Trip 3 - Day 4: Kiso-Fukushima & Gongentaki

Today we had a rest day just staying in the town of Kiso-Fukushima, or Fukushima-juku as it was known during its days as a Nakasendo postal town. After yesterday's long walk it was great to take it easy and explore the town. The day started with a long soak in the onsen followed by an amazing breakfast in the ryokan. Yes, we slyly avoided the proffered natto!

Japanese breakfast (sans Natto) is really amazing.

After breakfast we decided to climb the 0.9kms up the side of the valley to the Gogentaki (Gogen Waterfall). En-route, we took a stroll along the banks of the Kiso river and marvelled at the way the old houses perch precipitously on the raised river bank above.

A morning stroll along the Kiso river

From the river, it was straight to the ascent! It was a very hard-won 900 metres to the falls, and at times it felt like we were climbing a dirt ladder rather than walking, but the effort was well rewarded with a view, the relaxing splash of water on stone, and a picnic of mandarin jubes and tap water.

The trip back down was much easier - as you might expect - and we congratulated ourselves with a relaxing foot-bath beside the river.

A warm bath for the feet

By the time our feet were dry, it was getting on towards noon and our minds turned to food. We cut a circuitous route back through the old part of town in search of sustenance, finding a really nice restaurant smack dab in the middle of the nicest (oldest?) part of old town. Here we feasted on our first Tonkatsu of the trip. The food and the service was nothing short of superb.

Lunch of champions

Having eaten, and eaten well, I needed coffee to forestall the post-lunch malaise. And so the search for a coffee shop that was open began. It took us up hill and down dale, through some of the less salubrious parts of town. Finally we found a tiny bar / restaurant / cafe run by an ancient, hump backed old lady and her husband. The coffee wasn't the best, but the charm of the room and our hosts was.

With coffee procured, we walked up to the old Nakasendo checkpoint museum and had a look at reconstructed fences and gates (we were too tight to go into the museum proper).

Soon it was time to head back to the ryokan for more onsen and to do some laundry before our bags move on with the takyyubin tomorrow.

Here is the relive video of our brief climb up to the falls: