few stations back. Five minutes later we had a plan and were rewinding. Hung out with nine large spiders at the station for another 40 minutes before a 30 minute train - James seated, me in shame position.    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    1
    11Affordable quail eggs here aren't they2

    ....nope, Odai, oh dear

    28. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We have failed upwards here. Big time. Please sign us up as life members of whatever loyalty program Marriott runs because we are now STAUNCH brand ambassadors. Fairfield by Marriott Mie Okuise Odai nearly made us chuck the rest of the trip in and extend our stay by however many nights we have left.

    Trudged into the lobby dripping after getting stuck in the rain waiting for a train crossing to open, and the lovely kind Fairfield by Marriott Mie Okuise Odai staff at the desk sprung into action sourcing towels, taking only $126 away from me which is LUDICROUS value, and giving us the keys to the city (king room 115).

    Peeled off our wretched clothes, showered, said wow 75 times, walked 160m to a dinner we were just as razzed on, supermarket, then back to eat matcha ice-cream propped on magnificent pillows and say wow some more. Slept LOGGISHLY. Thank you very much Fairfield by Marriott Mie Okuise Odai!    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    Sit and do it. Other than English, we see things translated to Spanish and Portuguese most often
    2Rubbish goes in cages to avoid bearsWe mustn't grab or photograph on the trainsOn the train line and buses you take a ticket when you board and pay the fare the bingo screen says1There are portaloos on this trail!2They are Japanese style - you grab that orange rail and squatThese little statues are at many many houses. I thought they might be bear pilgrims.1They are in fact tanuki - badgers1

    Education time

    29. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Here are some things you might like to know about Japan, badgers and your bum.

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    1
    1WeddyThis artist has never seen a cow1Very abandoned, surprised I didn't try to book it1Excuse my french but get absolutely fucked1

    Odai to Furosato

    29. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Now registered pests on the Kisei train line, we started today with the 7.42am to
    Ouchiyama. Very culturally immature of you to laugh at that, we didn't. Another mix of road walking and mountain passes, and entering the first of the latter James saw what we now think was a deer, but freaked us out enough to applaud feverishly in lieu of bells for the duration. After about a kilometre and a half, we hadn't seen any of the markers, or the lookout, and the elevation was wrong, and yes sure enough we're not on the mountain pass we're on a random logging trail. Red hands and sheepish, we emerged back onto the highway to see the actual pass a bit further on.

    A chain hung across the entrance with a printed sign indicating a bear had been seen a few weeks ago and to be very careful. The map suggested this pass is bisected by a road, and so we power walked, clapping our sweaty palms, to a clearing where the highway entered a completely unsafe for pedestrians tunnel, and the pass continued, festooned with warnings about bears and encouragement to cancelling hikes if unsure.

    Stuck between a hypothetical bear and a tangible tunnel, we consulted the timetable and found there was a train at the station we'd passed earlier that would let us jump this nonsense. It was 33 minutes walk away and the train was going to depart in 33 minutes. The next one was in three hours. We literally ran back through the first bit of the pass, me shouting lists of what I had in my pantry as an alternative noise, and made it with seven minutes to spare.

    Between the bears wondering why I'm going on about paprika and the train conductors sick of the sight of us, we are really ingratiating ourselves in the region. Heebie jeebies had set in for the day and the next pass we got to, we flat refused and diverted via a country back street instead, playing music this time, on the recommendation of a guy we'd met at the chemist.

    This worked well for a bit. I wonder if I should write to Bon Iver and tell him his song From was the soundtrack to (thankfully only) two pairs of feet running frantically down a tunnel, mobile phone torches bouncing small beams around the wet darkness.    Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    These were all like $2 why isn't fish cheap at home
    1

    Supermarket lunch

    29. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Going to the supermarket is one of my favourite things to do in another country. I could spend hours there. While we were pretty loaded up with food, it's all shelf stable so we decided to hold onto it for when we don't have the choice, and picked up some ready made stuff. We ate discreetly on the bench outside, watching teeny elderly Japanese men and women (none of them over 40kg soaking wet) hoon in on bicycles, scooters and boxy toy cars.Weiterlesen

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  • Lexie MagillKumano KodoReisender
    1He's 73, just ask him, he'll tell you eighty times

    I love you

    29. September 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Nobody likes paracetamol and ibuprofen like Australians, and we really should have brought some but we were caught up in everything else we had to lug. The only ailments a supermarket will come near helping with are scrapes, indigestion and smudgy glasses, so we've been looking for a drug store and it's taken us a week.

    Google translate voice to text was getting us quite far with the woman working there, and by quite far I mean she plucked (quite suspiciously) literally the closest package off the shelf and insisted she takes it for headache, herbal, very good.

    She wanted James to test it before we bought it (without a headache at the moment it was of limited value but ok) and a good charades game was had with the sachet and the cup of water. I was team dissolve sachet in the water and drink, but she was team put water in your mouth then chase it with the whole sachet pre-swallow. I think Jim hedged his bets - I swear he swallowed the water then dealt with the powder dry.

    As I was handing over an astonishing $20 for the six sachets we'd now committed to, a man came in and asked "what country" and then "ahh Australia....I love you!" On hearing we were walking the Kumano Kodo, he sprang into action with bear and hornet advice, plucking bells and sprays off shelves and waving them at us, demonstrating. He then took two bottles of water out of the fridge and insisted we take them. I wasn't entirely sure if that was his call so checked with the woman and turns out it's her husband - she thinks he's an idiot but she loves him clearly.

    It took us nigh on 30 minutes to extricate ourselves from discussions out the front about adding him on Facebook, calling him if we need help, no perhaps he just give us a lift, reminding the landlady at our accommodation tonight that they went to school together, and taking a photo - which we asked to take again on my phone and I have enclosed here. The first one he wanted to link arms, bless.

    Once we'd finally started moving, he commenced surveillance blockies, lapping us three times before we encountered him again pestering a different lady friend at work. We were introduced to her, offered a lift again, and required to assure him about 18 times we did know which way we were going. His missus gave us some other thing for fatigue that she said is delicious, quite intrigued. Perhaps he's had some of that.    Weiterlesen

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