robodawno.com – Our Travel Blog

October 19, 2025

Time to Split

This last section of our holiday had us moving up the Dalmatian coast. Our first stop was the city of Split. We arrived in the early evening a started doing all of the things we typically do: get settled into our flat, go out for dinner, and find a grocery store to get supplies for the coming days. As we were walking I told RobO we were going to do a slight detour, which was to have a look at Diocletian’s Palace during the perfect golden hour light. It was so fun to see RobO’s surprise and excitement to explore another Game of Thrones filming location.

We wandered the Roman ruins and old town a little more as the cruise crowds were back on their ships.

The next day I led us on a walking tour in the city and up to the views from Marjan hill.

We walked the coastline for miles, people watching at the local swimming spots before we landed at our next destination: a cafe/bar called ‘Tennis’ that a friend had been to a couple of years ago. It is located in the centre of a group of clay tennis courts, so we enjoyed iced coffees while watching what looked like a junior tournament. It definitely reinforced our desire to try playing on clay one day (but not against any of those kids, who would totally kick our a$$es!).

We moved further north via bus to a city called Zadar. It has a very interesting history as it (like all of Croatia) went through different occupations (Romans, Ottomans, Venetians, Austria/Hungarians) but this city specifically was rewarded to Italy after the 1st World War. Because it was Italian territory it had the snot bombed out of it during World War II, then like the rest of Croatia it continued its journey to independence (Yugoslavia, Austria/Hungarian, etc). It definitely has a more Italian feel than other places in Croatia.

I was so excited to visit the Sea Organ, which is an installation on the sea wall that uses the movement of waves and transforms them into music. The waves push air into pipes that create organ harmonies. The instrument gets louder and plays higher tones when the waves are more forceful. It absolutely met our expectations and we found ourselves sitting on the stairs listening to the music numerous times throughout our stay. The best was at sunrise when we had it all to ourselves.

Sunset was really nice as well because, despite the crowds of people, this is the site that Alfred Hitchcock labeled as ‘the best sunset in the world’.

After dark the same architect (Nikola Bašić) created another installation called ‘Monument to the Sun’, which is a solar powered light show. Along the promenade are solar powered planets that are represented to scale (both size and distance from the sun).

RobO was craving Croatian seafood so one night we shared a plate of mussels and black ink risotto with calamari. We were so hungry and it was so good that all you get is a pic of RobO with the pile of empty shells!

We had an incredible day tour to Plitvice National Park about 2 hours from Zadar. The road went under the Mala Kapela mountain range through a 5km long tunnel. Our tour guide said that they call this tunnel Narnia because the weather can be so different on each side of the range. At 8:00am the digital sign said it was 14 degrees when we entered the tunnel and 5kms later we exited to a brisk 3 degrees with sections of pea soup fog. The sun had come out by the time we reached the park but I definitely could have used another layer!

Plitvice is a UNESCO world heritage site and boasts 16 terraced lakes joined by waterfalls. We walked a 9km hiking trail that had a boat trip in the middle of it.

The autumn leaves were in full display. At home we only see the yellows and oranges so it was a treat to see so much red foliage.

Croatia lived up to the hype and was a top 10 destination for us. It has great history, food, nature, and variety, plus it is an easy place to travel.

As always, while we’ve been travelling real life has been continuing on back home. We have had heavy hearts when hearing about our teachers striking, the impending healthcare strike, and especially the tragic passing of our friend Tyler Johnson. These things give us reminders to keep living our best lives and to hug our people. Hope that you will do the same. ❤️

October 15, 2025October 16, 2025

Kings Landing

We finally made it to Dubrovnik, the main reason Croatia was added to the bucket list! We arrived by plane and were settled in our new place by the late afternoon. By the evening we had decided to make our way to Grad (Old City) which is walled off from the rest of the city and is the main location for Kings Landing in Game of Thrones. Once we entered the main gate and realized what we had walked into, we decided then and there that we needed to get up early the next morning to beat the crowds. It turned out to be a great decision.

Once the hoards of tourists started to descend into Grad, we started making our way through the skinnier paths and climbed the stairs to some less travelled areas. Much to our surprise we walked into a recreation area with 2 basketball hoops.

One of my favourite things about Rome is the free flowing water fountains they have all around the city. Grad has the same perk! All the fountains are fit for filling your water bottles. It’s ridiculous how much joy these fountains bring me.

That afternoon we toured Fort Lovrijenac, which is located adjacent to the western walls of Grad. The fort is the foundation of the Red Keep in Game of Thrones. It offers some great views of the walled Old City. It’s only missing an iron throne.

That evening we hiked to a viewpoint to watch the sunset and have a picnic dinner.

The next morning we got up early again to walk around the top of Grad’s outer walls. It took a couple of hours to walk the entire circuit especially after stopping to take pictures.

We have fallen in love with Dubrovnik and all its beauty. It has definitely met our high expectations and has cracked our top 10 lists of must-see locations. Sadly, we must leave this city and continue north along the Dalmatian Coast. Winter is coming.

October 15, 2025October 16, 2025

Working like dogs, eating like kings

It seems like quite a while since we left Bohinj and that’s likely because we have seen so many incredible things since we packed up Twiggy, our rental car, and started our journey back to Croatia.

We only had a couple hours drive ahead of us so we decided to visit one last Slovenian jewel for a lunch stop before we crossed the border.

Predjama Castle is built into the side of the mountain and was an impressive sight to behold. We did not go inside because we really just wanted to see the exterior. Fortunately the parking attendant let us park our car unusually close for 10 minutes so we could take some pictures. We were happy to cash in some travel karma and save ourselves the hike and the potential parking cost which seem to run rampant in Eastern Europe.

We didn’t stay longer than allowed because our next stop was Motovun, Croatia! This mountain top town could be seen from miles away. It looked like it was larger than life but surprisingly took no time at all to explore.

We stayed in the neighbouring town but it was only a 30 minute walk from our door to the top of the mountain. It was shocking how fast we made it to the top.

When we got back to our AirBnB our host’s dog, Pico, was there to great us. He was dealing with some health problems so he was wearing a cone of shame. He didn’t want to talk about it so we didn’t press him for information. Poor little guy.

Motovun has a few things it’s known for. It is the birthplace of Mario Andretti (and his twin brother), is a gastronomy Mecca, and is one of the few places in the world where truffles thrive in Istria’s micro-climate. With that in mind we raced to book ourselves a table to a 4 course meal that evening. The food was spectacular, though we ate way too much, and the view of the sunset over the Moran River Valley was breathtaking.

The next day we embarked on a truffle hunt! We made our way to Karlić Tartufi, in Paladini where we got to meet the dogs they use for the “hunt”. We learned that female dogs were the preferred dog to use for a hunt because male dogs cannot focus as easily. Neutering is not a common practice in the area so male dogs tend to have the ladies on their minds. We also learned that pigs are no longer used to truffle hunt. The animals are all trained to start digging for the truffles but pigs are harder to call off. If a truffle is scratched at all the value of it can decrease by 90%. There are two types of truffles, black and white. Black truffles will fetch you up to €700/kg while white truffles are valued at €10,000/kg.

We went about a minute down the road to where the truffle treasures were hiding. The dogs would lead, sniffing the ground as they went. Once they start digging in a spot, the hunter would call them off and carefully dig around the area to extract the truffle.

We went about 3 trees deep before the dogs found something. The hunter immediately dug up a black truffle, but it was not a good one. Too soft, but man was it exciting to find something! DawnO later told me she thought it was set up for the tour. She was probably right.

After the hunt, which only lasted about an hour, we made our way back to the truffle shop where we were treated to a meal of truffle infused dishes. We were invited to watch the owner cook the meals all while teaching us about their family owned and operated business. They ship their truffles all over the world and make quite a profit off the sales. Next to saffron it’s the highest priced food. Though because you need to use more of it while cooking, technically it is the most expensive food per dish.

I can safely say that I’m a truffle fan! We may have bought some truffle powder to put on our Canadian eggs once we are home.

In keeping with our dog theme, next we head to the Dalmatian Coast. First stop, Dubrovnik!

October 9, 2025October 9, 2025

sLOVEnia

We have spent the better part of this week in the valley below Slovenia’s Julien Alps.

The day we drove in it was raining cats and dogs. Having seen this in the forecast I booked us into a spa for the local specialty: a warm honey massage. One of us had some trepidation going in.

I’m pleased to report that the massages were lovely and our skin felt great for days afterwards.

By the time we left the spa the skies had cleared and we hit golden hour just right as we walked around the famous Lake Bled.

We saw the island church from all of the different angles, each offering a unique and ever beautiful view.

While admiring a photo stop we met a family with roots in Medicine Hat. They told us that when they arrived to Bled the day before there was no snow on the mountains!

We enjoyed a hike through the Vintgar Gorge that ended with sweeping views of the valley.

Our fantastic AirBnB had views of the Bled castle and it lured us out for some nighttime views.

Of course we had to taste Blejska Kremšnita, the famous Lake Bled cream cake. We even managed to find a gluten free version (which was the better of the two!).

The next morning was a perfect bluebird morning for a short but steep hike up Ojstrika, which boasts the best views of Lake Bled. Yep, we can confirm that these were some of the best views we could imagine.

We moved to the Bohinj area, where our accommodation highlighted some of the reasons that Slovenia is a leader in sustainability: solar panels, an apiary (bee hive), garden, and focus on recycling. Our host treated us with homemade Blueberry Schnapps as a welcome drink.

We rented bikes and cycled a loop of the valley, including a stop at Savica waterfall.

The Slovenian food has been delicious, with lots of hearty soups, stews, and meat & potato options. I also enjoyed a taste of traditional Slovenian dumplings.

Slovenia has definitely exceeded our expectations. Tomorrow we will be heading south to Croatia again. Stay tuned for some special foodie adventures. I’ll sign off with one more of our thousand pictures from Lake Bled, this one complete with sunbeams.

October 5, 2025October 5, 2025

A Tale of Two Cities

I think it’s fair to say that between the two of us, I have a much shorter list of countries I must see. New Zealand and Jordan (Petra), were on that list. This time, Croatia is the destination of choice. I confess, I’m not a complicated guy. If you were to peruse my list of must-do countries, you’ll likely notice a theme. They all have been featured in some movie or tv show that made an impression on me. Game of Thrones is what cemented Croatia to my list as its beautiful scenery was featured throughout the series. When we booked this trip we also decided to check out the neighbouring country of Slovenia. In our first few days we have visited the Capital cities of each country and I’m pleased to tell you that both are worth the trip.

We touched down in Zagreb, the Croatian capital and only had a couple of days to tour around the city and see what it had to offer. It had a familiar Eastern European feel to it that reminded me of places like Krakow, Budapest and Bratislava. The city feels like it has evolved through the centuries with each era leaving its mark. There are cathedrals, statues of liberators, graffitied murals and what I can only describe as a Soviet aftertaste.

One of the city’s main attractions is to gather near the base of Lotrščak Tower at noon. Every day at precisely 12 o’clock a cannon is fired from the top floor of the medieval defence tower. You can feel the shockwave when it goes off, and if you aren’t covering your ears, they will definitely be ringing until 12:02.

After visiting the tower, we descended back down to the city centre and happened upon a tunnel that warranted a closer inspection. The entrance was at a dilapidated park that looked like it was transplanted from Chernobyl. We could hear some creepy music coming out of rickety speakers deep inside the tunnel. For some reason both of us were compelled to investigate, though each step we took felt like a mistake.

Once our eyes adjusted to the light we could see something ahead of us, which turned out to be public toilets and a water fountain that had seen better days. Did we turn around? Not a chance…

Eventually we turned a corner and were in the middle of a literal underground art gallery.

We made it out alive and finished off our walking tour before returning to our AirBnB.

The next morning we picked up our rental car (Twiggy), and drove 1.5 hours to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. This city took us by surprise! We spent the entire two days we were there taking photographs of anything and everything. It was the kind of place where you could swing your camera around your head letting it snap away and you’d never get a bad picture.

Nighttime was equally stunning.

Day two had us hiking up to Ljubljana Castle for a bird’s eye view of the Capital. The Castle also has a few attractions like a 4D movie about the Castle’s history, a gallery of medieval weapons, and a puppet museum, which was slightly creepy but ultimately amusing.

That afternoon we walked to an old converted military barracks which is now an Autonomous Cultural Centre. I wasn’t sure what that meant before we went there and I would have never guessed what it actually was. From what we surmised, it was an outdoor venue for nighttime shenanigans. There were posters advertising live music events but we were likely to be in bed long before the fun began.

Both cities were impressive but I have to give Ljubljana the edge for my favourite of the two. We will be seeing more of Slovenia before we head back to Croatia. Stay tuned for Lake Bled and truffle hunting!

May 9, 2025

Hiker’s Paradise

One of the things that I have loved about travelling in South Korea has been how easy it is to access hiking. 70% of the country is mountainous and in each place that we have stayed we have easily taken the local bus to trails. We’ve hiked almost every 2nd day, always with great signage, views, and attractions. I read an article that said that Korean people value fitness and time in nature and it shows, given all of the hiking opportunities and the number of locals on the trails. It is not unusual to see elderly Koreans kitted out in hiking gear, often passing people on the trails.

We stayed 3 nights in Sokcho and explored Seoraksan National Park. We ended up doing 2 hikes one day, both of which had more than 600 stairs to reach the summits. We were shattered after all of that stair climbing!

Since we were on the coast we decided we wanted seafood. Our guesthouse host suggested a place that specializes in seafood hotpot. When it arrived to our table the abalone were still moving! I was way out of my comfort zone, but the waiter pushed them under the boiling broth and told us they’d be ready in 5 minutes. Can’t get more fresh than that!

We made our way to Chuncheon and explored the Samaksan area. We were rewarded with great city and mountain views at the top. The way down we took a different route that required a lot of crab walking, using ropes, and careful manoeuvring to descend.

This city is known for its Dalgalbi, which is a chicken stir fry that happened right at our table. I ranked it as a close second to Korean BBQ. So good, especially after a long hike!

We made our way back to Seoul for our final couple of days before flying home. We caught the changing of the guard at the Gyeongbok Palace and wandered the vast grounds.

The Bukchon Hanok Village was a great spot to explore art shops, cafes, and do some people watching.

We had to have one final Korean BBQ and spa visit before heading to the airport. I’m on standby to fly home, so fingers crossed that I get there in time for closing night of RobO’s musical (9 to 5). What an incredible couple of months of exploring our world. Now I have some time to enjoy good weather at home before I return to work mid-July. Thanks for following along.

*Final meal was perfect: dumplings and pickled radish.*

May 3, 2025May 3, 2025

Happy Birthday Buddha

On our final day in Gyeongji we wanted to go out for the famed Korean BBQ. I looked up some reviews and found a restaurant called Judon that boasts a rare perfect 5/5 score from 39 reviews. We used Google translate to let the waiter know that we were newbies and he set to work on showing us how to grill our pork belly, cheek, and neck, then which sauce combinations to use. Even though I am not a big meat eater it was so good that we had to order another round of pork belly. Suffice it to say that the restaurant now has 40 perfect reviews.

We made our way south to the metropolis of Busan, Korea’s 2nd largest city. It is a sprawling city with a good metro system. We enjoyed exploring the skinny walkways and streets of the colourful Gamcheon Culture Village.

The Igidae Coastal Walk was a great way to spend a sunny afternoon. We had great views of the turquoise ocean and the city skyline.

My highlight of Busan was Samgwangsa Temple, which was lit up with 40,000 lanterns in preparation for Buddha’s birthday.

Because of the birthday holiday weekend we didn’t see any accommodations in Seoul that matched our shoestring budget, so we decided to do something from my bucket list that wouldn’t really appeal to RobO… stay at a jjimjilbang. These are public 24 hour bath houses that have a variety of hot pools, saunas, scrub-down options, and resting/sleeping areas. If you’ve been a longtime blog reader you may remember that RobO and I are not newbies in the bath house experience, but Korea adds another layer (or maybe I should say ‘takes off another layer’??) from my previous experiences. The place is divided by gender and the baths are FULLY naked. It only took a few minutes for Dee and I to shed our prudish cultural upbringings and feel pretty normal about hanging out (literally) in our birthday suits… for like, 5 hours.

We had no idea what to expect with the sleepover part of it, but it was… an experience. We were given these orange pyjamas that made us feel like we were on Orange is the New Black, and we laid on the heated floor of the sleeping room with a hard foam block for a pillow. When we went to ‘bed’ it seemed pretty organized, with women laying around the outside of the room, but when I woke up in the night I quickly realized that it had become a free-for-all, with people EVERYWHERE! There were women on either side of me like sausages in a pan and if I stretched my legs out straight I was kicking someone. I’m sure you can deduce that it wasn’t my *greatest* sleep, but I sure felt better after some early morning naked hot tub/sauna/scrubbing time with Dee! You’re welcome, RobO, for checking this one off the list without you!

We’re in wall-to-wall traffic (holiday weekend!), heading to the coast for some more hiking and eats. I’ll leave you with some more delicious food pics, as it has been so great to taste so many different dishes.

*Jjajangmyeon: black bean noodles that are often ‘comfort food’ here*

*Hotteok: a sweet fried pancake filled with honey and either seeds or cheese. One of the best desserts we’ve tried.*

*Japchae: stir fried glass noodles with veggies*

April 29, 2025

More Temples!

I arrived to Seoul late at night and met up with my OT friend Dee, who had been in Seoul for 5 days prior to my arrival. We hit the ground running, as she had booked us on the 6:30am bus headed south. One of the only things we had pre booked was a 3 day temple stay at Golgulsa Temple.

We chose this temple stay because it had a lot of activities, one of which being twice per day training in Sonmudo, a Korean martial art that includes a combination of yoga, meditation, qi gong, and zen martial arts. I fell in love with the training: the amount of concentration, balance, and power required, the slow movements to engage all of our tiny muscles, and the amount of improvements we saw after just 5 sessions. Since Dee and I were doing the moves and couldn’t take pictures of ourselves, I’ll post some shots of what we looked like.

We were given outfits to wear during our temple stay and, of course, one of the first things we did was a photoshoot posing in them!

We got to go to the beach one morning (in our outfits, plus a hat!) to do our training on the rocky beach.

We also practiced 108 prostrations (a difficult bowing technique), chanting, different types of meditations, yoga, and ate delicious Korean vegetarian food. It was a great start to my Korean adventures.

The temple was all dressed up with lanterns for the upcoming holiday of Buddha’s birthday (May 5 this year). We’ve seen this at all of the temples that we’ve visited.

Next up we visited Gyeongju, which is an ancient capital city and has been described as a ‘museum without walls’. It has ancient tombs throughout the city, which actually look like huge mounds of grass.

There is a palace and wooden bridge that are must-sees when lit up at night.

It also has lots of quirky little tourist things like themed cafes, scooters dressed up like Snoopy, and novelty foods.

After a long day of walking we went to a brilliant cafe… soak your feet in an epsom salt bath while drinking your beverage, followed by a foot massage.

We spent a day at the UNESCO World Heritage village of Yangdong, which has been around since 1459.

*This dog was so friendly. Notice how his dog house even has the Korean roof lines!*

We hiked the Namsan Historic Trail, which took us past sculptures and carvings that were 1000 years old.

And finally… food. We have had some delicious eats, with highlights being dumplings, cold noodles, and bipimbap. We stood in line at a very busy place to try the famous egg bread stuffed with red bean paste, which was ok but not a ‘need to go back’ snack.

One night Dee wasn’t feeling well, so I went out on my own for dinner. I’ll admit it, I was a little too cocky. I thought that after all of this travelling I could go into a local restaurant without an English menu or pictures and order something that I would enjoy eating. Somehow I ended up with mystery meat/organ meat soup. The worst part was that the cook was so kind and was watching me for signs of enjoyment. After a couple of meaty bits and all of the side dishes I feigned being too full from all the deliciousness.

*I felt so bad because it was beautifully presented, but I couldn’t eat it.*

I’ll leave you with some other shots around town, as well as other temples that are all decked out for the birthday celebrations.

April 23, 2025

Arigatou Japan

My hike ended in a town called Kii-Katsuura, which is famous for its hot springs and tuna. I went to the largest tuna market in Japan and it blew my mind that this many fish are auctioned off every morning.

There are numerous free foot soaks around the town and it was delightful to sit with my feet in hot springs water while people watching one afternoon.

Where I live the only tuna I get to eat is out of a tin can, so I made sure to get my fill of fresh tuna. For supper I went to a tiny ma&pa shop with great reviews. Another specialty here is rice balls wrapped in pickled mustard leaves, which was part of my set meal.

Getting my breakfast tuna felt like an Amazing Race experience. Outside of the tuna auction the market sells only 20 set meals for breakfast. It was lined up and there was definitely some sketchy queue behaviour going on so I started out 14th in line but was closer to 18th when the doors opened. There were 2 automatic machines that we had to run to and punch in our orders. I was at a severe disadvantage as the machine was mostly in Japanese. Somehow I managed to figure it out and get my tuna bowl. It is now officially my ‘death row meal’. I will dream about this tuna for years I’m sure.

I made my way via 3 trains, a cable car, and a bus to the World Heritage Site of Koyasan. Since the year 806 this mountain town has been the central hub of teachings of Shingon Buddhism and has 117 temples dedicated to teaching these Esoteric Buddhist traditions.

*It was rainy one of the mornings which added to the mysticism of the place.*

I was in awe of the spruce trees, many of which are 800 years old. I also met an umbrella cherry tree that was planted 600 years ago.

The monk who brought Shingon Buddhism to Japan was named Kobo Daishi and his Mausoleum is at the end of a 2km long cemetery that is the most memorable cemetery that I’ve visited.

It is a thing to go to the cemetery at night. The night I went was rainy and foggy, which made it capital F Freaky! At one point an owl started hooting and I decided it was time to get outta there.

There are 52 temples that offer lodging to visitors. I stayed 2 nights in one of the oldest, called Shojoshinin. Each morning I could attend the morning chanting ceremony and one day I participated in a ‘holy fire ritual’. I was given a wooden ‘goma-ki’ on which to write a wish. During the ceremony I placed it in the fire, where it is said that ‘your troubles and disasters will be burnt down, leaving peace and happiness in the world, and making your dreams come true’.

*The God of fire has a sword in one hand to represent wisdom and a rope in the other to represent compassion. This is because you need both to be a good leader.*

At the temple they serve guests the same meals that the monks receive, which is a called Shoujin Ryouri. According to my guide, ‘this elaborate vegetarian cuisine incorporates authentic preparation of the five flavours, colours, and seasonal delights which are not only good for the body, but for the mind and soul as well’. I found the food to be delicious apart from a few textures that my mouth rejected!

I’m thankful that I’ve had the chance to spend time in such a special, sacred place. I hope to carry some of the simplicity and peacefulness with me as I continue my travels. Next (and final) stop: South Korea!

April 21, 2025October 25, 2025

Kumano Kodo

This week I’ve been hiking the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage in a mountainous region of Japan called the Kii Peninsula. I first heard about the hike because it is the sister hike to the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

There are many similarities between the 2 hikes:

They are the only two UNESCO world heritage hikes in the world.
They are thousands of years old and started as religious pilgrimages, the Kumano Kodo being a route taken by everyone from commoners to emperors seeking healing and salvation through the Kumano faith (contains elements of Shinto, Shugendo, mountain worship, and Buddhism).
There are a network of hikes that can be done with the goal being the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela for the Camino and the Kumano Sanzan, the 3 grand shrines of Kumano.
Along the routes one can collect stamps as proof of completion. Though this may not appeal to everyone it is one of the things that I love the most about both routes. I really enjoy having the goal of finding the stamps and a meaningful souvenir to look back on.

At Kii-Tanabe, the starting point of the hike, it is tradition to do a Shiogori salt-water purification. I washed my hands in the ocean here as has been done for thousands of years.

Less than 1km into my hike I encountered another tradition. There is a tiny opening in a grouping of rocks. Pilgrims are encouraged to squeeze through the opening as a symbol of going through the birth canal. It was so small that the average sized man ahead of me could not fit through. If he hadn’t pulled my backpack through for me there would have been no way I could have jammed it through. Japanese people are typically small framed, but this was extreme. Re-birthed, I continued on.

I travelled the Nakahechi route, which is about 70kms with significant elevation gain and loss as it travel over mountain passes. There were times when I thought that the natural stone or root steps were never going to end! The last day in particular was a grind; 1000m of elevation gain in the first 4 kms.

I hiked through cedar forests, bamboo groves, and areas where the Japanese maples were almost glowing in the sunlight.

*At this viewpoint the signpost reads “Please take a moment to enjoy this panoramic view, as pilgrims have been doing for over 1000 years”.*

There were shrines all along the route, from carved rocks to small statues, to larger temples.

I stayed in tiny guesthouses along the way. I splurged more than usual and had most of my meals included. What a luxury it was to arrive to a feast for dinner, a filling breakfast, and a lunch box packed for me to take along the way. Though I had no idea what I was eating most of the time, I really loved all of the different flavours and textures, with one exception of some mystery meat that I avoided.

When I reached the first grand shrine, Kumano Hongu Taisha, I was able to participate in something very special. Those who have proof of completion of a Camino and the Kumano Kodo can register to become a Dual Pilgrim. This includes a pin, special stamp, certificate written on Japanese rice paper, a golden shell with a three-legged crow on it (symbol of the Kumano Kodo), AND the chance to participate in a drum ceremony at the temple.

Receiving the certificate and then having the drum vibrations reverberating through me was a more emotional experience for me than I would have predicted. It reminded me of all of the friends, experiences, and lessons that I have learned through the 3 pilgrimages that I have done.

I took advantage of many onsens (Japanese hot baths) along the way. One of my guesthouses had a wood fired onsen… melt!

I had a ‘rest day’ at Yunomine Onsen, which is a tiny village around one of the oldest hot springs in Japan. There is a world heritage onsen called Tsuboyu that is a tiny cabin by the creek in the middle of the stream running through town. Legends report many stories of healing from soaking in these waters. My hostel also has its own onsen and you better believe I spent time soaking there.

*Legend says the water changes colour 7 times throughout the day.*

I decided to ‘double down’ on my medicinal hot spring exposure. I drank coffee made from the hot spring waters and for supper I cooked eggs and sweet potatoes in little mesh pouches set in the stream. Heck, I even ate onsen porridge for breakfast!

The three shrines are all different and beautiful in their own ways.

Kumano Hongo Taisha

Kumano Nachi Taisha, set beside Japan’s highest waterfall

Kumano Hayarama Taisha

You may be wondering how I’m feeling after all of this cleansing, re-birthing, eating/drinking/soaking in medicinal waters, and spiritual pilgrimage. I am experiencing a profound feeling of gratitude. I’m grateful for our planet and the opportunities to be in nature. I am so grateful that my body is able to participate in these adventures. I am grateful that RobO supports and encourages me to do these activities, and sometimes comes along too. I am grateful that I have a career that I am still passionate about and a workplace that allows me this time off to pursue other passions. And I am grateful for family, friends, and those who I meet along life’s path.