Walking Goto Islands: Day 7

Travel diaries: March 8th, Shin-Kamigoto is a heaven for road walkers.

My plan for the day was to walk in the southern part of Nakadori Island of Shin-Kamigoto. I planned a course that would take around five hours. While I had walked part of the route before, there were also sections that I had yet to explore. It was a sunny day, and I was blessed with magnificent scenery. It was one of the best days of my trip so far.

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I took the first bus from Arikawa town around 7 a.m. and got off right before the detour to Matenora Church. I did not plan to visit the church (as it was not a particularly special one) but wanted to enjoy the morning hours and light with a coastal walk along the Michidoi Bay.

Despite the sun, it was a crispy morning, but I was fortunately prepared for it (light gloves, scarf, merino wool undershirt, etc). The walk down to Nakanora Catholic Church, arguably one of the most beautiful churches on all five Goto Islands due to its location, took a little less than two hours.

I stopped for around 15 minutes for breakfast (the sandwich I prepared in the morning), sitting right across from a house that looked out of Miyazaki animes - a traditional Japanese house, right by the water with a private dock where a fishing boat was parked. After a brief exchange of morning pleasantries with the owner of the house, who was on her way to the garbage disposal site, I wondered how it would feel to be waking in a house like that every morning and they, after possibly all those years, can still feel in awe of the scenery surrounding their very own home.

I am one of those people who feel the happiest during the early morning hours (to the chagrin of some of my friends when we travel together). The beautiful scenery added to my natural tendency for joyful mornings, and I was in a euphoric state. I think any travel is worth it if it gives you even only one ecstatic moment, and I am glad, after years of practice, I got better at finding those subtle experiences that would reward me with many of those moments (to the point that I sometimes feel a little too calculating during my travels).