Kumano Kodo, Day Two
Pilgrims prevail in changing condition.
This morning we look across to the mountains and then up to the skies. The forecast is decidedly grey. Rain is on it's way, our legs feel ancient as the trail, and there is a large bottle of Sake standing rather triumphantly in the kitchen. Silly pilgrims.
With heavy backpacks, legs and heads, we shuffle out of Happiness and cross the bridge into town. As we see Tessan and his family, our mood instantly brightens. We met briefly at lunch yesterday, not remarkable in a town as small as Chikatsuyu. But they are remarkable people, unforgettably good.
Tessan agrees with our plan for the day, avoiding what could be a slippery slope given the weather conditions and going for the easier path — a bus to Hongu Taisha to see the Grand Shrine and gate, followed by a short hike to our destination for the evening, Yunomine Onsen village.
Within the hour his wife has cut my hair, Randy has been chatting and roaming the neighbourhood, and our bellies are warm with coffee made fresh from his roasted beans. As we run for our bus, our moods have gone from cup half full to overflowing. Good people. Modern day pilgrims meet silly pilgrims.
Our next stop is easy to spot from a distance, from the bus and as we enter the rain from under umbrellas. The shrine gate, called Otorii, means big. Big doesn't quite cover it, from a distance we can barely keep it in frame to photograph it. This is the world's largest Torii shrine gate. Erected in the year 2000 to mark the sacred area where the former shrine buildings were located — long washed away from floods in 1889. All Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes lead to here and not even the rain can deter us.
A few sloshy steps across the road and up a long stone staircase is the Grand Shrine, the first of three Kumano grand shrines we'll see on our pilgrimage and the head shrine of over 3,000 Kumano shrines across Japan.
As our hike continues, slowly and carefully, slippery step after slippery step, our umbrellas serve to keep us dry and as a stick to maintain our balance. The steep incline is soon followed by a steep decline into a forest as gorgeous as we've seen.
One and a half hours of walking the ancient trail has got us hot and damp, into nature and back out to emerge at the Yunomine Onsen village. A place that feels just as ancient as the trail and with a natural hot spring running through the it.
Tonight we don traditional Japanese robes to be served a traditional Japanese meal, in our traditional Japanese room. Today the ancient and the traditional has certainly prevailed, despite the changing conditions.
