nakasendo 2024

Day 2: Tsumago to Nojiri

Started with a very fulsome breakfast at our ryokan

We got up early because we were going to walk 19 km to our next destination. But because we had to arrive in time to get a train, I was worried we wouldn’t make it (because I am a much slower walker than Lesley) so we decided to do the shorter option which was a 4 km walk from Tsumago to Nagiso, catch the train to our final destination of Kiso-Fukushima and then do a walk to the Gongentaki waterfall.

At Nagiso, we decided a coffee would be a good start to the waterfall walk but all we could find was hot coffee from the vending machine.

Then we started on our walk to the waterfall. A walk along the river at the back of the town, crossed a bridge to the other side, turned right at the cemetery and then found another bear warning, and these cute little statues ( the red hats obviously mean something but we haven’t worked out what!)

Then we embarked on the steep climb to the top of the waterfall. We needed lots of rest breaks. It took us an hour to ascent just under 1 kilometre

But once we reached the top, well there was this reassuring sign….

On our way down from the waterfall we got a nice view of the town of Kiso-Fukushima
which was the political centre of the Kiso region and the location of one of the four most important sekisho or checkpoints during the Edo period. As flat land is scarce, Kiso-Fukushima saw the invention of a unique architectural style called ‘Gakeya-zukuri’ or ‘cliff house’.

After locating our accommodation (which took a while because none of the places have obvious numbers), we discovered that Lesley’s bag had not arrived. The ryokan said they would make some inquiries so we headed off to fill in some time. We found a lovely coffee shop, a public footbath, a nice lacquerware shop

By the time we returned to our ryokan, they had located Lesley’s luggage. This is a more sophisticated ryokan than last night’s….it has an onsen, a lounge area where you can get free tea, and lovely big rooms.

Another sumptuous dinner tonight.