Day 66 – Chikatsuyu to Yunomine Onsen

I don’t think my legs work any more! We hiked a total of 25km in 11 hours, from Minshuku Nakano (yesterday’s accommodation) leaving at 5:40am and arriving at the main shrine, Hongu Taisha, at 5:00pm.

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It was a crazy long day and the bags felt heavier with every step. Unfortunately J had pulled a muscle yesterday, which had flared up this morning, which slowed us down and was painful to watch.

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Today’s hike had more scenic views and lookout points. Due to a typhoon a couple of years ago some of the original path was closed and there is a permanent detour, which means we were walking on roads for quite some time. Also due to a recent storm, we were unable to get to one of the Kumano Kodo Stamps, and then finally near the end of the track we missed out on one more, as I could clearly see J’s injury was too much to bear.

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The Main Shrine, Hongu Taisha, was very cool. There was the three legged bird all around, which is the symbol of the Kumano Kodo.

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From the Shrine we caught a bus to the small town of Yumanine Onsen. The town only has one restaurant, which we were told might be closed! We headed down and lucky for us, it was opened.

Then we went back to our accommodation, J-Hoppers Kumano Yunomine Guesthouse. The guesthouse had a private indoor onsen, which was a cool experience to chill in with J. I don’t see myself going to a public one and chilling with a group of random naked guys though.

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After that, in the common room we hung out with a mixed group of people from all around the world. An Aussie man (tour guide, who takes people on adventure holidays), Japanese girl, American guy (same one we met in Hiroshima [world] and since he didn’t have a bed in the hostel J moved to the female only section so he could stay in the mixed dorm), German girl and two French guys.

Everyone had completed the Kumano Kodo that day so everyone left to bed very early.