Hiking the Nakasendo, Day 1
All right. So, it’s about uh 1:41. We finally made it to Mago and going to buy some souvenirs, maybe some thermal underwear cuz it’s chilly up here. And then all right, got me my t-shirt. Been there, done that t-shirt. Yeah, I’m going to put on a down jack and head up to the hotel. All right. I thought I was going to go up the hill, but that’s tomorrow. I got to go down the hill now. Wait a minute. It’s giving me the wrong direction. Stupid thing is telling me to go up the hill now, right? Check out my cool hat. Okay, so we’re going to go find the hotel. Okay. So, you hear I’m not sure, but I think I’m here. Oh, yes. Yes. Here I am. Well, this is so cool. I think it’s hailing right now. I don’t know. It is. I’m glad I brought my or bought my all weather hail deflecting hat. This is crazy. Hopefully, it’s going to be better tomorrow. It’s not really snow. It’s like a It’s like a fluffy snow. Oh man, it’s really coming down. I’m going to take a break over here. Yeah, if it’s snowing all right. Where did all the tourists go? Okay. No, it’s way too cold. It’s snowing. I’m going back down to the end. Okay, so it’s about 2:30. I made it to this coffee shop cuz it’s snowing outside and I can’t check into the uh hotel until or the inn until about 3:00. So, I’m going to bear it out here while I wait for the snow to stop. So, it’s still about 2:30. I still got half an hour before I had to before I could check in. Look at the snow coming down. Okay. Anyway, we uh just left the coffee shop here and oh boy, look how pretty this is. This is very pretty here. Maybe this way it looks pretty. Oh, look at this ice. This is beautiful. Look at this. Oh yeah. She falling tonight. Okay, I finally made it to the room. Uh this place I’m staying at. H first of all it’s expensive because of the location but there’s no bathroom here. I had to go downstairs to use the bathroom. So and the the public the bath is downstairs also. So but my time is 5:15. So I got another hour and hour and a half hour and a half if I could use the bath. Okay. So, let’s check out this place. And oh, it’s starting to snow again. Oh, isn’t this cool? Yeah, it’s starting to snow. This is what the room looks like from the other side. Oh, nice. Nice. Nice little room.
The Nakasendo is a historic Japanese highway that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and Kyoto during the Edo period. It’s known for its scenic beauty, preserved post towns, and cultural significance. Hikers can explore sections of the well-maintained trail, experiencing traditional Japanese villages and landscapes.
In November, I did an overnight hike, staying the first night in Magome, one of the post towns, and continuing the next day to Tsumago, another well-preserved post town.
The distance from Magome to Tsumago is 8 km or about 5 miles, which can easily be covered in about three hours.
AloJapan.com