A long long train journey round a nub of coastline from Kyoto to Kii-Katsuura. This was supposed to be my launchpad, and it will be, but my first problem comes with the fact that I’ve booked everything backwards. Nobody else is doing it this way so there’s no infrastructure in place for us to do it this way, I tell myself as I sit on the road at the bus stop in Shingu just after dawn watching the hawks.
Then Mae arrives. She’s doing exactly the same thing as me today for the same reason, but was able to get a minshuku in Shingu. I had to book in Katsuura and taxi here. She’s from Taiwan. “I thought I was the only person to have thought of this,” she says laughing, and I tell her the same. The two of us are the only people on this bus. It’s an inelegant workaround, and it’ll be over £100 in taxis by the time I’m sleeping somewhere else. But I’m way too stubborn to let a little thing like logistics get in the way. I’m off into the hills. Hooray!
Last night was a tuna extravaganza. I booked an expensive meal at Wakatake. It largely involved tuna as that town seems to be where they haul a lot of it out of the ocean. I sat cross legged and ate my own bodyweight in fish. I’m full of protein and ready for the trail now, although maybe I should have said no to the Sakē. It was so good though, and didn’t seem to affect my ability to get up this morning.
Just a little bag today. That’s the advantage of the workaround – I won’t need to walk with my pack. I’ve got lunch, my books for stamps and a map book. Contact lenses. Flask of water. Not much else. I’m wearing Charlotte’s hat. I thought I’d given it back to her but found it when I was packing. Thanks.
This is rural Japan now, and I’m going deep into nowhere. The view from the bus even is astonishing. And thanks to the vending machine culture, I’ve already had a hot coffee before 7am in a tiny little town.
I’ve eaten well enough the last few days to last me the rest of my life. Now I’m gonna get hot and sweaty and plod my way through these beautiful mountains looking for whatever I’m looking for and getting whatever I get. Gonna conserve battery and look out the window now.
AlBarclay 