Kiso-Fukushima

Kiso-Fukushima (KF) is my second stop on the Nakasendo Trail (NT).  According to my plan, I was supposed to hike the Torii Pass from Narai to Yabuhara, then take the train from Yabuhara to KF, where I will spend the night.  It was about a 30-minute train ride and I arrived in KF at about noon.  The Tourist Information Center is conveniently located right across the street from the train station.  The ladies in the center gladly allow me to leave my big backpack there while I roam the town.  They gave me a map and told me where to go.

Kiso-Fukushima Train Station

The building in the middle is the Tourist Information Center

My first mistake was not listening to them carefully.  Instead of turning left, I turned right.  The map kept not making any sense to me; because I was going in the wrong direction!  I ended up at a dead-end at a hospital.  It's not even on the map.  I decided to backtrack and saw a large grocery stop.  I thought I will ask someone there.  I found a couple of girls in the bakery section and one of them speak and understand limited English.  That's the challenge traveling in Japan.  Very limited English is spoken here.  She set me straight and told me which way I should go.  Now I am hungry.

In Japan, it's easy to buy prepared food, either from a convenience store like 7-eleven or any grocery store.  I looked around and found a box of katsu pork and another box of sushi.  They cost 649 yens, a little less than $6.  That was my lunch.  It was not warm but at least I am not starving now.  I also bought a slice of cake.  Now I am ready to go.

I walked around town for about a couple of hours.  Nothing exceptional.  There are a few museums and temples but since I wasted about an hour getting lost, I only stop at one of the temples.  Eventually, I made my way back to the Tourist Information Center where I asked the ladies to call the ryokan where I'd be spending the night to pick me up.  The ryokan is about 15 minutes by car from the train station.

Kozenji Temple

Kozenji Temple

Bell at Kozenji Temple

If there's anything that I remember about KF, it's the Komanoyu Ryokan.  This is an exceptional ryokan, run by a family.  The facility is beautiful, the meals are delicious, and the service is something to remember.

Front of the Komanoyu Ryokan

A shrine behind the ryokan

Entrance to its popular onsens (bath)

Lobby

My room - very spacious and comfortable

Dining Room

A view of Mount Ontake

The ryokan even have a star-gazing event that evening high up in the mountain behind the ryokan.  Because it is located in a sparsely populated area, the sky was very dark.  We were loaned binoculars.  We were able to see a lot of the galaxy:  North Star, Big Dipper, Milky Way, Seven Sisters, etc.  We learned that Subaru derives its name from the Japanese name for the Seven Sisters.  Hence, you see stars on the Subaru logo.

In the morning, we had another delicious breakfast.  After that, we were driven to the train station to continue to where we were going.  Many of the other guests were traveling with Oku Japan on self-guided tours.  They started in Kyoto and were heading towards Tokyo.  I waited for my 11:47 am train to Nagiso, where I will continue onto the next leg of my journey.