Day 3 of the Kumano Kodo: Completion of the Main Route
We awoke on the third day of our trek at Guesthouse Mui. In addition to offering incredible food – which seems to come standard with any accommodation on any hiking trail in Japan – this guesthouse was notable for being the home of two pet goats.


The goats were trained to shake a hoof for treats, like a dog. They were not trained to eat the guesthouse signage but that was also a thing they did. What silly creatures goats are.


Today’s hike was the longest of the set: 22km from Tsugizakura to Hongu.




The trail was once again dotted with plaques and shrines that described the historical significance of the trek. Reading the plaques really helped me feel the sacredness of the trail, and the many pilgrims who came before us in search of things like clarity, fertility, cures for illnesses, or connection with lost loved ones.


One of our favorite little touches of the Kumano Kodo are the stamps you can collect along the way. You can pick up a booklet from the tourism office at the beginning of the hike, and then fill it in with these different stamps to prove you did the hike.


At last, we reached the Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine, which marks the completion of the main pilgrimage. The flag on the left says, “Welcome to Kumano Hongu Taisha. You must be tired.”

We were indeed tired. But not too tired to photograph this delightful cherry tree on the temple grounds.



The temple itself was very impressive, with lots of beautiful buildings and structures. We spent a fair amount of time here, and probably would have spent more had we not just hiked 22km.




A useful reminder about the proper way to worship.

We reached our guesthouse in Yunomine Onsen – a historic town known for its natural hot springs – at around 4:30pm. Happily, all we had left to do at that point was to once again consume our respective weights in food.

