What a day! Not sure much went as planned but we made the best of it and had some adventures.
During the middle of the night we were both awake so checked the progress of the typhoon. It wasn’t good news. Although this area is not in the direct path the forecast is for lots and lots of wind and rain. We decided we didn’t want to be out in the middle of nowhere on a mountain with no escape route.
We bounced around several options but couldn’t seem to decide on how we wanted to proceed. Nicole walked down to the ocean at sunrise to take some pictures. When she came back she decided to see if we could stay at the hotel we spent last night in. That way we could still walk the path today but return by bus to this hotel instead of the one on the path.
We went down for breakfast at 7:00 and through a translator app asked our hotel owner if we could stay two more nights. She was busy serving breakfast but finally checked her papers and talked to us. She doesn’t speak English and we don’t speak Japanese so we weren’t 100% sure she said yes. We decided to leave our bags in the room but packed so if she didn’t say yes all she had to do was take our bags to the lobby and we would figure out where to stay when we came home for the day.
We walked to the bus station and a very nice man had my name on a sign. He was waiting for our bags so he could transport our luggage to where we had planned to stay. After using the translator app again we informed him we didn’t need his services today. He gave us each a fan and a little jar of honey for energy on our walk.
We took the bus about 40 minutes to where the trail starts. The bus was very comfortable and it was a pleasant ride. We drove through some beautiful mountain scenery. The mountains are not Rockie Mountains but more like what the east coast calls mountains.
When we got to the starting point of the Kumano Kodo a man was waiting for us. Evidently the luggage guy had called the people who made our reservations and they wanted to speak to me. They had called a guy that has a little souvenir shop near the visitor’s center and he was waiting for me at the bus stop. He called the booking company so I could speak with them. They confirmed that our hotel owner had agreed to let us stay two more nights. He told me he would call the two hotels we had booked to cancel our reservations along with the luggage pickups.
I need to go to his office sometime tomorrow and he will refund part of my money as well as arrange a luggage transfer to where we will pick up the trail on Tuesday. I was surprised when he said he could refund some money as I understood they don’t usually do that.
It was so nice that he found a way to talk to me. Although I am to have phone and text service it doesn’t work very well. It sure lifted our spirits to know that we had a room for tonight and tomorrow night and that they will work with us to get us back on track. The company is closed on the weekends and he had called me from his home.
We went into the welcome building to get our passports to collect our stamps for the walk. The lady was very nice and helped us with a bus schedule so we knew how to get back to our hotel at the end of the day.
We walked across the street and started our Kumano Kodo. It was another very hot and humid day. The humidity was over 80% today and the heat index was 105. The trail is full of tree roots and rocks. There are some natural steps and some man-made steps. It was hard to pick out the trail. We immediately started uphill at a rather steep incline. Some of the steps were really tall and I struggled early.
I only walked less than a mile and knew I couldn’t go on. I have never been so wet from sweating before. I was getting light-headed and nauseated. I told Nicole I needed to go back. It was a seven mile walk today with no place to opt out. I was concerned if I continued I would get stuck and not be able to finish.
It was hard on this mom’s heart to watch Nicole walk on alone. I really felt like I failed her. I walked back to the visitor’s center and sat and drank a bottle of water and cooled down. I was there about 30 minutes waiting for the bus and Nicole walked in. She had kept getting lost on the trail and had to keep doubling back. She got frustrated and decided to not go on either so she wouldn’t get lost.
We sat at the visitor’s center about an hour to catch a bus. We decided to go to where there are two statues and stamps to collect on the trail and walk to see them. After that short bus ride further down the trail we walked about a half mile up a path that was much easier to follow. I sat on a bench and Nicole walked the last 500 meters to the two sites.
While I was waiting for her to return it started raining. I had been enjoying a chorus of insects singing and didn’t notice the rain coming in. It was a cleansing rain and helped cool me down. When Nicole returned we walked back down the path. The rain had stopped before we got all the way down the path. It did make the down hill path a bit slippery.
We didn’t see many other hikers on the trail today. While I was waiting for Nicole I saw seven others hiking but all had done the short hike we were doing. We did see two hikers that had been on our first bus come into the second Visitor’s Center. They had managed to walk the path we attempted. Both looked to be in their mid 20’s and very physically fit.
We had to wait for a bus and then came back to our hotel. It has been relaxing to sit in our cool room this afternoon and recover from our attempted walk. This trip is not going as we had hoped it might but we are doing our best to make the best of it and get at least a taste of walking the Kumano Kodo.
When we got to the room I took a shower. The bathtub is very deep, narrow and very short. I put the plug in the tub and threw my dirty clothes on the bottom of the tub. I put some laundry soap in with them and stomped on them while I took my shower. I take quick showers so the water wasn’t deep enough when I was done. I couldn’t reach the bottom of the tub from the outside of it so I sat down in the tub to finish washing my clothes out. I drained the dirty water and filled it again with fresh water and used the shower head on a rope to rinse the clothes out. I put them in the sink as I finished each one. Then I had to get out of the bathtub. I thought for a minute I was going to have to have Nicole come pulled me out. There was nothing to grab hold of to pull myself up. Sure reminded me of some of my bathtub adventures on the Camino.
Tomorrow may be a long day if we lose power. Keeping our fingers crossed that won’t happen as it will be very hot and humid. We are expected to get 12 plus inches of rain. There have been some reported deaths in Japan due to this storm already and it hasn’t hit a very populated part of Japan yet. Lots of flights have been cancelled and we are hearing that the trains and buses may not be running tomorrow.
We need to go out later and find some dinner. The streets close up during the afternoon and we couldn’t find anywhere to eat yesterday afternoon. We ended up going to the grocery store and getting Pringles, Cuties and an ice cream bar. Hoping we can find some good food yet today before the storm comes in. While we are out we will stop at the grocery store and stock up for tomorrow in case we don’t want to get out.
What an adventure! Almost half way through. Making some incredible memories. Hunkering down for the storm. May not be able to communicate if we lose power. We will touch base as soon as we can if that happens. Our first typhoon. I ask for rain so I didn’t have to walk the 12 mile day. Guess I need to be more careful about what I ask for!
Love from Japan!