Blog posts
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23. – 28. Iwamurada to Wada
This day stretched across several old post stations, from Iwamurada where I spent the night, via Shionada, Yawata, Mochizuki, Ashida, and Nagakubo before finally reaching Wada-shuku. While the distances between the post stations on the Higashi Shinshu Nakasendō is on… more
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Slow internet
For the first time since I came to Japan I am stuck with an excruciatingly slow internet connection. The mobile connection out here in the foothills to the mountains is spotty, at best, and the WiFi at this otherwise lovely… more
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19. 20. 21. and 22. From Karuizawa to Iwamurada
Today was a series of shorter legs combined to a longer stretch. Starting out in Karuizawa-shuku, which is sort of a vacation spot for rich people nowadays, the path led me through Kutsukake-shuku, and then onwards to Oiwake-shuku, Otai-shuku, and… more
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RSS – what the f is that?
I just added an RSS option on the main menu, ie the one with a brown background at the top and bottom of the site. RSS means “Real Simple Syndication” and is a stoneage-old technology where you can subscribe to… more
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17. and 18. Across the Usui pass
There isn’t just one highlight to this day’s hiking, but rather a lot! The most obvious one is the part that crosses the Usui pass, but there were a lot of other really cool things to see along the rest… more
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14. and 15. and 16. Itahana to Annaka to Matsuida
Heading out from Takasaki is where we leave the Kanto plain, or rather the Karasu river is a great boundary for this just at the western edge of the city. On the one side, there is a flat and mostly… more
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More birbs
Today I hiked from Takasaki, which I’ll talk about in a later post, but part of the path followed the Usui river, and boy did it present a lot of birds! I didn’t manage to catch even a tenth of… more
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11. and 12. and 13. Honjō to Shinmachi to Kuragano to Takasaki
The daruma dolls as featured above are a type of prayer dolls that are a speciality to Takasaki. When you buy them neither of the pupils have been painted. Your job is to paint a pupil in the left eye… more
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9. 10. Kumagaya to Fukaya to Honjō
At the very beginning of the first leg, as you head out from Kumagaya-shuku you will find the famous part where the old Nakasendō passes right through a modern department store. It was closed in the morning as I started… more
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Wildlife so far
For all the talk of bears and monkeys in an earlier post, I have seen nothing of them so far. NOTHING! On the other hand, I’ve only been hiking through one of the largest cities on Earth, with only hints… more