Kumano Kodo day 2

The second day is a long hike from Takahara to Nonaka, about 12 km, but no really steep parts and it is mostly flat or downhill. I started walking about 8:30, the weather was cloudy and cooler than yesterday, but quite comfortable. There were several small shrines to get stamps at. All the shrines had a little story written about them. Often it is a place that is mentioned in an ancient document, for example that an emperor stopped there and commented on something.

Most of the time I had the trail to myself, and I'd usually bump onto the same people at shrines and rest stops.

It was all forested area with medium sized trees, and a creek here and there. You can tell when an area, despite being forest, has a long history of human impact.

In the early afternoon the trail followed a road as it dropped down to the village of Chikatsuyu. The view struck me as a contrast to the big cities.

 I passed through the village and continued uphill on the road to the neighboring Nonaka area, looking for my accommodation.

My accommodation for the day was uncertain, as the name of the place on my reservation did not show up on Google Maps or the brochure. I finally found something online, that the place has a new owner and a new name, so I kept walking hoping to find it.

I found the place with the new name, but check-in wasn't for a couple of hours. About the same time, a group I'd seen before came walking by. They were waiting to check-in as well, and were walking to the next shrine at Tsugizakura to kill time, so I joined them. This shrine was next to a couple of very large, very old trees.

Next I walked back to the guest house, just as the owner was driving up. He confirmed that this was the right place. About the same time a young German couple I bumped before arrived. We talked with the owner about the plan for the next day, had dinner, and called it a day.