Day 1 - From Kyoto To Otsu, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
Day 1 - From Kyoto To Otsu, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
This morning I ate a healthy Japanese breakfast, which included a cup of miso soup, a small salad, some cooked greens with tofu, a few slices of cooked bamboo shoots, rice and a variety of pickles.
Kyoto is famous for its delicious vegetable pickles.
They make so many different kinds of pickles here, including thin sliced vegetables marinated in soy sauce, whole vegetables marinated in rice bran, and a variety of brightly colored but all natural pickles from vegetables like shiso leaves.
Some of the more famous radish pickles from Kyoto are called Shibazuke, Suguki, made from Kyoto turnips, and Senmaizuke (thinly sliced, gently salted Shogoin turnips).
These daikon pickles are not intended to be preserved for a long period of time, and have a delicate flavor.
I used to eat pickles only as condiments, adding just a few pieces on the side of my rice, but now, if they are not too sweet or too salty, I eat them as a vegetable dish.
After breakfast, we walked to the Sanjo O’hashi Bridge, and took group photos next to the sculptures of Yaji -San and Kita-San, two famous characters from the once popular novel about walking the Tokaido, by Ikku Jippensha.
It is called Hizakurige, or Shank's Mare, and it was once Japan's Great Comic Novel, about two mischievous men who travel and get into trouble along the Tokaido road.
They frequently cheat blind people, pay servant women for sex and try to get by on the little money they happen to have.
Sometimes they pay for rides on horses provided by the post boys, and sometimes they cheat rice cake sellers who are poor boys that cannot add up their bill correctly.
The Sanjo bridge features beautiful wood posts and joinery, and at all times of the day, it is busy with locals and tourists walking by on either side of the river.
Most shops were still closed as we started walking towards the mountain pass that separates Kyoto from Otsu.
Wendy and Joseph were in high spirits, eager to begin.
We had walked only a few kilometers down the road, when all of us had to stop to take off some layers of clothing.
The weather was pleasantly cool, but walking had made us too warm, and we stripped off our coats and felt better.
We saw no other walkers, even though this stretch of the road is part of both the Nakasendo and the Tokaido roads, both very popular with Japanese people.
All of us, Wendy and Joseph and Jules and I, had walked the Nakasendo in previous years.
There were many historical signs along the path, explaining how the road was once popular with travelers and how it was also a major transportation route, with carts that were pulled by Oxen carrying sacks of rice, sake and other goods.
To make the path easier for the oxen, they laid stones along the path, and made grooves in the stones to allow for the wheels of the carts to stay stable on the tracks.
The people walked on another path, which was a bit elevated from the transport path and was lined with gravel.
In about 10 km from Kyoto, we reached the top of the Osaka-Kozeki pass.
This was once a very popular rest area, where many vendors sold rice cakes, and eateries specialized in grilled Unagi Eel, caught in the rivers that streamed down from the nearby mountains.
Today, the pass is not too steep, but I can imagine that if you had to pull an ox with wooden wheels and a cart loaded with barrels of rice wine or sacks of rice, you would be very tired by the time you reached the mountain pass, and happy to take a rest and eat.
There are still traditional eel restaurants in the pass, with beautiful gardens, serving grilled Unagi Eel set meals, along with the traditional rolled Tamago egg omelet.
But only one restaurant was open for lunch today.
The restaurant was busy and bustling with people, none of whom had walked there except us.
All came by car to enjoy the eel dishes in this historic location.
We stopped to rest and eat our lunch.
The grilled eel set meals were served in lacquered boxes, and included a soup, rice, pickles, omelette or a baked egg custard, along with eel.
When we walked the Nakasendo a few years ago, we came here from the opposite direction and we also stopped in this area for lunch. It was nice to take off our shoes and rest, and the lunch was delicious!
After we finished eating, we began the long descent into the town of Otsu.
We passed many traditional buildings along the road, some were hundreds of years old and nicely restored.
We came upon a small private museum about the Tokaido road, owned and run by an older fellow whose family had owned the building for three generations.
He took great interest in explaining to us his collection of artifacts and photographs.
When we left his museum, it got cooler and started drizzling, so we decided to end our walk a little early.
We walked to Zeze Station and took a local train back to Kyoto station.
Wendy and Joseph stayed in Kyoto station, because Wendy wanted to buy a rain skirt at the Montbell outdoor gear shop.
This rain skirt is a great invention, that can also be used as a shawl, on cool days.
Jules and I returned to the center of Kyoto, where we sat in the Starbucks cafe by the river, enjoying a hot tea and the scenic view of colorful umbrellas in the rain.
In the morning before we left for the walk, we asked our hotel to make a reservation for us at Yuzu Gen, a hot pot restaurant on Pontocho street where we eat at least one meal, every time we are in Kyoto.
Tonight, when we arrived at Yuzu Gen, the tiny restaurant was even busier than I remembered it.
The people who were waiting outside in the cold blocked my way and said that there is a waiting line, but we said that we had reservations, and were finally seated at the long counter bar.
The busy restaurant was packed with happy westerners, enjoying the signature dish of Sea Bream Nabe, along with giant prawns or wagyu beef nabe.
As always, the food was superb, with the tastiest yuzu lemony broth and lots of vegetables and fresh ingredients.
Joseph told the cooks at the restaurant about our walk, and they all expressed their appreciation for our upcoming journey.
After dinner, we walked to find wasabi mochi for dessert, but the small shop selling it freshly made was completely sold out, so we settled on another traditional Japanese sweet called wagashi, and returned back to our hotel for a hot bath and a sleep.
Overall, it was a great first day of walking.
The walk was fairly easy and we kept a relaxed pace that allowed us to take in the historic sights and to taste the flavors of the road.
Sending you love and light,
Tali
Today’s Stats:
27,995 steps
18.5 km
Total walked: 18.5 km
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