On our fourth day, the itinerary was to do a short hike to the next village. But because of the weather, and also we really liked this town and did not have enough time here the day before, we decided to not take that last leg. We enjoyed our morning here in Narai, even though it was a bit rainy.

There was an option to take a morning hike to this waterfall before heading to the next segment of the trail. Because I didn't take the planned hike the day before, I felt a need to do this. Though it was rainy the day before, this day was gorgeous and clear, so I decided to take this option. My companions chose not to, which was fine. They spent the day in the town, as we did the day before.

When I decided to not renew my lease on my apartment in Guam, I did not know when I would be back in this area again. Take that literally, I really just don't know, but it may be sooner than later. I wanted to do a trip in Asia though, before going back to Hawaii. A friend had been on these self-guided tours with the Oku Japan company and it sounded like something I wanted to do. The company makes all the arrangements for you in terms of train tickets and accommodations. There are self-guided hikes of various lengths and challenge levels that make up the day. I asked if any of my travel buddies wanted to come with me, and 2 of my friends joined me. Though the Oku company is very helpful, giving us comprehensive directions so that we would be successful in walking the trail, we ended up making it a DIY (Do it yourself) tour, for much of it. That's the great thing about the tour, though, it gives you options. In fact, we could choose to start in Tokyo or Kyoto, so we flew into Osaka, and took a bus to Kyoto. Stayed overnight at a hotel that agreed to store our luggage while we were away for the next 3 nights, Kyoto Tower Hotel Annex.