Tokai Nature Trail - An Around Hike. Sept-Nov 2024.

 26 - 29 August  (Uji to) Hikone, Nagoya, Tajimi (to Shiojiri)  Weather: still hot, rain on 29th, no sign of typhoon winds  I left Uji the morning of the 26th and heading up to Hikone, Shiga. The train took ~1hr 40min and went through urban areas interspersed with rice fields and glimpses of lake Biwa. Once at Hikone, I dropped my bags and made my way towards Hikone Castle.  Hikone Castle, museum and Genkyuen Garden - Hikone keep and some buildings are originals and is one of 5 castles in Japan designated as a national treasure. Unfortunately the keep was closed for maintance but guard houses, stables and grounds could still be accessed. The garden is beautiful and the museum informative, containing weapons, armour, room reconstructions, noh and tea ceremony items.  The next day I headed to Nogoya, Gifu by train, with a brief stop at Ogaki. As I have previously been to Nagoya and seen the main touristy locations, I instead had a chill day meandering through...

 I had planned to start hiking the Tokai Nature Trail on Tuesday 27 August from Osaka. However, landing in Osaka on Thursday 22 August to be greeted with a forecast of 27-35°c and +70% humidity for the next two weeks put a spanner in the gears of Plan A.  Plan B was to travel to Nakatsugawa, Gifu on Monday 26 August to walk some of the Kiso Road to Niekawa, Nagano (a stretch of the Nakasendo Way through the Kiso Valley and post towns) while the weather cooled down and then head to Tokyo and start the trail there instead. However, a spanner in the shape of Typhoon Shanshan was soon also lodged firmly in the gears.  Typhoon Shanshan is predicted to make landfall in western Japan on Tues/Wed 27/28 August, which means in the interest of self preservation and not loosing my tent to the winds, Plan C is now in motion. Plan C consists of traveling from Uji to Hikone, Kyoto on Monday and then heading southeast to Nagoya, Aichi Tuesday morning to spend at least Tuesday night and W...