We’re continuing straight from where we left off! The day after we got home from Kanazawa, we sped off to begin our next long-ish trip: the hiking the Nakasendo Trail.
We headed to Magome to start 6 days of hiking on the Nakasendo trail.
We stole our itinerary from were inspired by this Oku Japan self-guided walking tour, and also were generously gifted two nights in Tsumago and Magome from David & Hannah, who had walked this trail last year. Thanks you two! We loved it!
Day 1
Tokyo → Magome
Train to Nakatsugawa; 5.1km hike from Ochiai to Magome
Jonny kept track of each day in Strava, which we’ve embedded below. You can click through to view it on Strava if you want!
We started our walk in Ochiai!
Magome is a delightful little town, set on a steep incline. WW pictured here wearing the yukata provided by our ryokan that D&H booked for us!
Day 2
Magome → Tsumago
9.3km hike from Magome to Tsumago
Soba seems to be a strong specialty of the area. We also encountered lots of gohei-mochi –– it’s a rustic mochi, covered in a sweet peanut soy glaze, then grilled. The perfect delicious carb to fuel our hiking!
There’s a teahouse run by one man along the Magome-Tsumago route, which is a popular place to stop. The sakura was blooming, there was a kettle suspended over a smokey fire, and he served free green tea and candies. It was such a charming place that I felt compelled to sketch it in their guestbook!
A very special shout-out to Fujioto Ryokan, the second night that D&H gifted us. This was an incredible experience! The ryokan itself was a beautiful Japanese-style building, with two beautiful gardens we could see from our room and Japanese-style bathing facilities.
The room also came with a 9 (nine!!!) course dinner prepared by the owner’s wife, which was so unexpected and incredible. This place really felt like the epitome of Japanese hospitality and we felt so so lucky to be able to experience it. Thank you so much, David & Hannah!
Day 3
Tsumago → Kiso-Fukushima
19.7km hike (!!!) from Tsumago to Nojiri; train to Kiso-Fukushima
This was a very challenging, hot day. This was the longest hike that Wei-Wei has ever done! She nearly gave up part of the way through and considered hopping on the train 15km early, but pushed through all the way until the end. This was a tiring but rewarding day!
This self-serve shop was a wonderful break that came at exactly the right time. We were able to hydrate and rest in the shade, and snacks/cold drinks/even ice cream were available!
Day 4
Kiso-Fukushima → Matsumoto
Train from Kiso-Fukushima to Yabuhara; 7.70km hike from Yabuhara to Narai; train to Matsumoto
Super sore today. We made it to the Torii Pass feeling good, though!
There were plenty of switchbacks on the way down.
Day 5
Matsumoto → Karuizawa
Rest day in Matsumoto, then train to Karuizawa.
Jonny went to go see Matsumoto Castle!
Wei-Wei went to check out the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Matsumoto City Museuem of Art, and found the brother of the Yellow Pumpkin we saw on Naoshima.
We ate at a restaurant that was a collection of izakayas. We tried sake, skewers, and Okinawan food!
Day 6
Karuizawa → Tokyo
16.8km hike from Karuizawa to Yokokawa; train from Yokokawa to Takasaki to Tokyo.
We saw monkeys!!! A whole family of them!!!
I (Wei-Wei) almost didn’t hike this day. My shoulders were very sore, I had cramps, it was going to rain, and on top of all of that, this section of trail was known for ground leeches (gross!!!!!!!!!). But I did it!
I yelled WOO! anytime I needed some encouragement (also good bear deterrent) and got through it. Very proud!!!!!! Here’s a photo demonstrating my WOO!
Back to Tokyo!
It was good to be home after a couple of weeks of go-go-go. We had about a week and a half before Jonny’s parents arrived in Tokyo – we hung out with friends, hustled, went thrifting in Shimokitazawa (again), went to the miniature museum, went to an izakaya we’d been wanting to go to for ages, and went out for a fancy lunch date just the two of us.
We went for lunch at Ukiyo, a new-ish restaurant opened by a young chef from Whistler! We had a great time chatting with him and briefly, it almost felt like we were at home.
We went out for smash burgers and afterwards, disliking all our options for bars in the area, decided to grab conbini drinks with Thalia. Boxed umeshu + cup of ice = definitely the best conbini drink I can think of!
We also continued our Japanese lessons!
And on May 11… Don & Sheila arrived in Tokyo!
For more photos, check out this post.
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