After yesterday’s (? I think that was yesterday…) marathon travel day, I couldn’t do much except take a shower and fall fast asleep. Sorry, Drew! I barely got to appreciate the incredible view from our hotel room <Drew, insert one here, please>. I believe the sun was still out, btw.

I woke this morning, refreshed but stressing over what to do next. Our *very* loose plan (decided over many beers and yakitori, probably not the smartest time to make big decisions) was to walk parts of the Kumano Kodo, an ancient pilgrimage route that crosses the Kii peninsula in southern Japan. The main route of which, the Nakahechi, is the sister route to the Camino de Santiago. One can even get a “dual pilgrim” credential if all criteria are met on both walks.  The majority of English blogs and information sites spoke exclusively about the Nakahechi, and there is even a travel agency dedicated to helping walkers of just that route with booking accommodations, baggage transfer, etc. All of which, of course, gave Squirrel the hives. BUT…we discovered that there are other, less-traveled routes of the Kumano Kodo (this is how we ended up on the Camino del Norte, rather than the Frances route). But how to get information on the Ohechi coastal route?

We said goodbye to our hotel a la Waikiki and headed to the Tourist Info office in Kii Tanabe station. We had stopped in there yesterday and were basically told that there was NO information about this route, except for one Japanese language map. But sorry, they couldn’t help us with it. If we wanted any help at all, we should go to Kumano Travel (that agency mentioned above, only a block away from the station). So we went. And boy, what luck we had!