Have you been to Japan? If not, this might be just the right time to consider. Japan is one of our favorite countries to visit, this time we did a combination of a pilgrimage and just hanging around Kyoto.

The pilgrimage is called Kumano Kodō, and it’s just so beautiful. One thing that often strikes me in Japan is obviously its history. The Kumano Kodō has been used for more than 1,000 years for the purpose of Kumano worship, which flourished as the largest sacred site in Japan during the Middle Ages. We walked Nakahechi route, around 70 km, connecting the three important shrines.

When I say “we”, it means our daughter, my wife, and I. The whole trip was also a kind of rite of passage as our daughter turned eighteen on the last day of the pilgrimage. Symbolically, it was for her beautiful conclusion of her childhood, and for us a sign of things to come – empty nesting, and so on. Let’s get back to this topic in one of the future newsletters.

The pilgrimage is UNESCO World Heritage registered, we truly did not know what to expect. Will there be thousands of loud tourists walking around with selfie-sticks? Are we going to get lost in the forest in a country where many people don’t speak English? Nothing like that happened. Yes, you meet other pilgrims, an eclectic mix of people from different countries, but nothing overwhelming. The route is well marked, yes, sometimes challenging as it winds through the mountainous terrain of Kii peninsula.

Another interesting discovery was the booking system. You can’t book through AirBnB or Booking! There is an ‘ancient’ website where you specify your route, the site offers you accommodation options, you select, submit….and wait. The agency behind the web has 30 days to respond and confirm. This all was a bit strange, but I must say that it felt quite refreshing to experience something slow and traditional, whereas in our world everything is usually so quick and just ‘click-away’.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience. Have a look at few lovely pictures at the bottom.

Before I go, let me share one story which is rather unforgettable. While in Shingu, a small, sleepy town at the end of our route, we walked around and stumbled across a tiny hut. Google suggested it’s a restaurant, we walked in. There was a guy in his thirties, alone, no English, very polite and always smiling. He invited us into a tiny one room full of antiquities, and shown us the menu.

Somehow we figured it out (thanks Google translate, what we would have done without technology…;)), and ordered three out of five items on the menu. Meanwhile, our host figured out that we are from Czechia/Slovakia and started using his translator, between Japanese and Czech. So funny, so many incredibly twisted sentences. Anyway, we looked around the place while he was preparing the food. Then the food arrived, and it was just fantastic! Last but not least, he fished out a conch shell, and bid us farewell with its beautiful sound. Only in Japan! If you are in Shingu, don’t forget to visit Korean dining cafe GOTOBIKI-YA (ゴトビキ屋).

A couple of resources, if you consider walking Kumano Kodo:

• Wikipedia article about Kumano Kodo offers a good overview.
• You can book your local accommodation here: Kumano Travel.
• This guy is so interesting – he walked thousands of miles around Japan, wrote a couple of books, including beautiful photographs – Craig Mod.
• There are lots of amazing coffee shops in Kyoto, and this one became our favorite.

Of course, if you like to get any more tips and insights about Japan, feel free to shoot me an email with any questions.