Time To Time-Travel, From Skyscrapers To Shrines
As we make our way to our local train station, the same walk we've made for the past six mornings, we pause a moment to say farewell to our local bakery and take in the cherry blossoms across the bridge. When we arrived in Tokyo there were only buds and this morning there are blooms. The sun is out, it's almost warm – far too fine of a morning to be leaving these blossoms behind... and Tokyo. Today our trains, of which there are three, take us far – away from the skyscrapers of Tokyo and towards the shrines of Kumano Kodo.
In five and a half hours we arrive at our jumping off point, Kii-Tanabe. We are here a day early and tomorrow we will be jumping back in time – to an ancient pilgrimage route dating back over 1,000 years.
As we check in, our arrival won't be marked in the history books, just in those at our hotel and the local tourism centre. Tomorrow will be a momentous occasion, for us at least and so tonight we keep dinner simple with ramen noodles and bedtime early.
