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| apricot and cherry trees along the Trail |
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| walking through Tsumago |
The Nakasendo Trail wound through the mountains between
Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo) in the days of the warlords and samurai. Along the way, there were post towns where
travelers could stay in inns on the 450 mile journey.
Today, in a light rain, we left Magome, one of the post
towns, for a 6 mile hike over a pass to Tsumago, another post town.
And what an incredible hike. The cherry trees and apricot trees are
blooming in full and gorgeous color right now, along with shrubs and
daffodils. We walked along a wide trail
through cedar and bamboo forests, passing through a few villages along the
way. While Magome burned several times
and was rebuilt, Tsumago has most of its original homes and shops, refurbished
inside, but maintaining their 200 year old character outside.
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| scenery at beginning of hike |
The trail crosses streams with lots of waterfalls as they
drop out of the mountains into the steep valleys.
Fortunately, it stopped raining after about
an hour, so the second half of our hike was cool, but dry. The
rain, however, kept the usual crowds of Sunday hikers to a handful, so
all was peaceful. I will fill this page
with photos and encourage anyone visiting Japan to include this lovely hike as
a way to see a part of Japan you cannot enjoy in the towns and cities.
wild mountain azalea
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| a section of the Trail |
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| bamboo forest |
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| apricot trees with forsythia |
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perfect camellia along Trail old cedars  |
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daffodils along trail |
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