Nakasendo Trail Experience in Japan - Day 2

We had a nice breakfast (forgot to take a picture) and then we were off. We walked the forty or so minutes to get to the village of Tsumago but it was too early for any of the stores to be open, so we walked through and enjoyed the feel of this quaint town.

Our host made sure we had our picture taken before we left, and then we had to get one with him in it. Very nice host and even got us some strong tape for Sherry to bind her broken shoe.

After walking through the town, the path led us up this steep hill, bamboo forests and more cedar trees.

We came to a crossroads where we needed to decide whether to go on the planned route, or take the train to our next village. It was a no-brainer for them. We had already walked about two hours and the trail would mean we’d be walking another 5. I was conflicted, wanted to stick with the plan, but because of the weather, I decided to take the train with them. 

We were greeted at the Kiso-Fukushima train station by this robot. The street scene on the right is what you see when you exit the station. We were early, even for lunch, so walked around a little to look at our options, and settled on this ramen shop, which was our first experience ordering via a vending machine.

We were still early for check-in, so explored the town, found a shoe store for Sherry, and checked out other sites, like a graveyard, an art museum, and a garden. Best part was finding this public foot bath.

Explored an old cemetary

Visited an art gallery, this was in the entryway.

An old cherry tree. I've seen photos of it during the cherry blossom season and it's impressive.

We were finally able to check in, decided to bathe. Oku Japan includes at least one traditional onsen in the package and this was it. The others were in traditional Japanese baths, but were not communal, with men and women separated. The onsen here was both indoors and outdoors and yes, it was HOT! Sorry no photos. Dinner was soon after. It was fancy. I enjoyed it, but preferred the home-cooked meals of the minshuku (family inns.)

vegetables cooked in soy milk

like a grill, cooked on a leaf (can't remember the tree)

A variety of dishes.