After an overnight flight with no sleep, I touched down at Osaka Airport, marking the beginning of an experience long on my bucket list. The Kumano Kodo is a World Heritage pilgrim trail of cultural significance. Its sister walk, ‘The Camino’, is the only other World Heritage trail. Completing both walks rewards you with a dual pilgrimage.
True to form though and only having booked 3 weeks ahead, I’m not sure what to expect. The travel guides declare this a strenuous hike – but I don’t really know what this means, being a person who is not a hiker. I did buy a new pair of hiking shoes, mid-height because photos on all the websites show some rocky sections, other than that, I have the same gear as I used for the Camino in Spain.
Tanabe is a few hundred kilometres south of Osaka, getting there was a breeze. Having pre-booked (reserved seats) for the train journey and fortunately finding an earlier connection at Hineno I arrived at Tanabe on time, otherwise I would have been an hour late for the briefing at the tourist office.
I was expected at the office, and immediately was given an orientation and plan for my hike, most of the volumes of information went in one ear and out the other. After a quick lunch at a Ramen Restaurant, I was on the bus to Takajiri with half a dozen other hikers. Clearly not the 750-people-per-day numbers of my last Camino.
4 hours after arriving in Osaka, and after a coffee at the Takajiri Cafe, I took my first steps on the Kumano Kodo.