The Queen's College Record 2023

Old Members’ Activities
Nachi Waterfall and Five-story pagoda
This friend of mine, Yui, worked in an office job normally, and so we planned to hike
the route over the period of Obon, as her office would let her take time off work at that
time. However, perhaps because it was the Obon season, we had difficulty finding
inexpensive places to stay, though we managed to save some money by also staying
with friends-of-friends etc, and so I used this prize money retrospectively to cover
the cost of accommodation, and some food, during this time (having completed the
journey during the summer of 2022).
On the first day I took the train from Kobe, the city where I was studying abroad, to
the small city of Tanabe, where I met my friend Yui and where the trail began. On the
10th, we set off around 6am for Takahara lodge, around 25km away. The pilgrimage
route was formed originally by a long string of small temples, many of which now
only have a stone to mark the location. My friend and I would always make a point of
resting at these sites, admiring the view, and thinking about all the people who had
rested at this site before us. We started to worry when it was getting dark, as we
still had a fair distance to cover, and the last bus of the day had already passed us,
but when we struck up a conversation with a kind old lady who owned the roadside
cafe where we had just finished eating, she offered to give us a lift to our hostel. This
was one of my highlights of the trip, and I was always so thankful for the kindness
I received from others during my time on the trail. The Hostel in Takahara was run
by a friend of another person I had met while farm-staying, so we were given a
discounted stay, and a free evening meal!
College Record 2023 | The Queen’s College 75