Kumano Kodo Day 1

A fun day, despite the rain. We started from the main train station in Osaka and the very helpful Japan Rail staff helped us to find a simple solution for our onward journey to Kiitanabe. We had time to spare for some adventures in the Shin-Osaka train station where we got coffee at the 7-Eleven and Chris very firmly prevented me from purchasing any funky Osaka gift foods. 

A smooth train ride later we arrived in Kiitanabe. We put our luggage in storage and got a quick lunch before boarding the bus for Takajiri. 

Once at Takajiri we happily left our luggage with Yama transfer and started on the trail. 

Yes it was raining. Hard. We hiked the trail in a steady downpour. 

Imperial Gardens Tokyo

Osaka Nightlife

Our hotel room tonight is the size of a shoe box, in fact I’ve had larger shoe boxes, so we are spending as much time out on the street as possible. What crazy fun! 

But wait there’s more! Later....

Shinkansen Train to Osaka

We just got on the right train!  Now all we have to do is get off at the correct station... stay tuned...

Our first take away Benton box success!

Is anyone surprised that Sarah bought some weird 'cookies'? Check the package.

For what may be the first time... Christopher's face was more expressive than Auntie Sarah's...

Warm coffee with condensed milk in a can.

Ingenious Hotel Solutuons

This hotel came with pajamas! Very convenient, but not very pretty so there’s no picture. Then , there’s the coffee solution. Drip coffee with powdered milk stuff. Very throwback. 

Then there’s the walled garden on the roof that incorporates what looked like the heating and cooling system. 

I think I chose wisely when in panic mode choosing a place to lay our heads for the night. The hotel is called the Marunoichi Hotel. 

First Night. Tokyo

Due to a misunderstanding about where the train stopped, not in Narita, we are spending an unexpected night in Tokyo. The look on the conductors face when we said we were getting off in Narita was priceless. His English was excellent and he helped us plan how to get back to Narita. We could not face it. We fixed it with money and got a hotel room in Tokyo. A very nice hotel room in the station concourse. Which we would never have found if a fellow Canadian hadn’t taken pity on us! Those Canadian flags on our luggage were key! Chris is still a bit out of sorts that we messed up our first train journey and landed in Tokyo. 

Flight Photos