15 November 2016
I woke up early at the Kiri-no-Sato Lodge (our accomodation in Takahara), slided the shoji covering the balcony doors to reveal an amazing sight. A sea of clouds covering the valley below! Takahara, on this day, was certainly "Kiri-no-Sato" (Village in the Mist). The valley was filled with fog, creating a beautiful sea of clouds when viewed from above.
This was one of the rewarding experiences that made walking the Kumano Kodo so special.
Just when you thought you had taken a nice photo the clouds shifted and another shooting opportunity presented itself.
While I was all crazy shooting away with my Canon G5X and Samsung Note 5, my companion was doing stretching and yoga poses to prepare for the Day 2 walk.
20 minutes later, the sun came up and the views were different again as the cloud lifted to unveil the greenery surrounding the village in the valley.
By 7.30 AM, the clouds had dispersed a little but the views from the breakfast table was still fantastic.
Breakfast was served in the dining room. Rice, miso soup, hot drinks plus the following items below.
Grilled river fish, fried egg, ferment beans in the cup, sea-weed and mushrooms.
We were given a small plastic bag containing our packed lunch for the day. We had ordered the packed lunch as it was not likely to find food or drinks for sale along the trail. Day 2 would see us hiking from Takahara to Chikatsuyu, a village about 9 km away. The walk should take about 5 to 6 hours, so we were in no hurry to start the day early.
The two Aussie ladies we met on Day 1 had already finished breakfast and left. We met a group of 4 ladies from Singapore at the next table and they too left slightly earlier than us. They would be going on the gruelling 6 days/5 nights itinerary and needed an early start as Day 2 for they would be doing a 14 km hike to the village after Chikatsuyu.
After breakfast, we chatted with the staff about the nice views we saw in the morning and he told me that such views were common in Takahara but not always present. The best time for seeing such clouds and fog in the valley was when there was rain a few days back.
It was hard to say goodbye to Takahara, this ridge top village. But we had to continue on our Kumano Kodo journey. Next stop would be Chikatsuyu, the next village after Takahara about 9 km away. More about Day 2 of our Kuman Kodo hike in the next post.
Tip: Lodging options at Takahara village is very limited. Book early to get a room at the Kiri-no-Sato Lodge before anything else. Otherwise, one would have to stay overnight at Kii-Tanabe, start the trek from Takijiri-oji early in the morning and try to reach Chikatsuyu village before sun sets on the same day ( i.e. combine Day 1 and Day 2 of our “sissy” hike.