We were excited for the small towns and rural farms for this section. There trail was very well marked with interesting sign facts, plenty of shops for food and sake, and pretty large waterfalls. We also made a friend, a fellow Nakasendo-er on his first day and first walking holiday!
DINK Details
All paved, all town, have fun!
Difficulty: Easy Start: Ena End: Magome | Time¹: 7 hours Distance: 12.4 mi Elevation: 2,444 ft |
Towns²: 5+ Food Prep: Low | Tips: Take it easy, stop everywhere. Book early or bus to our place. |
1. How long we took to walk it with breaks and all
2. Towns are places with food and restroom. There may be one convince store and a vending machine.
Na-ka-sen-do! I understand! (Recognizing the Kanji on signs)
The Start
When we woke up, our room was full of now dry cloths hanging from every surface. The rain had passed, leaving us with nothing but sun. We grabbed tickets to our anticipated Japanese breakfast buffet and headed downstairs.
Breakfast was beautiful! Tofu, egg, tempura, rice, egg, sausage coffee and various side dishes. We loaded up our trays and find a nice by the windows. The place is already packed with business men who decided against dressing in attire I deemed appropriate (pajama pants and a tank top that says "Riot Fest").
After breakfast, we reviewed our route for the day and headed out.
The Walk
Leaving Ena - 9:00 am
We found our golden pebbled path from yesterday and continue walking. This is our first larger town on the Nakasendo so we took a little extra time with pictures and exploration.
The trail zigzags through the city. We passed post station 46 and found ourselves at a museum.
When we entered the museum, the guide came out from the back to greet us. Another customer, who was left by the guide, also came to greet us. The guide insists we join them for a tour.
During the tour, we learnt that ceilings in traditional buildings were built low to prevent sword swinging and everyone gets a first-in-class garden. We also learnt the person taking the tour with is a fellow Nakasendo walker, Christon on his first day. After the museum we decide to walk together!
The Trail
So many residential houses with the best gardens. It seems as if everyone used their green space as unique way to express themselves and keep everything looking neat.
Nakatsugawa
There were very detailed signs for the trail today with exact distances and landmarks to see. As we headed into the next town, Nakatsugawa, we came up on a tourist street and post station 45, Nakatsugawa-juku.
We stopped for café tea and distillery for local sake. After all that resting, we got hungry and found Chicken House! The lunch special for the day was a set that included cold udon (perfect for a warm day), 2 pieces of fried chicken, and coffee jelly for dessert.
Ochiai-juku
According to our new friends Nakasendo guide, we had 3 steep inclines to climb before the end of the day. The first one was a light speed bump that lead us to a cute café. The owner was very friendly and now we are friends on insta (@cafe_echizenya)! We headed down into the next town and back up another hill.
And now, with the power of 360, a third-person tour of Ochiai-juku to the sounds of Eurovision 2023.
ㅤ
Our fellow Nakasendo-er had accommodations right before town so we dropped him off and made plans to get lunch in town the next day. After leaving him behind, we saw one more bear warning sign and a secret path into the woods...
Destination - Magome
Town - 5:30 pm
The infamous Magome to Tsumago section of Nakasendo starts tomorrow. As we enter Magome, it's full of little cute shops and the perfect Nakasendo experience starts here. But that is for tomorrow. It is late, everything is closed, and our hotel is still an hours walk away at a resort overlooking a river.
At this point, we were really starting to feel it. We are exhausted. As we are about to lose it, we see a bus stop and say "when do you think the next one is?" then guess what happened!?! A public transportation miracle, comes around to corner to whisk us away to our place.
An that is why you tip at every shrine! That is top level protection right there.
Hotel - Nakatsugawa Onsen Hotel Hanasarasa
Details
1 hour walk from trail (a local bus for 500 yen)
All rooms had view of river.
Very spacious room
Public onsen down stairs (not tattoo friendly)
Western or Japanese style beds
Traditional Japanese Breakfast
This hotel looks wonderful in season but we made the reservation here because this was the only place around that was not booked. They had many styles of rooms, and glamping with BBQ in front (looked cool).
As we mentioned the hotel was in their off-season so their restaurant/bar is closed. Our dinner was snacks purchased from the shop in the lobby. I made a cooked pork and cabbage ramen noodle (which was very tasty) and the sake from the distiller that afternoon. Neas had an ice-cream cone, some chips, and salt lychee drink.
Maps
AllTrails
Google Maps
Masupage
Link(Part 2):
This site is what we used to build our walking holiday.
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