Kumano Kodo (熊野古道) and Hongu Taisha (本宮大社)

15-June-2016 - We woke up early and I went to put a packet of sweet potatoes and egg into the onsen to cook. These were going to be our lunch for the day. We were going hiking via one of the Kumano Kodo from Yunomine Onsen to Hongu Taisha. So off we went into the woods.

It was going to be just a 45 minutes hike there, and the weather was good, and the path although a bit steeper than I expected, was good. There was one resting area along the path, were there was a small shrine, caves and pond. We didn't see one single person through out our hike.

We each had a stick with us to balance and also as a form of protection either from wild animals or snakes. Luckily, we saw neither.  I was rather thankful for the stick, for without it, I was sure I would have tumbled down the path! It was nice to see a place holder for used stick so you can just put your stick there for other hikers to use. It was a nice touch, like well wishes from past hikers to other hikers along each other's personal journey through the old ancient roads. (Kumano Kodo means ancient road in English)

So long as you follow the "sign", you should be quite safe....

After the hike, we exit into a small town and was temporary lost before we found our way towards the big river and big torii gate. At first the torii gate appear in the horizon, but you don't quite get the size of it yet. We were momentarily distracted by the river and the lack of human beings around us. The wide space totally made me happy. We walked past the old sacred ground where the original temple used to be, which has now been relocated to the hill side after a flood some time back.

Center view

Rice field view

And soon the big torii gate appear. And it was huge! There were rice fields surrounding it, and it made a very picturous scene. We more or less have the whole place to ourselves and was just awed by the magnificent scale of the gate.

Around this time, my faithful boots gave way, and I had to get a new pair of shoes from the supermarket nearby. We also stopped at a bus stop to eat our boiled eggs and sweet potatoes before making our way up to the Hongu Taisha. It was another uphill climb.

Path towards the stairs uphill

The main temple

Apparently there are three temple that most pilgrimage visit on they path in the Kumano Kodo, and this was one of them. We also visited the other one at Nachi Fall, but totally missed the third one largely due to my lack of research.

The symbol of this whole place was the big raven. There was a postbox at the temple where you can mail yourself postcards with special stamps. I guess I've outgrown my postcard phase by now and totally skipped it.

The other thing that was apparently popular here was the cider. We got two and drank it at the rice field overlooking the big torii gate while killing time waiting for the next bus to come around to bring us back to the onsen. I couldn't hike any more due to my lack of proper footwear, and a bus ride was called for. The bus only came around once every hour, so we kinda walk up and down the town.

Here are some signs explaining more about the place. Sorry that most are in Japanese. When I'm free I'll attempt to translate them into English one day.

Ref:
Kumano Kodo (熊野古道)
Hongu Taisha (本宮大社)