The obvious follow up to walking the Nakasendo would be to walk the Tokaido, which also connects Kyoto and Tokyo but via a more direct, coastal route. In fact it would have made sense to do the Tokaido first, but since when has sense had anything to do with this project?
Actually, as I think I mentioned in one of my very first posts, the thought of walking the Tokaido did occur to me some twenty years ago when I was first studying Japanese, long before I'd ever heard of the Nakasendo. I even bought a book (The Great Road: Japan's Highway to The Twentieth Century - it's still on my bookshelf) that outlines the history of the Tokaido and has quite a few photos showing what the route looks like today, with the precise aim of walking it some day.
However, several things convinced me it wasn't such a good idea. Among these was the knowledge that the route of the Tokaido is busier, even more developed, and therefore less scenic than the Nakasendo. I've also traveled the route numerous times before on trains, which means I'm familiar with the scenery and most of the important towns along the way. Then again, it might be nice to revisit them at a more leisurely pace.
Distance walked today: 7.6km
Total distance walked since blog began: 460.4km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 67
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1 comment:
umm, isn't most of your life going to be post-kisokaido? here's one person fervently hoping you continue blogging
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