Nakasendo Trail between Magome and Tsumago, Japan by T. E. Smith-Lamothe

This 7.5 kilometer (5 mile) trail is a preserved section of the old post road between Tokyo and Kyoto. It was built mainly for foot traffic, single horse riders and hand-pulled carts as the terrain it traverses is quite mountainous. We started in Magome and hiked to Tsumago, which involves a short but strenuous uphill climb and a much longer downhill hike to Tsumago. We took the bus back to Magome. Both towns are old post waystations and both preserve historic main streets with man original wooden 19th century buildings. Both villages are featured in many period-piece samurai movies because of their heritage streetscapes. In November, we expected more brightly coloured fall leaves, but the Autumn show was delayed by unseasonably warm weather. The hike has "beware of bears" warning signs and several brass bells were placed along the trail which invited hikers to ring them and scare away any bears, many hikers have little bells attached to their belts, too, to announce their presence. About halfway on the trek, there was a hospitality tea house for hikers and about two thirds of the way, there was a trail-side outhouse with not only running water and flush toilets, but also heated toilet seats! For more information, see: www.japan-guide.com/e/e6078.html