Katsuura | Taking Our Time

5/19 – Our last hiking day dawned grey and rainy, but a little weather would not keep us from our appointed hike! We took a bus from Katsuura to Daimon Zaka, a stone stairway that led up to the Nachi Taisha, our third Shinto shrine.

We entered the torii gate, and kept climbing upwards.

The Grand Shrine:

Do fish care if it’s raining? Sorry for the blurry pix – blame the weather!

The site contained a huge, old spirit tree, covered with moss:

We spent the morning with Max, from Quebec:

Right next to the Shinto shrine was a Buddhist temple. One stop shopping for the religion of your choice – the Japanese often incorporate beliefs from both.

We continued walking, downhill now, past a three-storied pagoda, on our way to the Nachi Waterfall, which is also a sacred site. It was beautiful in the mist.

Then it was time to walk back up the hill to catch a bus back to Kii-Katsuura, and a train to The Kyoto suburb of Ishiyama, where we are spending the night. Sorry again for blurry pix.

This is the end of our Kumano Kodo adventure. If you ever get the opportunity, it is a beautiful journey, customizable based on how many days and how far you wish to walk. A damp, but lovely day!

5/20 – Today we were agenda-free, relaxing and catching up on our reading and blogging. We took a walk to see the shore of Lake Biwa.

Even here in the city, we find shrines:

This is Kwan Yin, goddess of Mercy:

I’ve loved being in Japan, with its friendly, helpful people, polite manners, orderly queuing, and advanced technology toilet seats. It’s been great to visit
a “first-world” country again. Soon we will travel back to Osaka Kansai Airport for our flight back to Bangkok, then on Cambodia. Our next post will be from Siem Riep!

5/18 – Took a bus this morning from Yunomine Onsen to Shingu, to take a ride in a traditional flat-bottomed boat used historically by pilgrims on the Kumano River to visit the Hayatama Taisha, the second of the three grand shrines. We donned life jackets and straw hats to get into the spirit.

We were the only gaijin (foreigners) on the boat, but our guide Kyoko-San translated most of the highlights for us.

We got out of the boat at a small island to touch “the monster’s spine”, assuring us of strength and long life.

It was a gorgeous morning for a boat ride.

Kyoko-San played a traditional flute as we drifted past the cliff faces in the clear turquoise water.

We disembarked in Shingu, and walked toward the Hayatama Taisha. We were surprised that the Japanese tourists opted to get on a bus back to the station instead. We entered at the torii gate.

Near the Hayatama Taisha is a long flight of rock steps up Mount Gongen, where runners holding torches race during the annual fire festival. Can’t imagine racing up these steps in the dark…