Kumano Kodo - Santiago Dual Pilgrims - now over 4,000

[Bradypus]

An article from the Santiago city council reporting that the number of people registered as Kumano Kodo - Santiago dual pilgrims is now over 4,000. And also noting a significant rise in the number of people registering as such this year.

Máis de 4.000 persoas recibiron xa o Pasaporte Dual por percorrer o Camiño de Santiago e o Kumano Kodo - Concello de Santiago de Compostela : Noticias

Santiago de Compostela, cidade Patrimonio da Humanidade, e a cidade de Tanabe, destino do Kumano Kodo, levan anos traballando nun proxecto turístico de dimensión global.

santiagodecompostela.gal

 

[GuyA]

I read this with amazement that there are now 4,000 Dual pilgrims and very strong emotions.

Happy

On March 25th, 2015 I walked into the Hongu Taisha Center after having walked the Nakahechi Kumano Kodo route. I went to the front desk…held up my stamped credential from my 2014 Camino Frances walk from St. Jean Pied de Port and blurted out “Dual Pilgrim”.

The young woman at the desk became very excited…picked up the phone immediately and within no time I was surrounded by 5-6 happy staff members. They led me to a glass floor display which had pictures of 4 Dual Pilgrims…an American, 3 Japanese and pointed to an empty space where number 5…my Canadian picture would go.

My 15 minutes of fame…have long since wondered if my picture is indeed there or not.

Very Sad

On April 8, 2023 10:20 pm JST I received the following picture and text message out of the blue…



“Hello, I hope this message finds you well. I wanted let you know I am on the Kumano Kodo Kohechi today. Im going to be dual Pilgrim just like you. I also wanted to let you know that you made it into the Japanese documentary on Camino Santiago.”

This message from Patricia a pilgrim I had met while walking the Camino Primitivo in the Fall 2022. At the time Patricia had mentioned that she would be walking the Temple 88 Shikoku pilgrimage in 2023. The reference to the Japanese documentary related to film crew that was documenting pilgrims on the Camino Primitivo…great fun talking about starring roles in this documentary.

I asked Patricia if she could take a look at whether my picture was in the glass case at Hongu Taisha Center and if so please send me a picture.

April 9 7:50 am JST a text from Patricia “I will take a look and take picture at Hongu”

April 10 7:00 am JST Patricia left her accommodation and has simply vanished

All of the above information has been passed on to the family to assist in their search efforts.

Extensive family, police efforts for 3+ weeks have as yet to yield a single clue. Extensive media newspaper, Facebook, Instagram, Go Fund Me campaign to finance professional search teams are all ongoing.

A recent Washington Post article summary on Patricia Wu-Murad’s disappearance.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/02/japan-missing-hiker-volunteers/?fbclid=IwAR0UWpjrFCLSTZrdVqoTDEslj1Mxwv1haT_CXieXfeHGdc0dMgNBOzG6ZBk

A very difficult time for family and friends…one must live in hope.

Guy

 

[PeteD]

@GuyA very sad and troubling news. Hoping this is resolved for the best.
@Bradypus thanks for the article. Do you know where in SdC one goes to register the dual pilgrimage? I walked the Kumano Kodo in 2018 and happily recieved the dual pilgrim treatment. My wife is walking CF in Sepatember this year and would be keen to register as a dual pilgrim in SdC if we know here to go.

 

[Bradypus]

@Bradypus thanks for the article. Do you know where in SdC one goes to register the dual pilgrimage?

In Santiago it is done at the Santiago tourism office - Rúa do Vilar, 63. Not the pilgrim office. If you register in the Santiago office you receive a dual pilgrim badge but not a certificate - that is only issued at the Hongu centre in Japan.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/dual-pilgrim-certificate-at-santiago.61680/

 

[Former member 104756]

Oh that’s terribly sad @GuyA my heart goes out to her loved ones. I hope for a good outcome .

I too am a dual pilgrim. The Kumàno Kodo - such magical paths. Not long in distances, but challenging and extraordinarily beautiful.

 

[GuyA]

In Santiago it is done at the Santiago tourism office - Rúa do Vilar, 63. Not the pilgrim office. If you register in the Santiago office you receive a dual pilgrim badge but not a certificate - that is only issued at the Hongu centre in Japan.

Interesting in 2015 I did not receive a certificate but did get a small pin which is somewhere . I did manage to get my picture on the Dual Pilgrim website though…easy to find…just go to last page and move up one .

Unfortunately my pilgrim friend Patricia’s journey is totally heartbreaking for me and of course many people Such an adventurous capable joyful pilgrim friend I briefly met.

Patricia chose the Koyasan/Kohechi route…crunched the numbers and ~ 6% of Dual Pilgrims have walked this route. It is the toughest route of the various Kumano Kodo routes…not that the Nahakechi was easy.

The Kumano Kodo was absolutely one of my lifetime walking highlights.

Guy

 

[Bradypus]

Patricia chose the Koyasan/Kohechi route…crunched the numbers and ~ 6% of Dual Pilgrims have walked this route. It is the toughest route of the various Kumano Kodo routes…not that the Nahakechi was easy.

I registered as a dual pilgrim in March 2018 after walking the Nakahechi route. I had just walked the Shikoku 88 temple circuit and found the Nakahechi fairly straightforward walking. I returned the following year to walk the Choishimichi up to Koyasan, then followed the Kohechi route to Hongu and the route south to Nachi. A much more strenuous business!

 

[KayfromUK]

I am amazed to learn you can connect Camino and Kumano Kodo. I've just done Camino Portuguese way and come back with the credential. Not knowing the dual pilgrim, I walked a part of Kumano Kodo last autumn. I can go back to do more of Kumano Kodo as I am originally from Japan. JP government doesn't allow a dual passport but I can get a Dual Pilgrim status! They are very different though. I feel organising Camino is much easier than Kumano Kodo. I walked in a completely dry weather for 13 days from Porto to Santiago, but when I walked Kumano Kodo, the cobbled paths in the mountain were extremely slippery when they were wet. The shortest Kumano Kodo is only 30 km. Perhaps, I could do it in a day.

 

[PeteD]

Yesterday my wife Margaret registered her dual pilgrim status with the tourist office in Santiago. They were happy to do this and the other staff all seemed to be part of the experience including a lovely certificate, dual pilgrim pin and photo for the dual pilgrim website. Margaret had produced her stamped ‘passport’ from the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage but as you apply the stamps yourself there were no dates and they needed a completion date. No problem as I had completed my dual pilgrimage in Japan (prior Camino) so they just did a quick search and up popped the photo of me in September 2018. Process completed and Margaret has now joined the 4000 others fortunate enough to have had the chance to experience both!

 

[andycohn]

We just finished the Nakahechi route, and registered as dual pilgrims on October 7. That same day the total number of dual pilgrims certificates awarded surpassed 5000. It's much more of an event than receiving a Compostela in SDC, as one of the priests at the temple in Hongu beats the big drum in your honor -- and you get to beat it, too. Walking to Hongu was 37 rugged kilometers - quite steep, very rocky, with plenty of gnarly tree branches to slow you down -- so don't underestimate it. Definitely not to be done in one day, as someone suggested above!

5 new items by Andy Cohn

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[KayfromUK]

Congratulations for qualifying.
You have to do one of the 4 options in Kumano Kodo:
38 km Takijiri Ohji - Kumano Hongu;
30km Nachi Taisha - Kumano Hongu;
70km Koyasan - Kumano Hongu;
7 km Hosshinmon ohji - Kumano Hongu plus paying visits to Nachi Taisha and Hayatama Taisha.
The last one could be doable in a day.
No cycling or horse riding, unlike Camino de Santiago.
However, I'm not doing it to get to qualify. I will take time to enjoy the process. When I walked with my sister last year, we discovered they had an event for a trail run. How can they possibly run on those slippery slopes!?
I have the rest of my life to think about.
Here's one of the slippery slopes to Magose Toge on Iseji route. It wasn't like the cobbled street in Camino

 

[LesBrass]

I'm walking this in April. Do I need to take my credentials and Compostela? Or just a completed credentials? (Thank you)

 

[Bradypus]

I'm walking this in April. Do I need to take my credentials and Compostela? Or just a completed credentials? (Thank you)

I took my completed credencial from the Camino Portugues with the arrival stamp from the pilgrim office. That was accepted without comment.

 

[LesBrass]

I took my completed credencial from the Camino Portugues with the arrival stamp from the pilgrim office. That was accepted without comment.

Thank goodness I read this now as we leave in a few days for an extended trip! Thank you

 

[Former member 104756]

Same, I took a completed credenciale with me, and not a compostela. Enjoy. Love the Kumano Kodo. Love travelling in Japan.

 

[Bradypus]

No harm in taking a photo of your Compostela too just in case. Belt and braces!

 

[MinaKamina]

I read this with amazement that there are now 4,000 Dual pilgrims and very strong emotions.

Happy

On March 25th, 2015 I walked into the Hongu Taisha Center after having walked the Nakahechi Kumano Kodo route. I went to the front desk…held up my stamped credential from my 2014 Camino Frances walk from St. Jean Pied de Port and blurted out “Dual Pilgrim”.

The young woman at the desk became very excited…picked up the phone immediately and within no time I was surrounded by 5-6 happy staff members. They led me to a glass floor display which had pictures of 4 Dual Pilgrims…an American, 3 Japanese and pointed to an empty space where number 5…my Canadian picture would go.

My 15 minutes of fame…have long since wondered if my picture is indeed there or not.

Very Sad

On April 8, 2023 10:20 pm JST I received the following picture and text message out of the blue…

View attachment 146165

“Hello, I hope this message finds you well. I wanted let you know I am on the Kumano Kodo Kohechi today. Im going to be dual Pilgrim just like you. I also wanted to let you know that you made it into the Japanese documentary on Camino Santiago.”

This message from Patricia a pilgrim I had met while walking the Camino Primitivo in the Fall 2022. At the time Patricia had mentioned that she would be walking the Temple 88 Shikoku pilgrimage in 2023. The reference to the Japanese documentary related to film crew that was documenting pilgrims on the Camino Primitivo…great fun talking about starring roles in this documentary.

I asked Patricia if she could take a look at whether my picture was in the glass case at Hongu Taisha Center and if so please send me a picture.

April 9 7:50 am JST a text from Patricia “I will take a look and take picture at Hongu”

April 10 7:00 am JST Patricia left her accommodation and has simply vanished

All of the above information has been passed on to the family to assist in their search efforts.

Extensive family, police efforts for 3+ weeks have as yet to yield a single clue. Extensive media newspaper, Facebook, Instagram, Go Fund Me campaign to finance professional search teams are all ongoing.

A recent Washington Post article summary on Patricia Wu-Murad’s disappearance.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/02/japan-missing-hiker-volunteers/?fbclid=IwAR0UWpjrFCLSTZrdVqoTDEslj1Mxwv1haT_CXieXfeHGdc0dMgNBOzG6ZBk

A very difficult time for family and friends…one must live in hope.

Guy

Pattie Wu Murad disappeared on April 10 2023 after leaving the Mandokoro Guest House for the Miura-toge Pass on the Kohechi Trail.

To this day, she remains misssing and no trace of her has been found after she left the guest house.

Strength and courage to her family and friends.