I wasted the green tea ice cream I bought at Marunaka last night =[ It was too nice to resist then, but was too cold to eat it. This morning, it melted and gave me more work to clean up. Woke up around 6:10am and was only ready by 8:15am. My memory wasn't that bad actually, but I had been forgetting things. Forgotten to take the photo of my tent again. Forgotten to throw some rubbish on my pouch.
Still felt very sleepy. Today, I managed to walk with my eyes closed for 4seconds. An improvement of 2 seconds from previous attempt! Kids, do not try this at home. The stun was done by professional after years of blood and sweat training.
After an hour and time for a break, I reached the map again and noticed I had taken the long way instead! There were 2 paths to Temple 84. The long way was around 4km more. I decided to go back to the original path I planned but I had actually overshot the turn earlier when I was on the longer path. So, I ended up following the shorter path but longer than the longer path! If you know what I meant!
I had reached the Takamatsu City. It was the biggest city in Kagawa Prefecture. There were many distractions. Shops, restaurants, girls and Mc Donald! Before I could join back to the henro path yet, I took another detour just to go to the fast food restaurant. It was a messy day! My route was messy. My Big Mac was messy. And I play like Messi! Nah! Just kidding. Finally I had my long craving Mc Donald. Not that I was a fan, but just wanted to have some junk food. In the end, spent a long time there planning my next few days trip. I was thinking maybe I could go slow and settled with just Temple 84 so that I could hang around this big city.
Left after around 40minutes and continued the long walk. I saw the famous Udon shop again that the street walker told me yesterday. I recognized the Kanji this time because it was the one recommended in the guide book too, called Sanuki Udon. After spending 5.5 hours I had finally reached the first temple of the day. At the bottom, I called Hajime-san to confirm our dinner appointment. Told him I would call again around 4:30pm to see where we could meet. Then it was a tough half an hour hike up. It was a short distance but very steep up to 300m above sea level. I rested many times. Around 2pm, I reached eventually, almost suffocated. Today was cold and windy. I had my bandana on the whole time until I started the hike. Up at the temple, it was windier! I had my tea break and left around 2:45pm after getting the direction from the temple staff. Another staff gave me 2 nice chocolate bars.
I followed the signs until I reached a junction. Both ways didn’t seem right. I took the left and reached a dead end. Went back to take the right but I ended up back to the temple entrance where I initially came from. I went all the way back to the last henro sign and noticed I had missed one along the way. It went off the walking track and cut into the jungle. Lost for 20minutes, I wondered if I had enough time to reach Temple 85. The downhill was one of the toughest I had so far. Very stony and steep. My toe almost broke!!
Finally I reached the flat road at 3:30pm. There were still around 2.4km before another slope up to Temple 85. I sped up so much that my stomach felt uncomfortable. Soon the hike started and I was slowed down to turtle pace! It was 4:16pm already! I began to panic and worried if I could make it at all. Just then, a lady stopped me and gave me some sweets as “o-settai”, I thanked her wanted to give her a name slip but she said it was ok. Soon, when she knew I was from Singapore, she asked for one. I was struggling to locate my pen, just when I was in a rush. But, I could still patiently manage to find it after pulling out almost all my other stuffs from the pouch. I wrote her a new one, since I did not have any ready one for the day anymore. She thanked me and I quickly continued my walk.
I wished I had 3 lungs like Park Ji Sung. (A Manchester United Korean player with the nickname, “3 lungs Park”). There was still no sign of reaching soon yet! I almost wanted to give up and leave "Ah Wing" behind so that I could run to the temple. Soon I saw the sign that said 1.2km away and it was 4:24pm. I got my confidence back. Usually 1km would take 15minutes on flat road. Hike may doubled it. And so I would still be 2min on time before they closed at 5pm! I just continued steps by steps, breathing in deep on every step. At 4:40pm, I saw the front gate and the sign of relief was unexplainable!!
Completed my praying by 5pm and gave a call to Hajimen-san immediately. My phone card didn't work. I slotted in all the 10yen that I had and managed to talk to him for a while. He had left me a message actually that he had completed his pilgrimage today and having a party tonight. So he could not meet me and suggested tomorrow. I got cut off before I could congratulate him and wish him to have fun. I had no more coins to call back. I stopped for another tea break. It was very windy and cold. I quickly moved on. At 5:30pm, it was already dark. The street was dark and empty but at least I knew I was not in a jungle and I could see the lights from the city every now and then. Then, I saw something white in the middle of the road. Oh! It was just the marking arrow. The walk was relaxing. I could even see all the henro signs along the way! I reached the train station earlier than expected after 40minutes. And my “hotel” was just 5 minutes walk away. I found my “room” and even a “study table”. I parked my bag and went to check out the convenient store nearby, but it wasn’t around anymore. And so, I quickly went back to a restaurant I passed by just next to the park (my hotel) to have my dinner before it closed. It turned out to be the most satisfying meal that I had! The serving was so huge for 500yen and the fried Udon was sooo delicious. I almost couldn’t finish it! I wanted to the order another Okonomi yaki (Japanese pizza) but I couldn’t put in anymore stuff into my mouth. It seemed to be really nice and definitely the famous dish in the shop because every tables were having it!! Sad that I had to miss it! The owner was nice to let me stay as long as I wanted because it was really cold outside tonight. I left eventually after an hour and went back to the bench next to the vending machine (my study room) to charge my phone and watch and type my blog. The best thing was having free wifi too!!!
I stopped to clean up and checked out the bigger bench (my room). They were not well sheltered, and too heavy to carry elsewhere. So, I had to move those smaller benches to the fully shelter area and joined them together. My legs were long! Spread out my ground sheet to dry it as well. And the bonus was having a rare milk vending machine around!! I could have cereal for my supper and heavier breakfast tomorrow!! But I didn’t have my supper. I guessed my fried Udon was still inside the stomach. It was very very cold and I finally went to bed at 12am.
Today, I had reduced 23.5km from my total trail distance.
Sunday 28 November 2010
27th Nov – Day 21, Temple 80 to 82 (Kokubunji, Shiromineji, Negoroji), Bangai 19 (Kouzaiji), Temple 83 (Ichinomiyaji)
It was a difficult morning. Wearing the thick sock was tough. I should had cleaned up the thinner ones and let them dry in the heater room last night. Waking up was tougher. The walk was toughest! I guessed that was because I was in a rush. Today, I had a long day ahead and really wanted to get to Temple 83 where there was supposed to have a free lodging. I needed to cover 5 temples!
The short 45minutes walk to Temple 80 was already a challenge for the day. Just about to reach, a man who was walking really fast behind, overtook me and asked if I was walking the trail. He turned back later and gave me 500yen as “o-settai”!! Money was the best o-settai =] I thanked him very much and gave him a name slip.
I spent a long time at Temple 80 to get some charms for my sister. She was born in the year 1980, and hence I thought of getting her something at Temple 80. There were many things sold at Temple 80! I only managed to get a simple Kobo Daishi (Kukai) figure at Temple 48 and Temple 49 for my parents respectively.
I realized it was getting late. I quickly moved on but the pace wasn’t just right. I struggled. And soon, it was going uphill, I struggled more! And at 9am, the sound from my stomach was so loud that I thought I heard the echo as well! I had no choice but to take a break and eat the left over sushi last night. I decided not to rush anymore and let it flowed naturally. As I sat down, a bird flew pass right in front of me. Then, I saw two more getting very close. As I was wondering, I saw an old woman in front of me with her palm held in front for the birds to pick up some nuts (kuaci). She passed me some to try. It was really fun. The birds were not afraid and they sometimes stayed a little longer on your palm. I took heaps of pictures. When my nuts were gone, I tried with sushi rice, but they knew it was expired!
I moved on and met the old woman up ahead again. She gave me various kinds of snacks and I returned her a name slip. She told me if she could send me a New Year card with that address!! (On the name slip, there was my name, address and the date. If the name slip was for the temple, my wishes were written there as well. By now, I could write my address and wishes in reverse order!). Anyway, I was surprised but thanked her very much. I realized when you tend to rush, there always seems to be not enough time. But, when you take your time and go slow, things would move on very smoothly!! Soon, I was almost at the temple.
Temple 81 was big. There were many people when I reached. The temple had speakers around the area playing the religious music. I noticed all those in full suit were all white. Even their shoes were white or light colour. But yet, I was all in black or dark colour. Saw a woman with the housewife look having a huge digital camera with her. Everyone could really take good pictures now with the advanced of technology. Then, her husband came with two huge one hanging around his neck!!
After my wonderfully heavenly tea break, I continued to Temple 82. On the way, I met an old lady, Mino-san. She was 64-years-old and just walked from her home to see the fallen leaves at Temple 82. She invited to walk together, which was really good. I was pushed to keep up the pace and the chat made the trip to Temple 82 much faster. She explained to me those old statues along the trail were used thousands of years ago to tell the remaining distance to the destination. Many of these pilgrimage paths along the jungle were actually walked by many for thousands of years! I couldn’t imagine myself being one of the lucky one to walk on them as well.
Temple 82 was very beautiful indeed. Mino-san was giving me a tour as she explained the 3 different colours of leaves, namely yellow, green and red, which made the scenery very majestic! There was one particular tree with really exceptionally red leaves!! Many were posing to take pictures with it.
Soon, Mino-san and I went the separate way. She was heading home and I continued my journey to Bangai 19. On the way, I heard gun shots again. Probably the area had a hunting ground. Then, I lost my way for 10 minutes. The henro signs were always pointing in an ambiguous way. The Americans reckons my thought too. I thought it would be good too if there was a sign that turn you back if you took the wrong path. Luckily there were no more surprises for this Bangai and I reached 6min later than scheduled. I was too eager to get it done and forgotten to purify myself first before the prayer at the Main Hall! I had my prayers in fast forward speed to overtake a big group of tour henro for the stamp. Had my heavenly bread again for tea break and rushed off again at 1:50pm.
Met a street walker and she told me the Udon restaurant next to us was very famous. In fact, the most famous in whole Japan!!! But, I just had my tea break and was rushing to Temple 83. I walked so fast that I could feel the breeze! And so, I had the longest continuous walk of 9.3km without a stop. Made it to the temple at 4:40pm, and noticed there were many late comers too. Some was even still praying after 5pm!
Sadly, there was no free sheltered lodging again! So, I went over to the park and it was pretty isolated and huge. Many great spots for my tent. Set it up just next to the toilet, left “Ah Wing” inside the handicapped and went for dinner at a restaurant I passed by earlier. Thought it was an Udon restaurant, but it was not bad too. Had a set meal for 550yen with vegetable, miso soup, a piece of fried soba fish, a slice of egg and a big bowl of rice. Ordered another big plate of some kind of fish which was huge for 380yen only. Then, I saw fried oyster! But I already ordered too much. After the dinner, I hung around to plan for my trip. Often, I would turn my head back to look at the plate of oyster for a very long time. Eventually, when I decided to get it for supper, it wasn’t there anymore. So, I just took a plate of fried chicken and paid for it. I felt like buying the left-over sugar cane (a Chinese phrase to mean getting something else when you can’t get what you originally wanted). Walked to my favourite shopping centre to get my breakfast and went back to camp. Updated the blog for a while but got very tired and wanted to sleep at 10pm. In the end, walked 400m to get a hot coffee, read some saved emails on my iPhone and ended up in bed at 11pm. The rain woke me up at 3:30am! It got colder whenever it rained.
Today, I had another 31.5km in the pocket.
The short 45minutes walk to Temple 80 was already a challenge for the day. Just about to reach, a man who was walking really fast behind, overtook me and asked if I was walking the trail. He turned back later and gave me 500yen as “o-settai”!! Money was the best o-settai =] I thanked him very much and gave him a name slip.
I spent a long time at Temple 80 to get some charms for my sister. She was born in the year 1980, and hence I thought of getting her something at Temple 80. There were many things sold at Temple 80! I only managed to get a simple Kobo Daishi (Kukai) figure at Temple 48 and Temple 49 for my parents respectively.
I realized it was getting late. I quickly moved on but the pace wasn’t just right. I struggled. And soon, it was going uphill, I struggled more! And at 9am, the sound from my stomach was so loud that I thought I heard the echo as well! I had no choice but to take a break and eat the left over sushi last night. I decided not to rush anymore and let it flowed naturally. As I sat down, a bird flew pass right in front of me. Then, I saw two more getting very close. As I was wondering, I saw an old woman in front of me with her palm held in front for the birds to pick up some nuts (kuaci). She passed me some to try. It was really fun. The birds were not afraid and they sometimes stayed a little longer on your palm. I took heaps of pictures. When my nuts were gone, I tried with sushi rice, but they knew it was expired!
I moved on and met the old woman up ahead again. She gave me various kinds of snacks and I returned her a name slip. She told me if she could send me a New Year card with that address!! (On the name slip, there was my name, address and the date. If the name slip was for the temple, my wishes were written there as well. By now, I could write my address and wishes in reverse order!). Anyway, I was surprised but thanked her very much. I realized when you tend to rush, there always seems to be not enough time. But, when you take your time and go slow, things would move on very smoothly!! Soon, I was almost at the temple.
Temple 81 was big. There were many people when I reached. The temple had speakers around the area playing the religious music. I noticed all those in full suit were all white. Even their shoes were white or light colour. But yet, I was all in black or dark colour. Saw a woman with the housewife look having a huge digital camera with her. Everyone could really take good pictures now with the advanced of technology. Then, her husband came with two huge one hanging around his neck!!
After my wonderfully heavenly tea break, I continued to Temple 82. On the way, I met an old lady, Mino-san. She was 64-years-old and just walked from her home to see the fallen leaves at Temple 82. She invited to walk together, which was really good. I was pushed to keep up the pace and the chat made the trip to Temple 82 much faster. She explained to me those old statues along the trail were used thousands of years ago to tell the remaining distance to the destination. Many of these pilgrimage paths along the jungle were actually walked by many for thousands of years! I couldn’t imagine myself being one of the lucky one to walk on them as well.
Temple 82 was very beautiful indeed. Mino-san was giving me a tour as she explained the 3 different colours of leaves, namely yellow, green and red, which made the scenery very majestic! There was one particular tree with really exceptionally red leaves!! Many were posing to take pictures with it.
Soon, Mino-san and I went the separate way. She was heading home and I continued my journey to Bangai 19. On the way, I heard gun shots again. Probably the area had a hunting ground. Then, I lost my way for 10 minutes. The henro signs were always pointing in an ambiguous way. The Americans reckons my thought too. I thought it would be good too if there was a sign that turn you back if you took the wrong path. Luckily there were no more surprises for this Bangai and I reached 6min later than scheduled. I was too eager to get it done and forgotten to purify myself first before the prayer at the Main Hall! I had my prayers in fast forward speed to overtake a big group of tour henro for the stamp. Had my heavenly bread again for tea break and rushed off again at 1:50pm.
Met a street walker and she told me the Udon restaurant next to us was very famous. In fact, the most famous in whole Japan!!! But, I just had my tea break and was rushing to Temple 83. I walked so fast that I could feel the breeze! And so, I had the longest continuous walk of 9.3km without a stop. Made it to the temple at 4:40pm, and noticed there were many late comers too. Some was even still praying after 5pm!
Sadly, there was no free sheltered lodging again! So, I went over to the park and it was pretty isolated and huge. Many great spots for my tent. Set it up just next to the toilet, left “Ah Wing” inside the handicapped and went for dinner at a restaurant I passed by earlier. Thought it was an Udon restaurant, but it was not bad too. Had a set meal for 550yen with vegetable, miso soup, a piece of fried soba fish, a slice of egg and a big bowl of rice. Ordered another big plate of some kind of fish which was huge for 380yen only. Then, I saw fried oyster! But I already ordered too much. After the dinner, I hung around to plan for my trip. Often, I would turn my head back to look at the plate of oyster for a very long time. Eventually, when I decided to get it for supper, it wasn’t there anymore. So, I just took a plate of fried chicken and paid for it. I felt like buying the left-over sugar cane (a Chinese phrase to mean getting something else when you can’t get what you originally wanted). Walked to my favourite shopping centre to get my breakfast and went back to camp. Updated the blog for a while but got very tired and wanted to sleep at 10pm. In the end, walked 400m to get a hot coffee, read some saved emails on my iPhone and ended up in bed at 11pm. The rain woke me up at 3:30am! It got colder whenever it rained.
Today, I had another 31.5km in the pocket.
26th Nov – Day 20, Temple 76 to 79 (Konzouji, Douryuuji, Goushouji, Tennouji)
Couldn’t wake up on time again. “Check-out” at 7:30am and reached Temple 76 about an hour later. There was a very nice tsuyado (free lodging), with cooking facilities and a washing machine too!!! I just had no luck with free lodging these days. Always missed those good ones in my plan. Tidied up my temple charm slips and noticed I had misplaced the slips for Temple 55 and Temple 58 =[
Temple 77 was just another hour away and also time for a tea break. Every day, after each meal, I was only thinking about when was the next munch! When I was about to reach, I heard someone yelling from behind. I turned back and a guy came after me and passed me a small Kobo Daishi statue. I thanked him and gave him a name slip.
I was 6 minutes ahead of schedule. More time for my tea break! I was cleverer now and looked before I pressed for my coffee! Oh my raisin butter bread was just heavenly! After the break, I felt so much powerful and walked as swiftly as a horse! The next 2 hours were straight road all the way. It was great since I didn’t have to see the map for a while. I was a lazy pilgrim! There were nice stones around for a good “landing” of my baggage to tempt me for an early break. I wasn’t tired at all.
No doubt I saw a lot of animal clinics around, but today I saw an animal hospital too!! Passed by Marugame City. It was a bigger city with many restaurants and shops. Saw a toy shop too. Wished I had a night at the city. Before even 12pm, my stomach had already started to grumble again! A very tough fellow to satisfy!
At Temple 78, there was a very nice Kannon (Kwan Yin) statue. Went in to a small underground passage and saw thousands of Kannon statues surrounding many different Buddha statues. There were a lot of offering as well, including sweets, snacks and even toys!
After that, I had a cow for lunch! Udon of course! I was so full I could hardly walk! I was backed to my pace where I had my Nikko’s on. Then I met a 65-year-old henro and stopped to talk to him. He started from Temple 1 and as expected, he did it in the reverse direction. His moustache and beard almost covered his whole face! He asked if I was not shaving for the whole pilgrimage too. I told him yes, but mine was pathetically little! I had a pledge before the trail to keep my beard and moustache until I finished the walk. (I have beard and moustache ok! Some of my friends had been teasing me when I shaved in front of them. They would say “Eh, you have meh*?!” *meh is a slang in Chinese to add more tone in a sentence or question)
Although I had been applying cream like a lady, my fingers still cracked so badly that they looked like ghoul’s! Some of the path to Temple 79 went through a park and a shopping street as well. Then, I overshot the temple and got to turn back for it. It was supposed to be my final stop for the day, but unfortunately the staff said there was no free lodging! I saw the map and there was no toilet or park around until the next few temples! The nearest was a hut with a convenient store just opposite it. When I was there, it turned out to be a house serving the henro and it was probably closed for the day. There was no one around in the house and it was not locked!! There was a Love Hotel just next to it and I went over to check it out since I saw 3000yen. I was reading the charges menu and thought of asking someone on how to check in. Saw a middle aged couple probably just finished their lovely session walking to the car. I called out to ask but they shoved me away and left in haste. Maybe they thought I was a private detective! Then, a staff came down to explain to me, but the 3000yen only applied from 9pm!
I left my baggage at the hut and went to both convenient stores around but none of them had any seats available. So, I ended up having my dinner outside in the cold. Tonight was very windy. Shortly, the shop attendant came out and gave me a whole bag full of sushi rice which was going to expire in an hour! I had 2 of them immediately. I thanked him very much and gave him my name slip. I wouldn’t mind if they were expired for hours anyway. My supper was well taken care of!!
After that, I finally called home and spoke to mom. Went back to the hut and saw the owner was already home. Didn’t want to barge in to someone’s house, I took my bag and went to a nearby restaurant for a sheltered place. I parked my car, I meant my bag, outside the restaurant and went in. Although I just had my dinner and still very full, I just ordered the cheapest item from the menu under the chef recommendation, not knowing what it really was. It came out to be just great! Salad and vegetables was what I needed. It was very delicious too. And so, I waited inside the restaurant until 9pm feeling embarrassed for occupying a space there. The lady owner later shifted me to a corner. There was wifi at the restaurant too, but was unstable.
At 9pm, I walked over to check in into a Love Hotel for the first time, bursting with curiosity! I went in, the phone rang. I picked up and the attendant came over to collect the rent. I was rather disappointed. I was expecting some “tools” and “toys” lying around! Turned on the TV and the program wasn’t what I expected too. Nothing much else interesting, I had my great hot bath, ate my supper and got ready the stuffs for tomorrow. And holy cow!! I realized another disaster! I had left both my Nike socks at the Temple 75 lodging! I still remembered that I said it was not an issue that they were not fully dried. It ended up to mattered a lot!! And I didn’t even say I hate socks too. Now, I was left with the thicker socks. My 2 other thinner ones were used up. Something was not right. I had lost 3 different things in 3 days continuously! Went to bed at 11pm thinking how to cure my clumsiness!
Today, I missed my target by a mere 0.8km at 19.2km. Actually I walked around 1.4km more, but to make the calculation easier, I parked them under tomorrow coverage.
Temple 77 was just another hour away and also time for a tea break. Every day, after each meal, I was only thinking about when was the next munch! When I was about to reach, I heard someone yelling from behind. I turned back and a guy came after me and passed me a small Kobo Daishi statue. I thanked him and gave him a name slip.
I was 6 minutes ahead of schedule. More time for my tea break! I was cleverer now and looked before I pressed for my coffee! Oh my raisin butter bread was just heavenly! After the break, I felt so much powerful and walked as swiftly as a horse! The next 2 hours were straight road all the way. It was great since I didn’t have to see the map for a while. I was a lazy pilgrim! There were nice stones around for a good “landing” of my baggage to tempt me for an early break. I wasn’t tired at all.
No doubt I saw a lot of animal clinics around, but today I saw an animal hospital too!! Passed by Marugame City. It was a bigger city with many restaurants and shops. Saw a toy shop too. Wished I had a night at the city. Before even 12pm, my stomach had already started to grumble again! A very tough fellow to satisfy!
At Temple 78, there was a very nice Kannon (Kwan Yin) statue. Went in to a small underground passage and saw thousands of Kannon statues surrounding many different Buddha statues. There were a lot of offering as well, including sweets, snacks and even toys!
After that, I had a cow for lunch! Udon of course! I was so full I could hardly walk! I was backed to my pace where I had my Nikko’s on. Then I met a 65-year-old henro and stopped to talk to him. He started from Temple 1 and as expected, he did it in the reverse direction. His moustache and beard almost covered his whole face! He asked if I was not shaving for the whole pilgrimage too. I told him yes, but mine was pathetically little! I had a pledge before the trail to keep my beard and moustache until I finished the walk. (I have beard and moustache ok! Some of my friends had been teasing me when I shaved in front of them. They would say “Eh, you have meh*?!” *meh is a slang in Chinese to add more tone in a sentence or question)
Although I had been applying cream like a lady, my fingers still cracked so badly that they looked like ghoul’s! Some of the path to Temple 79 went through a park and a shopping street as well. Then, I overshot the temple and got to turn back for it. It was supposed to be my final stop for the day, but unfortunately the staff said there was no free lodging! I saw the map and there was no toilet or park around until the next few temples! The nearest was a hut with a convenient store just opposite it. When I was there, it turned out to be a house serving the henro and it was probably closed for the day. There was no one around in the house and it was not locked!! There was a Love Hotel just next to it and I went over to check it out since I saw 3000yen. I was reading the charges menu and thought of asking someone on how to check in. Saw a middle aged couple probably just finished their lovely session walking to the car. I called out to ask but they shoved me away and left in haste. Maybe they thought I was a private detective! Then, a staff came down to explain to me, but the 3000yen only applied from 9pm!
I left my baggage at the hut and went to both convenient stores around but none of them had any seats available. So, I ended up having my dinner outside in the cold. Tonight was very windy. Shortly, the shop attendant came out and gave me a whole bag full of sushi rice which was going to expire in an hour! I had 2 of them immediately. I thanked him very much and gave him my name slip. I wouldn’t mind if they were expired for hours anyway. My supper was well taken care of!!
After that, I finally called home and spoke to mom. Went back to the hut and saw the owner was already home. Didn’t want to barge in to someone’s house, I took my bag and went to a nearby restaurant for a sheltered place. I parked my car, I meant my bag, outside the restaurant and went in. Although I just had my dinner and still very full, I just ordered the cheapest item from the menu under the chef recommendation, not knowing what it really was. It came out to be just great! Salad and vegetables was what I needed. It was very delicious too. And so, I waited inside the restaurant until 9pm feeling embarrassed for occupying a space there. The lady owner later shifted me to a corner. There was wifi at the restaurant too, but was unstable.
At 9pm, I walked over to check in into a Love Hotel for the first time, bursting with curiosity! I went in, the phone rang. I picked up and the attendant came over to collect the rent. I was rather disappointed. I was expecting some “tools” and “toys” lying around! Turned on the TV and the program wasn’t what I expected too. Nothing much else interesting, I had my great hot bath, ate my supper and got ready the stuffs for tomorrow. And holy cow!! I realized another disaster! I had left both my Nike socks at the Temple 75 lodging! I still remembered that I said it was not an issue that they were not fully dried. It ended up to mattered a lot!! And I didn’t even say I hate socks too. Now, I was left with the thicker socks. My 2 other thinner ones were used up. Something was not right. I had lost 3 different things in 3 days continuously! Went to bed at 11pm thinking how to cure my clumsiness!
Today, I missed my target by a mere 0.8km at 19.2km. Actually I walked around 1.4km more, but to make the calculation easier, I parked them under tomorrow coverage.
25th Nov – Day 19, Bangai 17 (Kannoji)
Took me 15 minutes to find my bearing. It was around 8am when I started on the right path. A boring walking day. Quiet and nothing much interesting to view. Saw a lot of people jogging this morning. Today’s plan was just merely Bangai 17 which was around 12km away and I had to come back to Temple 75 again to continue to Temple 76. Therefore, I stayed at the same lodging for the second night. There was actually no typo error on the Bangai number. I was not sure why Bangai 18 comes before Bangai 17 in the henro trail.
When it was time for a break, I couldn’t find a vending machine just when I needed one. When I finally got one, I didn’t get any drink because I needed the toilet suddenly and had to finish off my two bananas which were going to rot after banging around while I was walking.
Around 11am, I reached the out-of-the-place Bangai. Noticed they had a Main Hall only as well. There was also a very nice lake besides the temple, which I took a few pictures. Next, I had to go back to Temple 75 following almost the same path! Stopped at an Udon restaurant for lunch and it was nice, although the serving was small. There was wifi too and got hooked up for a while catching up on my messages.
Nowadays, my back seemed to be more uncomfortable than my shoulders. And somehow I had been using less of my hip these days! I felt very sleepy already and tried to walk with eyes closed. It worked for 2 seconds! Passed by some outlets and heard people singing karaoke!
At 3:15pm, I was backed at the reception office at Temple 75. The timing was just right and I met the same staff who served me yesterday. He seemed to be hesitated when I asked if I could stay one more night! Maybe he was on his way to knock off. Checked in and had my tea break at the lodging. Then, I prepared for my laundry and shopping!! I love Marunaka supermarket! Big and cheap! I couldn’t find the same yogurt with cereal today, and bought a whole bag instead since I really like to eat cereal tomorrow morning!! And of course, I got a bag of my heavenly raisin butter bun as well!!!
I felt great this evening because I managed to achieve all I wanted to do in a perfect planning. After shopping for my food, I also managed to get a present for my god daughter for her 1st birthday and a nice birthday card. Couldn’t reveal it yet in case I uploaded this blog and my god daughter’s parents read it, before they receive the parcel and miss the surprise. Then, the coin laundry (the nicer and bigger one) was along the way. Slotted in my dirty clothing and went to a nearby post office. Noticed it was already closed at 5pm, but I was lucky there was one that opened till 7pm not far away because it was just next to the coin laundry where I dried my shoe yesterday! Sent my present and came back to the coin laundry just in time for drying. My present turned out to be cheaper than the mailing charges! =] The 10 minutes drying was just enough to fully dry all my clothes except a couple of socks but that was no issues. After that, it was perfect timing for my dinner at a place near the wifi area and close to my lodging. I had a fried Udon (yes, you have to eat Udon everyday when you are at Kagawa Prefecture) and six takoyaki (the sotong thing). The meal was great and very filling. The takoyaki already could make you full.
After dinner, I uploaded my blog and stayed online to catch up with friends for a while till 10pm. Today wasn’t as cold as yesterday! Then, I went back and still had the stomach for supper. Packed up a bit and realized I had dropped something AGAIN!! This time was my glove which I just bought from the convenient store a few days ago! The last time I saw it, I remembered saying to myself “I hate gloves!!”
Today, I met my target again at 23km.
When it was time for a break, I couldn’t find a vending machine just when I needed one. When I finally got one, I didn’t get any drink because I needed the toilet suddenly and had to finish off my two bananas which were going to rot after banging around while I was walking.
Around 11am, I reached the out-of-the-place Bangai. Noticed they had a Main Hall only as well. There was also a very nice lake besides the temple, which I took a few pictures. Next, I had to go back to Temple 75 following almost the same path! Stopped at an Udon restaurant for lunch and it was nice, although the serving was small. There was wifi too and got hooked up for a while catching up on my messages.
Nowadays, my back seemed to be more uncomfortable than my shoulders. And somehow I had been using less of my hip these days! I felt very sleepy already and tried to walk with eyes closed. It worked for 2 seconds! Passed by some outlets and heard people singing karaoke!
At 3:15pm, I was backed at the reception office at Temple 75. The timing was just right and I met the same staff who served me yesterday. He seemed to be hesitated when I asked if I could stay one more night! Maybe he was on his way to knock off. Checked in and had my tea break at the lodging. Then, I prepared for my laundry and shopping!! I love Marunaka supermarket! Big and cheap! I couldn’t find the same yogurt with cereal today, and bought a whole bag instead since I really like to eat cereal tomorrow morning!! And of course, I got a bag of my heavenly raisin butter bun as well!!!
I felt great this evening because I managed to achieve all I wanted to do in a perfect planning. After shopping for my food, I also managed to get a present for my god daughter for her 1st birthday and a nice birthday card. Couldn’t reveal it yet in case I uploaded this blog and my god daughter’s parents read it, before they receive the parcel and miss the surprise. Then, the coin laundry (the nicer and bigger one) was along the way. Slotted in my dirty clothing and went to a nearby post office. Noticed it was already closed at 5pm, but I was lucky there was one that opened till 7pm not far away because it was just next to the coin laundry where I dried my shoe yesterday! Sent my present and came back to the coin laundry just in time for drying. My present turned out to be cheaper than the mailing charges! =] The 10 minutes drying was just enough to fully dry all my clothes except a couple of socks but that was no issues. After that, it was perfect timing for my dinner at a place near the wifi area and close to my lodging. I had a fried Udon (yes, you have to eat Udon everyday when you are at Kagawa Prefecture) and six takoyaki (the sotong thing). The meal was great and very filling. The takoyaki already could make you full.
After dinner, I uploaded my blog and stayed online to catch up with friends for a while till 10pm. Today wasn’t as cold as yesterday! Then, I went back and still had the stomach for supper. Packed up a bit and realized I had dropped something AGAIN!! This time was my glove which I just bought from the convenient store a few days ago! The last time I saw it, I remembered saying to myself “I hate gloves!!”
Today, I met my target again at 23km.
Thursday 25 November 2010
24th Nov – Day 18, Bangai 18 (Kaiganji), Temple 72 to 75 (Mandaraji, Shusshakaji, Kouyamaji, Zentsuuji)
Being organized was just not me. You need to know where you keep your stuff well. Hajime-san woke up the same time as me although I heard he said 9am last night. He was ready and moved on first since we were going separate way again. I started off around 7:52am to Bangai 18. The jungle trail reminded me of walking on those rocks when climbing Mt Fuji.
At the oddest place, I met an old woman. She was on her way down too. I greeted her. She took out some sweet but put them back in the bag and gave me the whole lot. I gave her my name slip. I noticed she had a huge knife. Commando type. I wondered if she was a gore killer around the area! Her eyes were slightly slanted and she was covering her mouth all the time when she talked. Maybe she was chewing some human fleshes!! I guessed I didn't had enough sleep last night.
Took half an hour more to reach the temple as I initially thought. My toes started to hurt again. At the temple, I got into a maze finding the Daishi hall. Usually there were a Main hall and a Daishi hall. I asked the staff and it was actually somewhere else! On my way to Temple 72, I was already very tired. Every steps hurt. Missed my raisin bun. Haven't seen it for a while. Very soon, my wish was granted. Reached a convenient store for a stop to rest my toe and saw the raisin bun although it was not the same brand!! Then I saw something else better. Bun in really nice butter!! The tea break relieved me for a while. I asked the staff if there was any coin laundry nearby. There was really one, but 800m out of the way! I walked towards it for a few steps but turned back and decided to move on instead.
With the Nikko, I was just half the normal speed I had been previously. Felt frustrated and painful. I regretted not going to the laundry earlier! Temple 72 was supposed to be very nearby according to the distance but it seemed so far. Finally I was there and then moved on to Temple 73 which was just 500m away. At Temple 73, Kobo Daishi showed me the light! I saw his statue and noticed the sandal he wore, and thought of wearing one myself too! And so, I quickly changed and walked on my sandal for the remaining 4.3km. I couldn’t walk too fast, but definitely faster and my toes were also not squeezed like sardine in my Nikko.
At Temple 74, the lady who gave me the stamp was really fast too. Maybe even faster that the guy at Temple 66. Today, I noticed those people again, who helped to collect the stamps in big bulk. It was like the travel agency, hiring those temporary staff to apply for bulk visa at the embassy!
It was a great relief to finish for the day at Temple 75. The temple staff was very kind to walk me to the free lodging when I couldn’t understand her direction. She also took time to ask around where was the nearest coin laundry and closing time for post office! I realized different post office had different closing hours later! So, she brought me to this place which was huge and the staff there said I could only check in at 3pm! I thought “wow”! Free lodging also needed to check-in! I waited and when it was about time, I was just asked to fill in a simple form and showed a map to the actual place where I would be sleeping! I wondered how different it was to “check-in” 15 minutes earlier!
I was struggling with the key to the gate, but realized it was not locked anyway. Went in and opened the side glass door. It wasn’t locked too. Later, I found out the key was for the front door further up in front of the gate. The lodging was nothing special, with no heater! There also wasn’t any bath facility as the guide mentioned. But, the place was big with 2 stories.
I left my stuff and went to look for food and coin laundry. The restaurants were either closed or not opened yet. Ended up in a convenient store again! By now, I had already tried almost all the different bento sets there. Basically, the bento sets were mostly the same for all the convenient stores. After my late lunch, I found out the coin laundry was just behind the convenient store. As expected, it was really a small one with no shoe cleaner! I asked if there was any other coin laundry around but the store attendant just conveniently said that was the only one. So, I tried to wash my shoe on the basin and dump it into the dryer for 200 yen. I waited 30minutes and fully utilized the time to write my name slips and planned my trip. Once the dryer stopped, I was so grateful that my New Balance was dry again! I tied the shoelace back to it and found out one was missing! It had dropped through the small holes inside the dryer!! I panicked! I used a couple of chopsticks to scope it up like playing those soft toy grabbing machines! With much patience and a little push using my pen, I was grateful again that I managed to retrieve the shoelace! Went to the Marunaka supermarket to get my breakfast and passed by a nice and big coin laundry with SHOE cleaner!!!
Backed to my lodging and cleaned up. Did some update of my blog and realized it was already 8pm! Quickly went out to look for dinner but all were closed by now!! Looked like bento set for dinner again! On the way to the convenient store, I walked pass a restaurant which was still opened but it was not Udon and I refused to go in!! Maybe I was addicted to convenient store food already!
The store attendant was pretty tonight! Somehow my dinner tasted nicer! Couldn’t get enough and had another bowl of instant Udon! When I was about to finish, I wanted to pour away some of the soup and ate the remains in the bowl, but the attendant saw me near the toilet and took my bowl to throw it away for me. I couldn’t refuse. At the convenient store, I already heard people greeting each other Merry Christmas!!! And the same Christmas songs were repeating everywhere around the convenient stores in Japan! I couldn’t endure anymore and left to find the free wifi area that I had spotted earlier this afternoon. Uploaded my overdue 6 days blogs and couldn’t bear the cold outside anymore! I recalled Hajime-san told me that tonight would be exceptionally cold. It was indeed. Made you very down. Reached my lodging, packed up a bit and slept around 11pm.
Today, I merely walked 12.3km due to the toe constraint!
At the oddest place, I met an old woman. She was on her way down too. I greeted her. She took out some sweet but put them back in the bag and gave me the whole lot. I gave her my name slip. I noticed she had a huge knife. Commando type. I wondered if she was a gore killer around the area! Her eyes were slightly slanted and she was covering her mouth all the time when she talked. Maybe she was chewing some human fleshes!! I guessed I didn't had enough sleep last night.
Took half an hour more to reach the temple as I initially thought. My toes started to hurt again. At the temple, I got into a maze finding the Daishi hall. Usually there were a Main hall and a Daishi hall. I asked the staff and it was actually somewhere else! On my way to Temple 72, I was already very tired. Every steps hurt. Missed my raisin bun. Haven't seen it for a while. Very soon, my wish was granted. Reached a convenient store for a stop to rest my toe and saw the raisin bun although it was not the same brand!! Then I saw something else better. Bun in really nice butter!! The tea break relieved me for a while. I asked the staff if there was any coin laundry nearby. There was really one, but 800m out of the way! I walked towards it for a few steps but turned back and decided to move on instead.
With the Nikko, I was just half the normal speed I had been previously. Felt frustrated and painful. I regretted not going to the laundry earlier! Temple 72 was supposed to be very nearby according to the distance but it seemed so far. Finally I was there and then moved on to Temple 73 which was just 500m away. At Temple 73, Kobo Daishi showed me the light! I saw his statue and noticed the sandal he wore, and thought of wearing one myself too! And so, I quickly changed and walked on my sandal for the remaining 4.3km. I couldn’t walk too fast, but definitely faster and my toes were also not squeezed like sardine in my Nikko.
At Temple 74, the lady who gave me the stamp was really fast too. Maybe even faster that the guy at Temple 66. Today, I noticed those people again, who helped to collect the stamps in big bulk. It was like the travel agency, hiring those temporary staff to apply for bulk visa at the embassy!
It was a great relief to finish for the day at Temple 75. The temple staff was very kind to walk me to the free lodging when I couldn’t understand her direction. She also took time to ask around where was the nearest coin laundry and closing time for post office! I realized different post office had different closing hours later! So, she brought me to this place which was huge and the staff there said I could only check in at 3pm! I thought “wow”! Free lodging also needed to check-in! I waited and when it was about time, I was just asked to fill in a simple form and showed a map to the actual place where I would be sleeping! I wondered how different it was to “check-in” 15 minutes earlier!
I was struggling with the key to the gate, but realized it was not locked anyway. Went in and opened the side glass door. It wasn’t locked too. Later, I found out the key was for the front door further up in front of the gate. The lodging was nothing special, with no heater! There also wasn’t any bath facility as the guide mentioned. But, the place was big with 2 stories.
I left my stuff and went to look for food and coin laundry. The restaurants were either closed or not opened yet. Ended up in a convenient store again! By now, I had already tried almost all the different bento sets there. Basically, the bento sets were mostly the same for all the convenient stores. After my late lunch, I found out the coin laundry was just behind the convenient store. As expected, it was really a small one with no shoe cleaner! I asked if there was any other coin laundry around but the store attendant just conveniently said that was the only one. So, I tried to wash my shoe on the basin and dump it into the dryer for 200 yen. I waited 30minutes and fully utilized the time to write my name slips and planned my trip. Once the dryer stopped, I was so grateful that my New Balance was dry again! I tied the shoelace back to it and found out one was missing! It had dropped through the small holes inside the dryer!! I panicked! I used a couple of chopsticks to scope it up like playing those soft toy grabbing machines! With much patience and a little push using my pen, I was grateful again that I managed to retrieve the shoelace! Went to the Marunaka supermarket to get my breakfast and passed by a nice and big coin laundry with SHOE cleaner!!!
Backed to my lodging and cleaned up. Did some update of my blog and realized it was already 8pm! Quickly went out to look for dinner but all were closed by now!! Looked like bento set for dinner again! On the way to the convenient store, I walked pass a restaurant which was still opened but it was not Udon and I refused to go in!! Maybe I was addicted to convenient store food already!
The store attendant was pretty tonight! Somehow my dinner tasted nicer! Couldn’t get enough and had another bowl of instant Udon! When I was about to finish, I wanted to pour away some of the soup and ate the remains in the bowl, but the attendant saw me near the toilet and took my bowl to throw it away for me. I couldn’t refuse. At the convenient store, I already heard people greeting each other Merry Christmas!!! And the same Christmas songs were repeating everywhere around the convenient stores in Japan! I couldn’t endure anymore and left to find the free wifi area that I had spotted earlier this afternoon. Uploaded my overdue 6 days blogs and couldn’t bear the cold outside anymore! I recalled Hajime-san told me that tonight would be exceptionally cold. It was indeed. Made you very down. Reached my lodging, packed up a bit and slept around 11pm.
Today, I merely walked 12.3km due to the toe constraint!
Wednesday 24 November 2010
23rd Nov – Day 17, Temple 68 to 71 (Jennein, Kan-onji, Motoyamaji, Iyadaniji)
By now, I could gauge my timing better. Set up tent, 20minutes. Pack tent, 30min, Clean up 10min. My New Balance caught a cold yesterday and my Nikko was taking over. But it wasn’t good. My little toes hurt badly. I wanted to find a coin laundry so badly today, but there wasn’t any until somewhere around Temple 75.
Temple 68 and 69 were together in the same place, about 5km away. I met Hajime-san again there, but he was on his way off when I just arrived. Today, I noticed some did the praying by singing! Some blew the pipe. The sound created by the pipe was the same sound that I heard on Day 7 (13th Nov) on my way to Temple 46 in the jungle.
At Temple 70, I met Hajime san again. He was going very slowly now, he said, because he was about to finish his pilgrimage soon in 5 to 6 days! He invited me to walk together. I had my tea break there and bought a cold coffee again from the vending machine!! Luckily the shop owner just next to it was kind enough for me to change it to a hot one instead!
So, Hajime-san and I walked to Temple 71 together which was about 11km away. Around lunch time, he said his friends were coming to have lunch with him and asked me to join along. He introduced his two pretty young girl friends, Tama-chan and Ai-chan! They drove all the way for an hour just to meet him for lunch! I bet Hajime-san is a famous guy! He was like a superstar in the Udon restaurant that we went to. The girls were taking pictures of him like they met their idol! =] After an hour of wonderful Udon meal, the ladies sent us back to the exact spot where they picked us up.
We moved on pretty slow for the rest of the day and stopped often. Once at the Lawson to get my breakfast and once at a 100 yen shop to get my rope (for the tent), needle and string (for my pant) and extra battery (for my headlight) and also a hair spray. The last one was initially not in the original list of items that I wanted. But for only 105yen, the luxury was well worth having!
Hajime-san and I chatted a lot. About food, music and what we usually do after work. I told him Japan has a lot of hair salons and beauty centers! He said Kagawa Prefecture has a lot of “ike” (lake)! And of course, he had told me before that Udon was very famous here too. There seemed to be one Udon restaurant after every 500m we walked!
My poor little toes! I should had probably got one shoe size bigger or not this Nikko altogether! After struggling for the last few steps, we finally reached the temple around 3:30pm. And only then did I realize I had a casualty again in my platoon! My backpack cover has slipped off somehow!! Sigh! I thought I could locate it on my way down but there was no luck! I reckoned by the time I finished my pilgrimage (if I really could), I might be naked!
On the way, we thought we saw a free lodging but it was locked. Hajime-san volunteered to have a look at the place again while I took care of the baggage. Looked like today was a camping day! There was an onsen just besides the park. It was 1050yen per person. We considered for just a while and went in. Had a great sauna and hot bath! During dinner, I couldn’t resist the beer that Hajime-san ordered and had one myself too!
After that, we relaxed at the rest area. I was pretty sleepy already, but did my name slips and updated my blog with one eye closed. If only we could sleep here till the next morning! The couch was so comfortable! I dozed off while switching off my laptop. When I was awake at 10 plus, Hajime-san said he was going for his 2nd round of onsen! I told him I would skip and continue my dream.
Just when I was in my deep sleep, the attendant woke me up at 11:30pm. It was half an hour before they were closed. We packed up and went to set up out tent outside a sheltered area. Hajime-san’s tent was really cool! He was done in minutes! He said his tent was 60,000yen! High-end made in Japan and 1.2kg only!! I was struggling with mine since it was the first time I set up on hard ground. Need to use the rope to hold the tent.
I had my supper although I wasn’t hungry. Just wanted to eat something. I bought a cold coffee yet again! Got to get another one and kept the cold one. After I was satisfied munching, I went to bed at 1am but could not fell asleep until late!
Tomorrow I planned for 12.3km only because I needed to clean my New Balance badly! I couldn’t walk with my Nikko for long!
Today, I met my 20km target with only an extra of 1.2km.
Temple 68 and 69 were together in the same place, about 5km away. I met Hajime-san again there, but he was on his way off when I just arrived. Today, I noticed some did the praying by singing! Some blew the pipe. The sound created by the pipe was the same sound that I heard on Day 7 (13th Nov) on my way to Temple 46 in the jungle.
At Temple 70, I met Hajime san again. He was going very slowly now, he said, because he was about to finish his pilgrimage soon in 5 to 6 days! He invited me to walk together. I had my tea break there and bought a cold coffee again from the vending machine!! Luckily the shop owner just next to it was kind enough for me to change it to a hot one instead!
So, Hajime-san and I walked to Temple 71 together which was about 11km away. Around lunch time, he said his friends were coming to have lunch with him and asked me to join along. He introduced his two pretty young girl friends, Tama-chan and Ai-chan! They drove all the way for an hour just to meet him for lunch! I bet Hajime-san is a famous guy! He was like a superstar in the Udon restaurant that we went to. The girls were taking pictures of him like they met their idol! =] After an hour of wonderful Udon meal, the ladies sent us back to the exact spot where they picked us up.
We moved on pretty slow for the rest of the day and stopped often. Once at the Lawson to get my breakfast and once at a 100 yen shop to get my rope (for the tent), needle and string (for my pant) and extra battery (for my headlight) and also a hair spray. The last one was initially not in the original list of items that I wanted. But for only 105yen, the luxury was well worth having!
Hajime-san and I chatted a lot. About food, music and what we usually do after work. I told him Japan has a lot of hair salons and beauty centers! He said Kagawa Prefecture has a lot of “ike” (lake)! And of course, he had told me before that Udon was very famous here too. There seemed to be one Udon restaurant after every 500m we walked!
My poor little toes! I should had probably got one shoe size bigger or not this Nikko altogether! After struggling for the last few steps, we finally reached the temple around 3:30pm. And only then did I realize I had a casualty again in my platoon! My backpack cover has slipped off somehow!! Sigh! I thought I could locate it on my way down but there was no luck! I reckoned by the time I finished my pilgrimage (if I really could), I might be naked!
On the way, we thought we saw a free lodging but it was locked. Hajime-san volunteered to have a look at the place again while I took care of the baggage. Looked like today was a camping day! There was an onsen just besides the park. It was 1050yen per person. We considered for just a while and went in. Had a great sauna and hot bath! During dinner, I couldn’t resist the beer that Hajime-san ordered and had one myself too!
After that, we relaxed at the rest area. I was pretty sleepy already, but did my name slips and updated my blog with one eye closed. If only we could sleep here till the next morning! The couch was so comfortable! I dozed off while switching off my laptop. When I was awake at 10 plus, Hajime-san said he was going for his 2nd round of onsen! I told him I would skip and continue my dream.
Just when I was in my deep sleep, the attendant woke me up at 11:30pm. It was half an hour before they were closed. We packed up and went to set up out tent outside a sheltered area. Hajime-san’s tent was really cool! He was done in minutes! He said his tent was 60,000yen! High-end made in Japan and 1.2kg only!! I was struggling with mine since it was the first time I set up on hard ground. Need to use the rope to hold the tent.
I had my supper although I wasn’t hungry. Just wanted to eat something. I bought a cold coffee yet again! Got to get another one and kept the cold one. After I was satisfied munching, I went to bed at 1am but could not fell asleep until late!
Tomorrow I planned for 12.3km only because I needed to clean my New Balance badly! I couldn’t walk with my Nikko for long!
Today, I met my 20km target with only an extra of 1.2km.
22nd Nov – Day 16, Temple 66 (Unpenji), Bangai 16 (Hagiwaraji), Temple 67 (Daikouji)
Today, I didn’t felt pure anymore. Our alarm rang at 6am together. As usual, I was the slowest and the rest were waiting for me in the car! The owner was sending us to the henro route. After 15 days on my foot, it was the first time I took a vehicle from one place to another! The ride was about 5minutes only. Somehow, I didn’t felt very good. I was thinking of being on the foot throughout the whole pilgrimage! I felt I should had declined the offer, but I could not react fast enough. I regretted being in the car. Like the Buddha said, in the previous henro story that I read, “Nothing is pure”
We reached the path to start the hike. The temple was 3.5km away. I was supposed to walk 6km more. It started to drizzle, but still wasn’t that bad. The hike up was just 1.5km, along the border of Tokushima and Kagawa Prefecture. The rest were up slope on tar road. So, my nightmare ended early. I thought I would expect another 1km of hike up! Around 2 hours, I reached the top at 911m. The highest temple of the 88.
The staff who gave me the stamp was really quick! Less than 15seconds, he was done! Then, Hajime-san, Kamada-san and I were checking out a pretty o-henro-san! After about half an hour, I bid them farewell. They were going to Temple 67, while I went my way to Bangai 16.
The down slope was one of the best I had. Flatter and lesser stones to avoid while landing my feet. I went down very quickly. Just another 15minutes before I reached, I couldn’t hold my urge any longer! And so, I did the unthinkable again in the wild! I moved a rock away and kept my “stuff” inside before I closed it up again using the same rock! While I was dressing up, I heard sounds from the ropeway and saw a cable car! I hoped they did not see what I was doing! I felt so much lighter after the “adventure”.
Today, I had a different sound to annoy me. My jacket was scraping the back of my bag! I decided to wash my shoe on the next laundry session! He has been doing great for me!
Bangai always gave me surprises! I was there according to the map, but just couldn’t see the temple. I almost walked in to a different road, until I asked someone driving in. I went to the car park again, but there wasn’t any sign. It was like playing hide and seek. I passed through a tunnel and reached some housing area. Tried to knock and ask for direction but no one answered. Then, I saw a car and quickly moved forward to enquire. Oh there was it, just on my right! When I left the temple, I realized I would see the sign if I walked just one tiny bit ahead more!
I smelled roasted pork at the temple! It started to rain when I was leaving. I put on my poncho, but forgotten about my shoe! The pouch belt was making my back very uncomfortable. I stopped by a shelter and hung it over my neck instead. It wasn’t a good idea. My baggage was very unhappy too. My shoes were all wet by now. And I was hot! I meant literally hot, with the raincoat on, even though it was raining! I stopped again at another shelter to tidy up my things. Finally I reached the Udon restaurant on the map and very happy to stop for lunch! The place was pretty interesting. You picked your own ingredient and cut it yourself! After lunch, I dozed off a few times trying to read my map! I was really tired.
I went off the henro track to a convenience store to get my dinner and breakfast, since there was nothing near the park, where I was going to camp later. After that, I followed the map to cut through and tried to join the henro path again, but got lost! Asked a couple of drivers but none of them knew where the temple was! After 45minutes of battle, I gave up and was on my way back to the convenient store to go back to where I came from. Half way through, I met the Americans!! They were actually following the sign and came to the same path as where I was! So, I joined them and we eventually managed to find the henro sign and backed on track.
I left the Americans at Temple 67. They were going all the way to the town, which were another hour from my park. I was too tired to walk further today. The rain got heavier. When I was almost at the park, I walked by a Udon restaurant and thought of having my dinner first, since it would be dark anyway by the time I reached the park. Unfortunately, it had already closed. But the owner was very kind and asked me in. She spoke some English and offered me two sushi rice and a cup of ocha. She asked if I like coffee too, but I promptly asked for leave. She gave me another drink and I gave her and her staff a name slips. Thanked the owner again with some direction from her and backed to the rain! On the way, I passed by a convenient store and saw seats available! No better place to have my dinner! I ate and then spent the next 3 hours there preparing my trip tomorrow, writing my name slips and updating my blog.
My guide book had became like a “salted fish” (badly crumpled in a Chinese phrase) due to the rain today. I didn’t felt like going to the park! It was warm and comfortable at the convenient store. I ate my supper and left reluctantly. Found the toilet and a good spot. Set up and slept immediately!
Today, I added 29.1km, but actually walked for 23.1km only due to the car ride! Based on the schedule from a fellow henro, who did the trail in 54days, I realized I had caught up with his plan by 1 day! Previously, I slipped two days behind.
We reached the path to start the hike. The temple was 3.5km away. I was supposed to walk 6km more. It started to drizzle, but still wasn’t that bad. The hike up was just 1.5km, along the border of Tokushima and Kagawa Prefecture. The rest were up slope on tar road. So, my nightmare ended early. I thought I would expect another 1km of hike up! Around 2 hours, I reached the top at 911m. The highest temple of the 88.
The staff who gave me the stamp was really quick! Less than 15seconds, he was done! Then, Hajime-san, Kamada-san and I were checking out a pretty o-henro-san! After about half an hour, I bid them farewell. They were going to Temple 67, while I went my way to Bangai 16.
The down slope was one of the best I had. Flatter and lesser stones to avoid while landing my feet. I went down very quickly. Just another 15minutes before I reached, I couldn’t hold my urge any longer! And so, I did the unthinkable again in the wild! I moved a rock away and kept my “stuff” inside before I closed it up again using the same rock! While I was dressing up, I heard sounds from the ropeway and saw a cable car! I hoped they did not see what I was doing! I felt so much lighter after the “adventure”.
Today, I had a different sound to annoy me. My jacket was scraping the back of my bag! I decided to wash my shoe on the next laundry session! He has been doing great for me!
Bangai always gave me surprises! I was there according to the map, but just couldn’t see the temple. I almost walked in to a different road, until I asked someone driving in. I went to the car park again, but there wasn’t any sign. It was like playing hide and seek. I passed through a tunnel and reached some housing area. Tried to knock and ask for direction but no one answered. Then, I saw a car and quickly moved forward to enquire. Oh there was it, just on my right! When I left the temple, I realized I would see the sign if I walked just one tiny bit ahead more!
I smelled roasted pork at the temple! It started to rain when I was leaving. I put on my poncho, but forgotten about my shoe! The pouch belt was making my back very uncomfortable. I stopped by a shelter and hung it over my neck instead. It wasn’t a good idea. My baggage was very unhappy too. My shoes were all wet by now. And I was hot! I meant literally hot, with the raincoat on, even though it was raining! I stopped again at another shelter to tidy up my things. Finally I reached the Udon restaurant on the map and very happy to stop for lunch! The place was pretty interesting. You picked your own ingredient and cut it yourself! After lunch, I dozed off a few times trying to read my map! I was really tired.
I went off the henro track to a convenience store to get my dinner and breakfast, since there was nothing near the park, where I was going to camp later. After that, I followed the map to cut through and tried to join the henro path again, but got lost! Asked a couple of drivers but none of them knew where the temple was! After 45minutes of battle, I gave up and was on my way back to the convenient store to go back to where I came from. Half way through, I met the Americans!! They were actually following the sign and came to the same path as where I was! So, I joined them and we eventually managed to find the henro sign and backed on track.
I left the Americans at Temple 67. They were going all the way to the town, which were another hour from my park. I was too tired to walk further today. The rain got heavier. When I was almost at the park, I walked by a Udon restaurant and thought of having my dinner first, since it would be dark anyway by the time I reached the park. Unfortunately, it had already closed. But the owner was very kind and asked me in. She spoke some English and offered me two sushi rice and a cup of ocha. She asked if I like coffee too, but I promptly asked for leave. She gave me another drink and I gave her and her staff a name slips. Thanked the owner again with some direction from her and backed to the rain! On the way, I passed by a convenient store and saw seats available! No better place to have my dinner! I ate and then spent the next 3 hours there preparing my trip tomorrow, writing my name slips and updating my blog.
My guide book had became like a “salted fish” (badly crumpled in a Chinese phrase) due to the rain today. I didn’t felt like going to the park! It was warm and comfortable at the convenient store. I ate my supper and left reluctantly. Found the toilet and a good spot. Set up and slept immediately!
Today, I added 29.1km, but actually walked for 23.1km only due to the car ride! Based on the schedule from a fellow henro, who did the trail in 54days, I realized I had caught up with his plan by 1 day! Previously, I slipped two days behind.
21st Nov – Day 15, Bangai 14 (Tsubakidou), Bangai 15 (Hashikuraji)
I managed to survive the night on the tiny bench without falling! Woke up early and set off around 6 plus! I passed by a henro rest hut. Something like the one I passed by on Day 7 (13th Nov) when I had my first rice cake (mochi) “o-settai”. Too bad there was no one around such early for me to get a treat again.
Bangai 14 was just nearby. I was surprised to receive an “o-settai” for the Temple stamp! The staff asked if I was walking the trail all the way, and gave me 2 more crackers! I thanked him a lot and left. For the next few hours, it was just following the Route 192 for 15km! Hence, my mind was able to wander off and just solely concentrating on walking! Today, I effectively left Ehime Prefecture (for the time being, since Temple 40 to 43 are in Ehime Prefecture) and crossed over to Tokushima Prefecture (for the time being, since Temple 67 to 88 are in Kagawa Prefecture)
After I went through a tunnel, I saw a sign indicating 6 degree at the moment. It was a chilly and misty morning. At around 10:30am, I passed by a Udon restaurant and couldn’t resist after checking out the display menu. After that, I met two white cyclists, who greeted me in Japanese! Before that, many of the Japanese thought I was one of them too. Some of them commented that I looked like one.
After 4 days without shower, I started to yearn for a hot bath today. So, I called up two places to consider and both of them met my rule of 3000yen and below!! The Youth Hostel was 3km off the way though they had internet access. I thought I should be sleeping out more often while it was still not winter yet, but the smell on my body pointed me to go for the other called Tabibito-yado instead.
On the way, I saw a bus stop with even blankets and bed sheets! Probably for henro, but it was locked. Saw Mac Donald paper bag and craved for some hot fries suddenly! It started to get sunny at 11 plus and so I took of my jacket. Met a dog that looks like Meiseiji! Felt very sleepy and tired already.
Just before I reached the temple entrance, I saw cable cars on ropeway high above! There was even a round trip service for henro at 1500yen! I was worrying for the worst! At the entrance, I saw the 1.8km sign. No doubt, it was tough. On the way up, I got a cracker and 2 sweets as “o-settai”. I gave the guy a name slip. He seemed very excited that I was an Asian foreigner! After around 45minutes hiked up, I thought I was there when I reached the car park. But, there was more. There was a huge gate that followed, and I felt like playing video games and reached the final stage to fight the boss! The big boss was steps, many many steps! As least a few hundreds! I heard many people were trying to count. On my way down, I tried to as well, but after a few “Konnichiwa”, I lost count and gave up. The Bangai was huge! Perhaps, the biggest among them! After praying, I called up the lodging to confirm and told the owner I would only be able to reach around 6pm. It was 3:30pm then. On the way down, I met a guy and 3 women who gave me many many sweets. I didn’t have any name slips left for the day. While they were walking, I managed to write 4 of them very quickly and rushed over to pass them the slips. They thanked me instead!
I hurried to the convenient store to get my dinner and breakfast, and then dashed my way to the lodging! It was 8km away and I almost flied there. Was really glad that my shoulders and legs were very cooperative! It was the second time I walked in the dark. I managed to reach around 6:20pm after searching 20minutes for the place. I asked one of the shop owner, who didn’t even know there was such a lodging in front of her shop just 30 seconds walk away! I was almost about to turn back when I hit the junction, which was not mentioned in the map. Luckily, I moved on slightly further up! While I was on my way, I had been dreaming if there would be a hot dinner waiting for me, because I told the owner I was a henro! In fact, it really came true!! But, of course, it was not especially for me. There were two other Japanese henro as well there and one of them was Hajime-san!!! We laughed when I met him at the door! They had started and I quickly joined them. The dinner was great! The other henro was 64-years-old Kamada-san, whom I thought was one of the owners too, during the meal! The owner offered some of the Asahi beer and it tasted exceptionally great then!
After a superb dinner, I went for my long hot shower I had been hungered for. Not long later, the owner brought in a big bottle of sake for all of us! Then, he brought in some really nice cold pork slice in soy sauce and chili powder! We chatted and laughed. Kamada-san became my translator this round. 30 years ago, he worked in Germany for many years and spoke English often then. Kamada-san said I was rare! Probably because I was doing this pilgrimage. I asked if it was “crazy” instead =] The owner kept clashing his glass with mine to invite me to drink faster! After we finished the 1.8litre, the owner brought in again another bottle of higher quality sake! But, luckily it was only a few glasses left. We drank until 10 plus, and slept at 11pm.
Today, I achieved another 30plus km at 33.1km! Whenever Bangai was involved, the trip would be longer!
Bangai 14 was just nearby. I was surprised to receive an “o-settai” for the Temple stamp! The staff asked if I was walking the trail all the way, and gave me 2 more crackers! I thanked him a lot and left. For the next few hours, it was just following the Route 192 for 15km! Hence, my mind was able to wander off and just solely concentrating on walking! Today, I effectively left Ehime Prefecture (for the time being, since Temple 40 to 43 are in Ehime Prefecture) and crossed over to Tokushima Prefecture (for the time being, since Temple 67 to 88 are in Kagawa Prefecture)
After I went through a tunnel, I saw a sign indicating 6 degree at the moment. It was a chilly and misty morning. At around 10:30am, I passed by a Udon restaurant and couldn’t resist after checking out the display menu. After that, I met two white cyclists, who greeted me in Japanese! Before that, many of the Japanese thought I was one of them too. Some of them commented that I looked like one.
After 4 days without shower, I started to yearn for a hot bath today. So, I called up two places to consider and both of them met my rule of 3000yen and below!! The Youth Hostel was 3km off the way though they had internet access. I thought I should be sleeping out more often while it was still not winter yet, but the smell on my body pointed me to go for the other called Tabibito-yado instead.
On the way, I saw a bus stop with even blankets and bed sheets! Probably for henro, but it was locked. Saw Mac Donald paper bag and craved for some hot fries suddenly! It started to get sunny at 11 plus and so I took of my jacket. Met a dog that looks like Meiseiji! Felt very sleepy and tired already.
Just before I reached the temple entrance, I saw cable cars on ropeway high above! There was even a round trip service for henro at 1500yen! I was worrying for the worst! At the entrance, I saw the 1.8km sign. No doubt, it was tough. On the way up, I got a cracker and 2 sweets as “o-settai”. I gave the guy a name slip. He seemed very excited that I was an Asian foreigner! After around 45minutes hiked up, I thought I was there when I reached the car park. But, there was more. There was a huge gate that followed, and I felt like playing video games and reached the final stage to fight the boss! The big boss was steps, many many steps! As least a few hundreds! I heard many people were trying to count. On my way down, I tried to as well, but after a few “Konnichiwa”, I lost count and gave up. The Bangai was huge! Perhaps, the biggest among them! After praying, I called up the lodging to confirm and told the owner I would only be able to reach around 6pm. It was 3:30pm then. On the way down, I met a guy and 3 women who gave me many many sweets. I didn’t have any name slips left for the day. While they were walking, I managed to write 4 of them very quickly and rushed over to pass them the slips. They thanked me instead!
I hurried to the convenient store to get my dinner and breakfast, and then dashed my way to the lodging! It was 8km away and I almost flied there. Was really glad that my shoulders and legs were very cooperative! It was the second time I walked in the dark. I managed to reach around 6:20pm after searching 20minutes for the place. I asked one of the shop owner, who didn’t even know there was such a lodging in front of her shop just 30 seconds walk away! I was almost about to turn back when I hit the junction, which was not mentioned in the map. Luckily, I moved on slightly further up! While I was on my way, I had been dreaming if there would be a hot dinner waiting for me, because I told the owner I was a henro! In fact, it really came true!! But, of course, it was not especially for me. There were two other Japanese henro as well there and one of them was Hajime-san!!! We laughed when I met him at the door! They had started and I quickly joined them. The dinner was great! The other henro was 64-years-old Kamada-san, whom I thought was one of the owners too, during the meal! The owner offered some of the Asahi beer and it tasted exceptionally great then!
After a superb dinner, I went for my long hot shower I had been hungered for. Not long later, the owner brought in a big bottle of sake for all of us! Then, he brought in some really nice cold pork slice in soy sauce and chili powder! We chatted and laughed. Kamada-san became my translator this round. 30 years ago, he worked in Germany for many years and spoke English often then. Kamada-san said I was rare! Probably because I was doing this pilgrimage. I asked if it was “crazy” instead =] The owner kept clashing his glass with mine to invite me to drink faster! After we finished the 1.8litre, the owner brought in again another bottle of higher quality sake! But, luckily it was only a few glasses left. We drank until 10 plus, and slept at 11pm.
Today, I achieved another 30plus km at 33.1km! Whenever Bangai was involved, the trip would be longer!
20th Nov- Day 14, Bangai 12 (Enmeiji), Temple 65 (Sankakuji), Bangai 13 (Senryuoji)
I set my alarm at 5:45am but couldn’t hear it. Luckily I was awoken by the temple bell at 6am. After breakfast, I just pop over to the Bangai, where I slept last night, to pray. At about 7:39am, I moved on. Today, I decided to give my brother a name, and what would be better other than “Ah Wing”. “德吾德啊，阿WING!” (Are you ok, ah Wing?)
It was more tar road again today. An hour later, I stopped to apply tape on my feet. Forgotten to do it this morning. After 2 hours, my right back was weak. Need to buck up my defence. Sorry, thought of soccer when I mentioned “right back” (a defender position in soccer). Perhaps, my smash was too strong and caused long term injury. Sorry again, thought of badminton now!
Today, it was already sunny and hot by 9 plus! I was thinking it would make it twice the tougher if I was walking in hot sun during summer! At some path, I smelt really nice ginger! I had another usage for my deodorant! On my smelly feet!! Then, at a junction, I heard siren and a police car was coming towards me. Luckily they were not for me!
Soon, I reached the last convenience store along the way. And yes, it was Circle-K! The staff said “Please use the toilet!” I found out that Circle-K was actually originated from North America and have thousands of outlets abroad, including Japan. After filling up my water, I left. But came back shortly when I remembered there was nothing else ahead for the rest of the day! I had my lunch and bought some bread for tea break later. After a few days, I was back in t-shirt again and kept my jacket well this time to make sure it will not slipped off!
On the way, I saw many caterpillars crossing the street! Many didn’t make it! Then, half an hour before I reached the top of Temple 65, I had the urge again! Couldn’t possibly do the unmanly thing again, I held on for like half an hour!! I had to keep breathing in deep and could not stop for rest.
At Temple 65, I met a henro dog! The owner was bringing it around! By now, I knew I had forgotten to get my dinner and breakfast tomorrow! I skipped my tea break, but finished off all my chocolates. There was no food around at Temple 65. Hoping Bangai 13 would have, I continued my journey. The path seemed different from the one showed on the map! It was supposed to be 2.0km of uphill followed by 2.1km of downhill! Instead, I was walking on tar road again! Perhaps, the temple staff thought I was driving when he gave me the direction. I reached somewhere where I should be passing by on my way away from the Bangai 13! But, surprisingly, there were still henro signs! The road was like never ending. There wasn’t any car after more than half an hour! Luckily it was going down slope all the way! After an hour or so, I reached a junction but there was no sign. A car happened to stopped by as well. But, they were lost too and were asking me for direction! I took one of the roads and saw a henro sign. I believed that was the way, since the car was coming from the other, while I was from another. I went back to tell the old woman in the car, but the driver (probably her husband) wasn’t quite interested. They took the same path eventually and drove passed me.
It was another long long walk. I wondered why it was always tough to go to the Bangai! I wasn’t worried at all anymore, about arriving late, about getting dark or a finding place to stay. When you were already sleeping on a bench in the hut, there was nothing much to be worried about anymore. Perhaps, food for now!! I already started thinking of what I had at the moment and rationing in my mind what I should eat later for dinner and breakfast tomorrow! Finally, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel when the sign said 1km away! It took me 2 hours to reach the temple.
The Main and Daishi halls were inside a building! Same as another temple but I had forgotten which. I asked the staff if there were restaurant or food selling around, even though I knew the chances were close to none! Very fortunately, the staff passed me some bread! I thanked her very much and gave her a name slip. Later at the toilet, I met a couple who gave me 2 mandarin oranges as “o-settai” as well. I gave them a name slip too. There was a reason why Hajime-san said it was rule and we should always accept “o-settai”. It was like doing the giver a favour as well, who may not be able to complete the pilgrimage themselves but through “o-settai”, it was kind of signifying that the receiving henro would be doing it for them!
It was 4:18pm already and luckily I did not need to follow the same path that I came from. It would be disaster going uphill for 1 hours plus! Anyway, the other way was only slightly better off. After an hour of struggle, I finally reached the tunnel. It became so quiet at one point in time that I could only hear the annoying cracking sounds made by my shoe! Then, I was trying to look at my watch, I almost trip and hurt my back! After the tunnel, it was another 30 minutes walk in the dark! My first night walk for the trail! But the moon was very bright tonight and light up the road! I also occasionally turned on my small lamp and the traffic signals and signs at the side of the road were all blinking, like Christmas lights!
Finally, I reached the hut to stay for the night and met the two Americans again! We thought the bus stop was the hut, because we couldn’t find the toilet. They set up the tent nearby and I had my dinner. I checked the map again and soon found it! There were even power plugs in the hut!! I spread the good news to the Americans. I cleaned up and they came over shortly to cook. They were very nice to share their dinner with me too. I felt bad for having nothing to share, I volunteered to clean the dishes. Jared and Mason were only 23, from San Diego, California. They were teaching English in Taiwan! We found out that both of us were planning to take the ferry to Shanghai after this pilgrimage! But they would be travelling from Osaka and much earlier too. We exchanged contact. After dinner, they went back to their tents. I went to bed (bench, I meant) around 11pm, when I failed to keep my eyes opened even thought I was left with just the last bit of today’s blog to update.
It was more tar road again today. An hour later, I stopped to apply tape on my feet. Forgotten to do it this morning. After 2 hours, my right back was weak. Need to buck up my defence. Sorry, thought of soccer when I mentioned “right back” (a defender position in soccer). Perhaps, my smash was too strong and caused long term injury. Sorry again, thought of badminton now!
Today, it was already sunny and hot by 9 plus! I was thinking it would make it twice the tougher if I was walking in hot sun during summer! At some path, I smelt really nice ginger! I had another usage for my deodorant! On my smelly feet!! Then, at a junction, I heard siren and a police car was coming towards me. Luckily they were not for me!
Soon, I reached the last convenience store along the way. And yes, it was Circle-K! The staff said “Please use the toilet!” I found out that Circle-K was actually originated from North America and have thousands of outlets abroad, including Japan. After filling up my water, I left. But came back shortly when I remembered there was nothing else ahead for the rest of the day! I had my lunch and bought some bread for tea break later. After a few days, I was back in t-shirt again and kept my jacket well this time to make sure it will not slipped off!
On the way, I saw many caterpillars crossing the street! Many didn’t make it! Then, half an hour before I reached the top of Temple 65, I had the urge again! Couldn’t possibly do the unmanly thing again, I held on for like half an hour!! I had to keep breathing in deep and could not stop for rest.
At Temple 65, I met a henro dog! The owner was bringing it around! By now, I knew I had forgotten to get my dinner and breakfast tomorrow! I skipped my tea break, but finished off all my chocolates. There was no food around at Temple 65. Hoping Bangai 13 would have, I continued my journey. The path seemed different from the one showed on the map! It was supposed to be 2.0km of uphill followed by 2.1km of downhill! Instead, I was walking on tar road again! Perhaps, the temple staff thought I was driving when he gave me the direction. I reached somewhere where I should be passing by on my way away from the Bangai 13! But, surprisingly, there were still henro signs! The road was like never ending. There wasn’t any car after more than half an hour! Luckily it was going down slope all the way! After an hour or so, I reached a junction but there was no sign. A car happened to stopped by as well. But, they were lost too and were asking me for direction! I took one of the roads and saw a henro sign. I believed that was the way, since the car was coming from the other, while I was from another. I went back to tell the old woman in the car, but the driver (probably her husband) wasn’t quite interested. They took the same path eventually and drove passed me.
It was another long long walk. I wondered why it was always tough to go to the Bangai! I wasn’t worried at all anymore, about arriving late, about getting dark or a finding place to stay. When you were already sleeping on a bench in the hut, there was nothing much to be worried about anymore. Perhaps, food for now!! I already started thinking of what I had at the moment and rationing in my mind what I should eat later for dinner and breakfast tomorrow! Finally, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel when the sign said 1km away! It took me 2 hours to reach the temple.
The Main and Daishi halls were inside a building! Same as another temple but I had forgotten which. I asked the staff if there were restaurant or food selling around, even though I knew the chances were close to none! Very fortunately, the staff passed me some bread! I thanked her very much and gave her a name slip. Later at the toilet, I met a couple who gave me 2 mandarin oranges as “o-settai” as well. I gave them a name slip too. There was a reason why Hajime-san said it was rule and we should always accept “o-settai”. It was like doing the giver a favour as well, who may not be able to complete the pilgrimage themselves but through “o-settai”, it was kind of signifying that the receiving henro would be doing it for them!
It was 4:18pm already and luckily I did not need to follow the same path that I came from. It would be disaster going uphill for 1 hours plus! Anyway, the other way was only slightly better off. After an hour of struggle, I finally reached the tunnel. It became so quiet at one point in time that I could only hear the annoying cracking sounds made by my shoe! Then, I was trying to look at my watch, I almost trip and hurt my back! After the tunnel, it was another 30 minutes walk in the dark! My first night walk for the trail! But the moon was very bright tonight and light up the road! I also occasionally turned on my small lamp and the traffic signals and signs at the side of the road were all blinking, like Christmas lights!
Finally, I reached the hut to stay for the night and met the two Americans again! We thought the bus stop was the hut, because we couldn’t find the toilet. They set up the tent nearby and I had my dinner. I checked the map again and soon found it! There were even power plugs in the hut!! I spread the good news to the Americans. I cleaned up and they came over shortly to cook. They were very nice to share their dinner with me too. I felt bad for having nothing to share, I volunteered to clean the dishes. Jared and Mason were only 23, from San Diego, California. They were teaching English in Taiwan! We found out that both of us were planning to take the ferry to Shanghai after this pilgrimage! But they would be travelling from Osaka and much earlier too. We exchanged contact. After dinner, they went back to their tents. I went to bed (bench, I meant) around 11pm, when I failed to keep my eyes opened even thought I was left with just the last bit of today’s blog to update.
19th Nov – Day 13, Temple 63 (Kichijouji), Temple 64 (Maegamiji)
My alarm was supposed to be 5am, but I woke up at 6:30am. Getting slacker in the morning. Packed up and looked for a vending machine to have my breakfast with a hot coffee. Sometimes, the vending machines had promotion on certain drinks. Mine this morning didn’t have any. On the way, I met Shinya-san. He was on his way to Temple 64. He mentioned he would walk 30km today. We wished each other best of luck.
The first stop was Temple 63 which was just 800m away from my camp. After that, I had to go back to the same path where I set up my tent. Then, I realized I had forgotten to take a picture of it yet again! During the evening, it was always dark after the tent was set up. In the morning, I had always been “kelam kabut” (Malay for busy in a clumsy way). Looks like I needed to tent more often.
On the way to Temple 64, I saw a house with Yumi-san surname. Usually the first hour of the day was tougher. Perhaps, still sleepy and the shoulder had not adjusted well yet. Or perhaps, I had forgotten to warm up today. Temple 64 had three masters to write the temple stamps! Perhaps, it was a popular temple. Also seemed to notice many of the temples were renovating too. I just beat the crowd and managed to get my stamp before a big group of tour henro came in. Did my warm up and left. It was still 9:40am.
Temple 65 was more 40km away. My plan was to cover 20km today and camp at a good site with a convenient store and restaurants nearby. The rest of the day would be walking with cars along the road. Saw a restaurant with 290yen only meal, but it was just 10 plus and too early for my lunch! I was grateful that it had been great weather so far. By 10, it would get sunny and hot most of the time.
Today I had decided to go back to Shanghai after my pilgrimage in order to have some great beers and treat my legs well with a good massage! I figured out that walking with a big baggage was all about adjusting yourself to a comfortable position. Once the position got uneasy, it was time to shift to another position. And by the time you had run out of positions, it was time to take a break and the cycle continued again after the short rest!
At around 11 plus, I passed by a ramen shop and stopped to have my lunch. So glad I did. It was a really big bowl and the soup was very different from the ramen I had so far. It was one of the oiliest I had, with lots and lots of shredded spring onions and celery. And the pork slice was the best. It was so soft that I thought it was beef. I saw they had even bigger bowl!!
After lunch, I noticed I had covered quite a distance indeed, since I was walking pretty fast. I noticed a free lodging recommended by Hajime-san and drawn on my map. I called them up and it was really a free lodging. I told the owner that I would only reached around 5:30pm because I was some 20km away! Knowing that I would have a sheltered lodging pumped me up! For the next two hours, I did not lift my head up much. Just concentrating on the road and the weight of my baggage and kept walking! Then, suddenly I started to hear some annoying sound every time I walked, but couldn’t work out where it came from! I thought it was caused by my right leg.
After 2 hours, I was pretty tired and didn’t feel like walking at all. There were still 2.5 hours to go. I stopped by a convenient store to pee and filled up my water bottle. I was struggling for the next stop to have my tea break. When I was almost there, I saw a henro sign and followed that for some distance, only to find out it was going to a different path that didn’t pass by the town where my lodging was! In fact, it was a guy in a car who stopped me from going further! Somehow he knew I was going the wrong way!! And so, I had to go back to where I came from and wasted half an hour or so of my energy! But on the way back, I saw a huge monkey crossing the field from one side to the other side of the jungle!
Once I was on the right way, I stopped to have my bread when I spotted a vending machine to get a hot coffee. As I was slotting in the coins, I noticed this machine had a promotion for half price!! I pressed the button so fast, like I was worried it will disappear! Then, I saw another same button up there and wondered why they needed another one when there were already two at the bottom. When I bended down to pick up my drink, I understood the purpose of the top button immediately.
After my break, it was 4:10pm and got cold already. The cold coffee made me colder. Still another one and half hours to go. Every step I walked was like having thousands of needles poking at the bottom of my feet! Finally, almost exactly at 5:30pm, I reached the train station where the lodging was supposed to be! I made the call again but alas!! The owner told me it was a different train station some 5km away!! Sigh! “Didn’t your mother teach you to ask and confirm first?”! Surprisingly, I wasn’t too disappointed instead. I had been used to camping by now! I was trying to get my bag in the station. There was a group of 16-years-old students in their uniform looking curiously at me with a huge backpack. One of them was teasing me. She even poked my face with her finger as well! I was harassed!! Then, another seemed to the leader among them was trying to tell me something. I asked her if there was any coin laundry nearby. She sat down next to me to try and draw a map. The girl who poked me teased her for sitting too close. She quieted her and continued drawing as she explained. Not satisfied with her map, she tried to draw another one, but another student told her that it was on her way home and she could bring me there instead. Then, I asked if there was any bath house around. The leader said it was just a few train stations away. And, the girl, who poked me, eagerly suggested if I needed her to bring me there. She said “together”?! Of course I declined professionally and thanked them very much. The train soon came and they dispersed. The girl who brought me to the coin laundry was Naomi-chan. She was pushing her bike to guide me there. She said school was tough and they usually started at 8:20am to around 3pm. It was just a 10minutes walk. I thanked her very much.
At the laundry, there were power sockets and free wifi access too!! I realized I had only a 5000yen note and had to get it changed from a nearby convenient store. I got my dinner and breakfast. I thought maybe I could even spend the night there! After my meal, I was trying to clean up myself and changed to a new set of clothing so that I could wash those I was wearing as well. Soon when I was just about to start my laundry, a man came in and showed me a badge! He was a policeman!! I was stunned. He said I could not take my bath here. It was for laundry only. I guessed the CCTV captured me changing my clothes. I apologized but he still asked for my passport and copied down my name and date of birth and wrote “Singapore” in Japanese. Then, he refrained me from using the power plug too. And, he observed me all the way to make sure I was really doing my laundry. Then, he cautioned me that I must leave after the laundry, and could not sleep there. He left shortly but came back like 10minutes later to make sure I didn’t use the power plug! So, I obediently waited there for 50minutes, still feeling stunned and wondering where I should go later. I supposed I could not camp today, since I mentioned camping and he warned that it was not allowed in the area! When I was done with the laundry, I was worried the policeman will follow me to make sure I had a lodging. Luckily he didn’t. I went to make a couple of calls for accommodation, but one was full and the other no answer. I passed by a lodging but it was too expensive. So, I went to the temple and slept on the bench at the hut around 10pm, still feeling stunned!
Today, the laundry was really expensive at 900yen! Perhaps, it came with wifi and a special visit from the Police Task Force! I covered 31.8km, thanks to the “somewhere-else-free-lodging”.
The first stop was Temple 63 which was just 800m away from my camp. After that, I had to go back to the same path where I set up my tent. Then, I realized I had forgotten to take a picture of it yet again! During the evening, it was always dark after the tent was set up. In the morning, I had always been “kelam kabut” (Malay for busy in a clumsy way). Looks like I needed to tent more often.
On the way to Temple 64, I saw a house with Yumi-san surname. Usually the first hour of the day was tougher. Perhaps, still sleepy and the shoulder had not adjusted well yet. Or perhaps, I had forgotten to warm up today. Temple 64 had three masters to write the temple stamps! Perhaps, it was a popular temple. Also seemed to notice many of the temples were renovating too. I just beat the crowd and managed to get my stamp before a big group of tour henro came in. Did my warm up and left. It was still 9:40am.
Temple 65 was more 40km away. My plan was to cover 20km today and camp at a good site with a convenient store and restaurants nearby. The rest of the day would be walking with cars along the road. Saw a restaurant with 290yen only meal, but it was just 10 plus and too early for my lunch! I was grateful that it had been great weather so far. By 10, it would get sunny and hot most of the time.
Today I had decided to go back to Shanghai after my pilgrimage in order to have some great beers and treat my legs well with a good massage! I figured out that walking with a big baggage was all about adjusting yourself to a comfortable position. Once the position got uneasy, it was time to shift to another position. And by the time you had run out of positions, it was time to take a break and the cycle continued again after the short rest!
At around 11 plus, I passed by a ramen shop and stopped to have my lunch. So glad I did. It was a really big bowl and the soup was very different from the ramen I had so far. It was one of the oiliest I had, with lots and lots of shredded spring onions and celery. And the pork slice was the best. It was so soft that I thought it was beef. I saw they had even bigger bowl!!
After lunch, I noticed I had covered quite a distance indeed, since I was walking pretty fast. I noticed a free lodging recommended by Hajime-san and drawn on my map. I called them up and it was really a free lodging. I told the owner that I would only reached around 5:30pm because I was some 20km away! Knowing that I would have a sheltered lodging pumped me up! For the next two hours, I did not lift my head up much. Just concentrating on the road and the weight of my baggage and kept walking! Then, suddenly I started to hear some annoying sound every time I walked, but couldn’t work out where it came from! I thought it was caused by my right leg.
After 2 hours, I was pretty tired and didn’t feel like walking at all. There were still 2.5 hours to go. I stopped by a convenient store to pee and filled up my water bottle. I was struggling for the next stop to have my tea break. When I was almost there, I saw a henro sign and followed that for some distance, only to find out it was going to a different path that didn’t pass by the town where my lodging was! In fact, it was a guy in a car who stopped me from going further! Somehow he knew I was going the wrong way!! And so, I had to go back to where I came from and wasted half an hour or so of my energy! But on the way back, I saw a huge monkey crossing the field from one side to the other side of the jungle!
Once I was on the right way, I stopped to have my bread when I spotted a vending machine to get a hot coffee. As I was slotting in the coins, I noticed this machine had a promotion for half price!! I pressed the button so fast, like I was worried it will disappear! Then, I saw another same button up there and wondered why they needed another one when there were already two at the bottom. When I bended down to pick up my drink, I understood the purpose of the top button immediately.
After my break, it was 4:10pm and got cold already. The cold coffee made me colder. Still another one and half hours to go. Every step I walked was like having thousands of needles poking at the bottom of my feet! Finally, almost exactly at 5:30pm, I reached the train station where the lodging was supposed to be! I made the call again but alas!! The owner told me it was a different train station some 5km away!! Sigh! “Didn’t your mother teach you to ask and confirm first?”! Surprisingly, I wasn’t too disappointed instead. I had been used to camping by now! I was trying to get my bag in the station. There was a group of 16-years-old students in their uniform looking curiously at me with a huge backpack. One of them was teasing me. She even poked my face with her finger as well! I was harassed!! Then, another seemed to the leader among them was trying to tell me something. I asked her if there was any coin laundry nearby. She sat down next to me to try and draw a map. The girl who poked me teased her for sitting too close. She quieted her and continued drawing as she explained. Not satisfied with her map, she tried to draw another one, but another student told her that it was on her way home and she could bring me there instead. Then, I asked if there was any bath house around. The leader said it was just a few train stations away. And, the girl, who poked me, eagerly suggested if I needed her to bring me there. She said “together”?! Of course I declined professionally and thanked them very much. The train soon came and they dispersed. The girl who brought me to the coin laundry was Naomi-chan. She was pushing her bike to guide me there. She said school was tough and they usually started at 8:20am to around 3pm. It was just a 10minutes walk. I thanked her very much.
At the laundry, there were power sockets and free wifi access too!! I realized I had only a 5000yen note and had to get it changed from a nearby convenient store. I got my dinner and breakfast. I thought maybe I could even spend the night there! After my meal, I was trying to clean up myself and changed to a new set of clothing so that I could wash those I was wearing as well. Soon when I was just about to start my laundry, a man came in and showed me a badge! He was a policeman!! I was stunned. He said I could not take my bath here. It was for laundry only. I guessed the CCTV captured me changing my clothes. I apologized but he still asked for my passport and copied down my name and date of birth and wrote “Singapore” in Japanese. Then, he refrained me from using the power plug too. And, he observed me all the way to make sure I was really doing my laundry. Then, he cautioned me that I must leave after the laundry, and could not sleep there. He left shortly but came back like 10minutes later to make sure I didn’t use the power plug! So, I obediently waited there for 50minutes, still feeling stunned and wondering where I should go later. I supposed I could not camp today, since I mentioned camping and he warned that it was not allowed in the area! When I was done with the laundry, I was worried the policeman will follow me to make sure I had a lodging. Luckily he didn’t. I went to make a couple of calls for accommodation, but one was full and the other no answer. I passed by a lodging but it was too expensive. So, I went to the temple and slept on the bench at the hut around 10pm, still feeling stunned!
Today, the laundry was really expensive at 900yen! Perhaps, it came with wifi and a special visit from the Police Task Force! I covered 31.8km, thanks to the “somewhere-else-free-lodging”.
18th Nov – Day 12, Bangai 11 (Ikiki Jizo), Temple 60 to 62 (Yokomineji, Kouonji, Houjuji)
Looked like sleeping out was difficult to wake up too. Since I slept so late last night, I tried to set two alarms at 5:30am and 6:30am. It was very cold last night, but I still managed to catch some sleep. I woke up just before the 2nd alarm was about to ring. This morning, I was glad the tent was pretty dry. I guessed there was lesser moisture at lower area. My general wound was not fully recovered. In fact, I had just aggravated it but still had it on for the day!
I used up my laptop battery last night and also didn’t get to charge my iPhone. I had 300+ unread messages on my Yak (works like WhatsApp, Msn etc for iPhone), and thought of reading them. After reading some craps from my fellow friends for 20minutes and 12% of my battery, I still could not finish! But it was fun and they charged me up for the day! After some warm up, I took off at 8:30am.
First stop was Bangai 11, which was just a stone throw away from my camp. Next was Temple 60 which was some 10km away. I learned something during this pilgrimage that when there was no henro sign, it would mean go straight! It reminded me of a friend whom I had asked for direction while I was driving. She would say “If nothing is said, it would mean go straight!” Then, I saw aliens descending from outer space! The sky was covered with clouds except 2 holes and the view of the sunlight shining through them was devastating!
I walked and walked and then rested at the side of a highway. A lady stopped her car and passed me a drink. I thanked her and wanted to give a name slip, but she insisted it was ok and left. It was amazing how short rest could help. I remembered a phrase from my friends. They always said “Rest in order to go a farther road!” I literally understood the meaning now. Then, I saw a monkey along the way, but it went into the jungle as soon as I took out my camera. After a while, it was time for a stop again. I finished off my chocolate. Next, the tough part began. A 2.2km of pure upslope to 800m above sea level!!! I met Shinya-san from Saitama along the way. I took me more than hour to reach the top after almost running out of breath! Had to make 2 stops along the way, to fill up oxygen and rest my legs. A walking henro told me about the sign which mentioned Temple 60 was not listed as one with the toughest route. He was smilingly complaining how that could be and even went to ask the master in the temple, who didn’t have the answer for him as well.
At the top, it was very cold. The temple staff who young. He asked if I was a student! I told him I was already 35. He said he was the same! And then, he gave me a cake after he asked if I was walking the trail. I did not offer my name slip. Perhaps, it was not necessary, just like the charm from Temple 55. After my praying, I met Shinya-san again. He was about to leave but he stayed a while to chat with me. I had my lunch there. Shinya-san was 28 and he worked as postman, fireman and others! He mentioned a term in Japanese, but I couldn’t remember what it was. Then, he looked at my Stamp book and said “steal”. I said, “No, I didn’t”. He said again with a “stealing” action! I affirmed him that “No, I bought it”. Later, I realized he was trying to tell me to take care of the Stamp Book because others would steal it! Shinya-san was a funny guy and laugh hysterically. He took pictures and even exchanged one of our bread! After he left, I was still around trying to retrieve my portable iPhone charger which was deep inside my backpack. Charge my iPhone for a while and took some pictures. I spent too long a time up there and left after an hour plus.
After what I had experience just now, I so like down slope! But 8km of downhill was no fun at all! It was like never ending! Came to a path with beautiful scenery and was cracking my head if I should take out my Lumix. I took a few with my iPhone in the end. Later, I found a convenient place to keep my Lumix on the left pocket of my Uniglo jacket. Soon, I was like a photographer. Walked a few steps and then took a few photos. Then, I reached a corner which looked like one I had been through before. Kind of those deejavu feeling. Finally, I completed the 8km labyrinth and started walking on tar road again. There was still 2.5km away to Temple 61! I wondered if I could make it to Temple 62 as planned. Luckily, I was just on time! Had to do praying without incense at Temple 62, because there was no candle with fire anymore and lighter was not sold. I guess they were preparing to close. I went to the male toilet and saw an interesting sign. “Female is not allowed to urinate here!” The sign was right in front of me when I was aiming at the urinal!!
It was around 4:30pm and started to get very cold already. I was too hungry and had my dinner first at the Lawson convenient store up ahead. After that, I was thinking if I should call to get a sheltered lodging. So, I walked towards the train station to look a public phone, which was on the way to the toilet marked on the guide map as well. I was indecisive again and went to the toilet site instead. Found out it was actually a small park! Just nice for setting up a camp. It wasn’t cold suddenly, and so I had my tent up and prepared to go back to the konbini. I asked if I could sit on the floor and use the power plug. Initially, the staff was ok, but an hour later, she came back to chase me away. So, I had to buy my breakfast and left. I came into a rice cleaning station and saw a power plug with light source as well! So, I happily typed my blog and charge my phone as well, only to find out 15minutes later that the power plug actually didn’t work! So I went back to my camp, cleaned up and slept at 10pm. The wind was strong, but my tent was tough and protected me well.
Today, I was just glad to meet my target with 22.3km.
I used up my laptop battery last night and also didn’t get to charge my iPhone. I had 300+ unread messages on my Yak (works like WhatsApp, Msn etc for iPhone), and thought of reading them. After reading some craps from my fellow friends for 20minutes and 12% of my battery, I still could not finish! But it was fun and they charged me up for the day! After some warm up, I took off at 8:30am.
First stop was Bangai 11, which was just a stone throw away from my camp. Next was Temple 60 which was some 10km away. I learned something during this pilgrimage that when there was no henro sign, it would mean go straight! It reminded me of a friend whom I had asked for direction while I was driving. She would say “If nothing is said, it would mean go straight!” Then, I saw aliens descending from outer space! The sky was covered with clouds except 2 holes and the view of the sunlight shining through them was devastating!
I walked and walked and then rested at the side of a highway. A lady stopped her car and passed me a drink. I thanked her and wanted to give a name slip, but she insisted it was ok and left. It was amazing how short rest could help. I remembered a phrase from my friends. They always said “Rest in order to go a farther road!” I literally understood the meaning now. Then, I saw a monkey along the way, but it went into the jungle as soon as I took out my camera. After a while, it was time for a stop again. I finished off my chocolate. Next, the tough part began. A 2.2km of pure upslope to 800m above sea level!!! I met Shinya-san from Saitama along the way. I took me more than hour to reach the top after almost running out of breath! Had to make 2 stops along the way, to fill up oxygen and rest my legs. A walking henro told me about the sign which mentioned Temple 60 was not listed as one with the toughest route. He was smilingly complaining how that could be and even went to ask the master in the temple, who didn’t have the answer for him as well.
At the top, it was very cold. The temple staff who young. He asked if I was a student! I told him I was already 35. He said he was the same! And then, he gave me a cake after he asked if I was walking the trail. I did not offer my name slip. Perhaps, it was not necessary, just like the charm from Temple 55. After my praying, I met Shinya-san again. He was about to leave but he stayed a while to chat with me. I had my lunch there. Shinya-san was 28 and he worked as postman, fireman and others! He mentioned a term in Japanese, but I couldn’t remember what it was. Then, he looked at my Stamp book and said “steal”. I said, “No, I didn’t”. He said again with a “stealing” action! I affirmed him that “No, I bought it”. Later, I realized he was trying to tell me to take care of the Stamp Book because others would steal it! Shinya-san was a funny guy and laugh hysterically. He took pictures and even exchanged one of our bread! After he left, I was still around trying to retrieve my portable iPhone charger which was deep inside my backpack. Charge my iPhone for a while and took some pictures. I spent too long a time up there and left after an hour plus.
After what I had experience just now, I so like down slope! But 8km of downhill was no fun at all! It was like never ending! Came to a path with beautiful scenery and was cracking my head if I should take out my Lumix. I took a few with my iPhone in the end. Later, I found a convenient place to keep my Lumix on the left pocket of my Uniglo jacket. Soon, I was like a photographer. Walked a few steps and then took a few photos. Then, I reached a corner which looked like one I had been through before. Kind of those deejavu feeling. Finally, I completed the 8km labyrinth and started walking on tar road again. There was still 2.5km away to Temple 61! I wondered if I could make it to Temple 62 as planned. Luckily, I was just on time! Had to do praying without incense at Temple 62, because there was no candle with fire anymore and lighter was not sold. I guess they were preparing to close. I went to the male toilet and saw an interesting sign. “Female is not allowed to urinate here!” The sign was right in front of me when I was aiming at the urinal!!
It was around 4:30pm and started to get very cold already. I was too hungry and had my dinner first at the Lawson convenient store up ahead. After that, I was thinking if I should call to get a sheltered lodging. So, I walked towards the train station to look a public phone, which was on the way to the toilet marked on the guide map as well. I was indecisive again and went to the toilet site instead. Found out it was actually a small park! Just nice for setting up a camp. It wasn’t cold suddenly, and so I had my tent up and prepared to go back to the konbini. I asked if I could sit on the floor and use the power plug. Initially, the staff was ok, but an hour later, she came back to chase me away. So, I had to buy my breakfast and left. I came into a rice cleaning station and saw a power plug with light source as well! So, I happily typed my blog and charge my phone as well, only to find out 15minutes later that the power plug actually didn’t work! So I went back to my camp, cleaned up and slept at 10pm. The wind was strong, but my tent was tough and protected me well.
Today, I was just glad to meet my target with 22.3km.
Wednesday 17 November 2010
17th Nov – Day 11, Temple 56 (Taisanji), Temple 57 (Eifukiji), Temple 58 (Senyuoji), Temple 59 (Kokubunji), Bangai 10 (Kouryuoji)
I thought perhaps sleeping out was better, because it was so difficult to wake up from a nice bed! Set off early today at 6:38am. Right at the junction, I met the same Japanese walking henro, who said yesterday was a lucky day because of the Daishi Hall relocation. He introduced himself as Mitsuda-san. He was also 60 years old! I remembered the old lady I met previously who did the pilgrimage because it was a critical year for Japanese. I acted clever and asked if he did it because of “yakudoshi”. He gave me the expression that he didn’t care about yakudoshi (critical year) at all. He was doing it to pray for his parents who had passed away. His mother just passed away in July. I apologised and did not ask further. Then it was his turn to ask. I hesitated, but I confidently told him that I had divorced and was praying for my ex-wife for happiness. I also prayed for my family to be in great health always, but I did not mention that to cut in short. I guessed I was ready and wasn’t embarrassed to tell anyone I was divorced anymore.
Temple 56 and Temple 57 were nearby and were completed within an hour plus. Out of a sudden, Mistuda-san asked if I was lonely! I didn’t think he was gay, and he meant “Won’t I be lonely living by myself?” I actually wanted to tell him that I would of course like to look for another love, but I couldn’t put that in Japanese and just replied “oh, ie, ie.” (oh, no, no).
Temple 57 was packed when we reached and there were a tour with priests praying for a group of henros. And so, Mitsuda-san and I started to walk together until Temple 58 when I could not catch up on the slope. He warned me earlier that Temple 58 was 300m above sea-level with 200 steps! On the way, we met a farmer and they were talking about Takeuma-san, the 74-years old man who walked the pilgrimage on bamboo sticks! He was on TV last night. Glad to find out his name! If only I could meet him again to pass him my name slip for his “o-settai”! After some struggle, I was at Temple 58. Mitsuda-san was about to leave already. The free lodging there looked really nice, with free onsen as well. Too bad my schedule couldn’t fit in to stay here.
By 10am, it was very sunny and a hot day! On the way to Temple 59, I saw two camps and took a picture. Then, the guy called out. They were the 2 Americans, Hajime-san and I met at Temple 49! Chat with one of them (the other was inside the tent) for a while and bid them good luck! They motivated me to sleep out again!
From Temple 59 to Bangai 10, it was a very very long walk. After an hour, stopped by a rest hut to have my quick lunch. Continued for hours, until I finally reached the sign that mentioned “800m ahead”. So happy and thought I was on time. But the 800m seemed like 8000m!! The slope was slowing me down a lot! My shoulders were crying for help. Eventually, I saw the temple sign, but the temple was still no way to be seen! It was a big car that followed. Went further ahead, and yet another car park area!! Then, I saw a lady packing up to close her stall to ask for direction. She said “Just go further up for another 10minutes or so.”!! I wanted to cry. And I had not even tasted those well-known more difficult paths from Temple 11 to 12 and Temple 21 to 22 yet!! So, I just walked further up slope and then reached a junction. Great, no sign! I took the left upslope path and reached a place that looked like a residential house! Great, I turned back and took the right just to reach the dead-end! Great, just when I was so damn tired and rushing for time, such things happened. Went back to the left turn again and tried to seek help from someone there, but no answer. I went in and soon came to the Bangai from the back door! I was supposed to take the left path at the car park with steps instead. The temple was famous for the fall season trees around. Saw many couples there just to take pictures. By the time I was done, it was already 4:30pm and became cold all of the sudden.
I quickly rushed to Bangai 11 in hope for a free lodging there. Lost my direction, but a kind man stopped me from far when he saw I was going the wrong direction. Luckily I heard him, turned back and got his advice. Out of the blue, he asked me about my watch if it was Japanese made! I told him it was made in Finland. On the way, I met a kid who gave me a high five! Encouraged me to walk further!
Finally reached Bangai 11 and it was closed as expected. I called out but unfortunately there was no free lodging even though the guide mentioned otherwise! So, got to kick in my contingency plan, “Camping at the park”. When I was almost there, a car passed by and stopped in front. When I got closer, the driver came out and asked “o-henro-san desu ka” (Are you a henro?) I acknowledged and he gave me a banana and a cake as “o-settai”! I thanked him and passed him a name slip. He left and gave me the impression that he just wanted the name slip! But I was glad to have the banana and cake. Ate the banana immediately.
Reached the park and another event of disaster in the making! I was trying to cross over a fence, which was totally, absolutely, and completely unnecessary, but in the process, I tore my pants!! I hate myself for being a fool again! Soon, I found the toilet and started to look for a good spot around. Found one not so obvious and set up my tent. Around 6:30pm, I left my stuffs there and walked to the nearest convenience store for my dinner. No no, not Circle-K this time! But the dinner was just as good for… 398yen as well!! There even had a place for me to sit in, and so I didn’t have to eat in the cold outside. After dinner, I bought my breakfast and snacks and sat there until 9:40pm to plan for tomorrow, write my name slips and update my blog. It was Christmas mood already and heard a lot of English and Japanese Christmas songs! Started singing along “..last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away. This year…” Went to the toilet before I returned to my camp. It was cleaner than many hotels! I love Japanese konbini (convenient stores)!! There was even a lucky draw for me and I won a soup!
Came back and cleaned up and then did a surgery on my General Pant, whose wound was pretty deep! I had 8 stitches on it. The operation went well. Hopefully, he could recover soon to serve me again. Here I was sitting at the car park of the park, finishing my blog to be uploaded to the website, with a cup of coffee. It was amazing that I could get a free wifi at this corner of the Imbari City, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan! I quickly went to bed at 12am.
Today, I hit my personal best at 33.4km!
Temple 56 and Temple 57 were nearby and were completed within an hour plus. Out of a sudden, Mistuda-san asked if I was lonely! I didn’t think he was gay, and he meant “Won’t I be lonely living by myself?” I actually wanted to tell him that I would of course like to look for another love, but I couldn’t put that in Japanese and just replied “oh, ie, ie.” (oh, no, no).
Temple 57 was packed when we reached and there were a tour with priests praying for a group of henros. And so, Mitsuda-san and I started to walk together until Temple 58 when I could not catch up on the slope. He warned me earlier that Temple 58 was 300m above sea-level with 200 steps! On the way, we met a farmer and they were talking about Takeuma-san, the 74-years old man who walked the pilgrimage on bamboo sticks! He was on TV last night. Glad to find out his name! If only I could meet him again to pass him my name slip for his “o-settai”! After some struggle, I was at Temple 58. Mitsuda-san was about to leave already. The free lodging there looked really nice, with free onsen as well. Too bad my schedule couldn’t fit in to stay here.
By 10am, it was very sunny and a hot day! On the way to Temple 59, I saw two camps and took a picture. Then, the guy called out. They were the 2 Americans, Hajime-san and I met at Temple 49! Chat with one of them (the other was inside the tent) for a while and bid them good luck! They motivated me to sleep out again!
From Temple 59 to Bangai 10, it was a very very long walk. After an hour, stopped by a rest hut to have my quick lunch. Continued for hours, until I finally reached the sign that mentioned “800m ahead”. So happy and thought I was on time. But the 800m seemed like 8000m!! The slope was slowing me down a lot! My shoulders were crying for help. Eventually, I saw the temple sign, but the temple was still no way to be seen! It was a big car that followed. Went further ahead, and yet another car park area!! Then, I saw a lady packing up to close her stall to ask for direction. She said “Just go further up for another 10minutes or so.”!! I wanted to cry. And I had not even tasted those well-known more difficult paths from Temple 11 to 12 and Temple 21 to 22 yet!! So, I just walked further up slope and then reached a junction. Great, no sign! I took the left upslope path and reached a place that looked like a residential house! Great, I turned back and took the right just to reach the dead-end! Great, just when I was so damn tired and rushing for time, such things happened. Went back to the left turn again and tried to seek help from someone there, but no answer. I went in and soon came to the Bangai from the back door! I was supposed to take the left path at the car park with steps instead. The temple was famous for the fall season trees around. Saw many couples there just to take pictures. By the time I was done, it was already 4:30pm and became cold all of the sudden.
I quickly rushed to Bangai 11 in hope for a free lodging there. Lost my direction, but a kind man stopped me from far when he saw I was going the wrong direction. Luckily I heard him, turned back and got his advice. Out of the blue, he asked me about my watch if it was Japanese made! I told him it was made in Finland. On the way, I met a kid who gave me a high five! Encouraged me to walk further!
Finally reached Bangai 11 and it was closed as expected. I called out but unfortunately there was no free lodging even though the guide mentioned otherwise! So, got to kick in my contingency plan, “Camping at the park”. When I was almost there, a car passed by and stopped in front. When I got closer, the driver came out and asked “o-henro-san desu ka” (Are you a henro?) I acknowledged and he gave me a banana and a cake as “o-settai”! I thanked him and passed him a name slip. He left and gave me the impression that he just wanted the name slip! But I was glad to have the banana and cake. Ate the banana immediately.
Reached the park and another event of disaster in the making! I was trying to cross over a fence, which was totally, absolutely, and completely unnecessary, but in the process, I tore my pants!! I hate myself for being a fool again! Soon, I found the toilet and started to look for a good spot around. Found one not so obvious and set up my tent. Around 6:30pm, I left my stuffs there and walked to the nearest convenience store for my dinner. No no, not Circle-K this time! But the dinner was just as good for… 398yen as well!! There even had a place for me to sit in, and so I didn’t have to eat in the cold outside. After dinner, I bought my breakfast and snacks and sat there until 9:40pm to plan for tomorrow, write my name slips and update my blog. It was Christmas mood already and heard a lot of English and Japanese Christmas songs! Started singing along “..last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away. This year…” Went to the toilet before I returned to my camp. It was cleaner than many hotels! I love Japanese konbini (convenient stores)!! There was even a lucky draw for me and I won a soup!
Came back and cleaned up and then did a surgery on my General Pant, whose wound was pretty deep! I had 8 stitches on it. The operation went well. Hopefully, he could recover soon to serve me again. Here I was sitting at the car park of the park, finishing my blog to be uploaded to the website, with a cup of coffee. It was amazing that I could get a free wifi at this corner of the Imbari City, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan! I quickly went to bed at 12am.
Today, I hit my personal best at 33.4km!
16th Nov – Day 10, Temple 54 (Enmeiji), Temple 55 (Nankoubou)
Dragged myself up today at 7:18am. The bed was too nice and didn’t feel like walking again. Japanese houses has lower door. I got hit on the head at least 6 times!
I bid Shin-san and Miu goodbye, and started off my journey again at 8:24am. It was a sunny morning, but quite windy. It was cold when I lifted up my sleeve, but warm when I kept them down! Started to worry if I could finish my pilgrimage on time. I had to leave Japan by 22nd January 2011 due to visa requirement. If I did not start covering 20km a day, I would not be able to make it! On one hand, I would not want to rush myself and try to follow Rule 1 as close as possible, but I was probably way too slack so far.
Had an early lunch. Ironically, it was at Circle K again! I had the best of both beef and chicken today, for…. the same 398yen! Today, I wasn’t tired at all. The more I walked, the more I wanted to go further. Probably, it was all flat roads and a good rest last night. I had only stopped twice for 2 minutes each (aside from the temple visit and my 15minutes lunch). I walked pretty fast too!
I thought perhaps I knew the secret to Japanese longevity! You just need to keep using your brain and body, or else they will think you don’t need them anymore and stop working! I saw many whose back was already bend, but still farming and carrying heavy stuffs!! Japanese was also very conscious about their rubbish. Hajime-san even checked if I had the right “rubbish” to be thrown in the correct boxes! Greeted a few people today who thought I was invisible. I saw the Japan flag for the first time in Japan!
It was the 12pm bell ring. I heard the sound was very close, but still couldn’t determine where it came from. Every time during lunch or dinner time, I would smell great cooking around the houses I passed by, and made me yearned for it.
My raincoat almost flew off today. I folded it and was too eager to move on instead of keeping it inside my backpack. So, I just slotted it behind my backpack, using my back to support it. Soon, I realized it had dropped. I knew it was a stupid idea in the first place. Then, I had a shock and thought I left my umbrella in the Youth Hostel as well, but luckily I didn’t!
I felt good again today. Everything was ahead of schedule and I came up with a plan to cover until Temple 56 to camp or stay at the free lodging there, if any. I thought of my jacket again. Still miss it, but I thought if I would have slipped it, someone could have picked it up to use it or donated it away! During the pilgrimage so far, I had been seeing quite a number of beautiful birds, and huge crows!
I reached Temple 54 at 2pm, half an hour earlier than I initially scheduled. Had my tea break there. Couldn’t find a vending machine and saw an old lady with some drink. Thought of asking if she had coffee, but she offered me ocha (green tea). Although I probably knew it was free, I still asked her the price. She replied it was “o-settai” (gift for henro). Later, I remembered, no matter how small the “o-settai” was, I should give out the name slip! She didn’t feel comfortable excepting but I insisted and eventually, she took it.
Today, I started to ring the bell as part of the temple etiquette. Previously, I thought it was the huge tower bell and thought of skipping that. I also started to place the name slip and donation first before I prayed, which was supposed to be the correct way. I had been praying first.
On the way to Temple 55, I passed through a memorial park. At the temple, I met a previous walking henro who recognized me. He told me the temple was moving the Daishi Hall, which meant it was a lucky day! Indeed, it was for me! The temple staff was surprised I came from Singapore. He said there wasn’t many Asians except, the Koreans. Mostly Europeans and Americans. He offered me to sign off in his booklet of all the foreign henros. Then, he gave me a charm for protection. I thanked him very much. The lady staff with him was also wondering if I had lodging today. I told her my plan, but she confirmed there wasn’t any free lodging at Temple 56 anymore. Camping out would be very cold tonight. She recommended a cheap hotel for 3000yen. I asked her where could I get a jacket, and she even knew I wanted the cheaper Uniglo and showed me the direction! She gave me 2 huge pieces of paper with the directions to the Uniglo and the hotel. So, I saved my trip to the City Office to ask where I could find a department store.
Met a familiar face at the temple, and thought he was the guy who prayed for me yesterday. Soon I recalled he was the guy who gave me the “dig hole” hand signal at Furuiyawa famous rock formation! He smiled and left in his bicycle.
I thought about the lodging for a while, and hinted the temple staff advice to stay put instead. Went to check-in to leave my bag, and walked to Uniglo to get my jacket. Bought my bandage and breakfast. Guess what?! Circle-K again! Then, I saw a restaurant with an appetizing display of a big serving noodle for 690yen. So, I went in but the final outcome wasn’t really like what I expected, although I showed the picture when I ordered! Should have saved 300yen for my breakfast instead! By now, my calves were almost cramped!
At the hotel, I met the husband of the owner. He stopped me and very patiently drew out the location of the temples nearby the area, and showed me the direction to Temple 56. He also gave me a brochure on Imabari city. Went back to my room and the shower was heavenly. Prepared myself for tomorrow and worked out a plan and schedule to track my progress. Glad to update all my blog entry as well, and went to bed at 10pm.
Today, I bucked up and added 26.8km to my pilgrimage.
I bid Shin-san and Miu goodbye, and started off my journey again at 8:24am. It was a sunny morning, but quite windy. It was cold when I lifted up my sleeve, but warm when I kept them down! Started to worry if I could finish my pilgrimage on time. I had to leave Japan by 22nd January 2011 due to visa requirement. If I did not start covering 20km a day, I would not be able to make it! On one hand, I would not want to rush myself and try to follow Rule 1 as close as possible, but I was probably way too slack so far.
Had an early lunch. Ironically, it was at Circle K again! I had the best of both beef and chicken today, for…. the same 398yen! Today, I wasn’t tired at all. The more I walked, the more I wanted to go further. Probably, it was all flat roads and a good rest last night. I had only stopped twice for 2 minutes each (aside from the temple visit and my 15minutes lunch). I walked pretty fast too!
I thought perhaps I knew the secret to Japanese longevity! You just need to keep using your brain and body, or else they will think you don’t need them anymore and stop working! I saw many whose back was already bend, but still farming and carrying heavy stuffs!! Japanese was also very conscious about their rubbish. Hajime-san even checked if I had the right “rubbish” to be thrown in the correct boxes! Greeted a few people today who thought I was invisible. I saw the Japan flag for the first time in Japan!
It was the 12pm bell ring. I heard the sound was very close, but still couldn’t determine where it came from. Every time during lunch or dinner time, I would smell great cooking around the houses I passed by, and made me yearned for it.
My raincoat almost flew off today. I folded it and was too eager to move on instead of keeping it inside my backpack. So, I just slotted it behind my backpack, using my back to support it. Soon, I realized it had dropped. I knew it was a stupid idea in the first place. Then, I had a shock and thought I left my umbrella in the Youth Hostel as well, but luckily I didn’t!
I felt good again today. Everything was ahead of schedule and I came up with a plan to cover until Temple 56 to camp or stay at the free lodging there, if any. I thought of my jacket again. Still miss it, but I thought if I would have slipped it, someone could have picked it up to use it or donated it away! During the pilgrimage so far, I had been seeing quite a number of beautiful birds, and huge crows!
I reached Temple 54 at 2pm, half an hour earlier than I initially scheduled. Had my tea break there. Couldn’t find a vending machine and saw an old lady with some drink. Thought of asking if she had coffee, but she offered me ocha (green tea). Although I probably knew it was free, I still asked her the price. She replied it was “o-settai” (gift for henro). Later, I remembered, no matter how small the “o-settai” was, I should give out the name slip! She didn’t feel comfortable excepting but I insisted and eventually, she took it.
Today, I started to ring the bell as part of the temple etiquette. Previously, I thought it was the huge tower bell and thought of skipping that. I also started to place the name slip and donation first before I prayed, which was supposed to be the correct way. I had been praying first.
On the way to Temple 55, I passed through a memorial park. At the temple, I met a previous walking henro who recognized me. He told me the temple was moving the Daishi Hall, which meant it was a lucky day! Indeed, it was for me! The temple staff was surprised I came from Singapore. He said there wasn’t many Asians except, the Koreans. Mostly Europeans and Americans. He offered me to sign off in his booklet of all the foreign henros. Then, he gave me a charm for protection. I thanked him very much. The lady staff with him was also wondering if I had lodging today. I told her my plan, but she confirmed there wasn’t any free lodging at Temple 56 anymore. Camping out would be very cold tonight. She recommended a cheap hotel for 3000yen. I asked her where could I get a jacket, and she even knew I wanted the cheaper Uniglo and showed me the direction! She gave me 2 huge pieces of paper with the directions to the Uniglo and the hotel. So, I saved my trip to the City Office to ask where I could find a department store.
Met a familiar face at the temple, and thought he was the guy who prayed for me yesterday. Soon I recalled he was the guy who gave me the “dig hole” hand signal at Furuiyawa famous rock formation! He smiled and left in his bicycle.
I thought about the lodging for a while, and hinted the temple staff advice to stay put instead. Went to check-in to leave my bag, and walked to Uniglo to get my jacket. Bought my bandage and breakfast. Guess what?! Circle-K again! Then, I saw a restaurant with an appetizing display of a big serving noodle for 690yen. So, I went in but the final outcome wasn’t really like what I expected, although I showed the picture when I ordered! Should have saved 300yen for my breakfast instead! By now, my calves were almost cramped!
At the hotel, I met the husband of the owner. He stopped me and very patiently drew out the location of the temples nearby the area, and showed me the direction to Temple 56. He also gave me a brochure on Imabari city. Went back to my room and the shower was heavenly. Prepared myself for tomorrow and worked out a plan and schedule to track my progress. Glad to update all my blog entry as well, and went to bed at 10pm.
Today, I bucked up and added 26.8km to my pilgrimage.
15th Nov – Day 9, Temple 52 (Taisanji), Temple 53 (Enmyouji)
My alarm was set at 7 but I hardly could wake up. Felt very lazy to continue my pilgrimage again after a relaxing day. When I finally woke up 20 minutes later, I realized a sad disaster! While I was happily enjoying myself last night, I had lost a comrade. A great general! My jacket! The last thing I could remember was hanging my jacket on the chair when Hajime-san and myself came to check in at EcoDogo hotel. We asked the staff in charge but he hadn’t seen any. The staff who work yesterday would only come in at 4pm. So, I sought Hajime-san’s help to ask him if he had seen it. I was very sad. Hajime-san tried to console me. He said it could be a “shiren” (test) for the pilgrimage. Later, I realized I had forgotten my shampoo and soaps as well at the onsen! What a down day to start with!
I had to continue my pilgrimage. I thanked Hajime-san and bid him farewell. I went to the onsen and managed to get my toiletry back! I decided to look for my general. I went to the first lodging that we’d been to, but the place was locked. The shop attendant next door was really kind and offered to call the owner. Unfortunately, the owner couldn’t understand me and thought I was one of the tenant last night. Next I went to Fujiya. The owner was around, but they hadn’t seen any as well. I forgotten about Funaya and left very reluctantly.
On the way, I met an old man who directed me although I didn’t ask. He said a lot of sentences, but I could only catch koban (police station), shingo (traffic light) and the well wishes. It was a mournful morning. I hardly greeted anyone. And it was very windy too. I missed my general. I wasn’t myself. Kept thinking about how silly could I be to drop the jacket unknowingly! Missed a junction. Went back but couldn’t find the original path, and continued walking forward to follow a different route instead.
I was sweating when I walked in the sun. But when the wind blew, it chilled me. I was pulling up my sleeve up and down and up and down repeatedly. The feeling wasn’t good at all. I wanted to complete the day as soon as possible to check with Hajime-san at 4pm.
Reached Temple 52 and did my business. I remembered Hajime-san mentioned that it would start to be cold from today onwards. The staff at Temple 52 warned me again! There was no food around. I had several chocolate. At Temple 53, I met the same guy at Temple 52 whom I asked about the Daishi hall. The current one was renovating then. He told me many things about kami (god, which I just learned yesterday from Yumi-san). I couldn’t understand the rest, but he was very enthusiastic and I didn’t want to interrupt him. Then, he prayed for me. I read about this in one of the henro book before. He used his hand to crisscross in front of me, while mumbling something. My palms were clamped together. Next, he took a kind of priest’s necklace and put them on my head and started mumbling again. I thanked him and gave him a name slip. Soon, it got very windy, and looked like it was going to rain, but luckily it didn’t.
I recalled Hajime-san’s word. I decided to take the “shiren” (test) with stronger courage. I walked pass the sea side. It was exceptionally windier there. Found a phone and call a Youth Hostel further down along the henro path. It was also very close to the train station. If Hajime-san managed to retrieve my jacket, I could take a train back to pick it up. Finally, it was 4pm. I called Hajime-san but there was no answer. The phone card would be charged anyway. It was a very very long walk and I got very tired. I called again at 5 plus, but there was no answer still. I walked passed a place that looked like a tsuyado (free lodging for henro), but it was locked and there was no one to ask around. I continued to walk to the Youth Hostel. At 6pm, Hajime-san called back. I didn’t want to answer to save the oversea calls charges and try to find a public phone to call back. When I found one at the train station and returned the call, there was no answer again. I had already reached the Youth Hostel area actually, but was trying to wait for Hajime-san’s call. So, I went to a nearby restaurant and had my dinner. Luckily, I got the call once I just finished. Quickly paid up and made the call again, but there was no answer still. Eventually, I used my iPhone to call and it was Yumi-san, who, understandably, didn’t want to answer unknown calls. As expected, Hajime-san didn’t manage to find my jacket. I talked to Yumi-san using a public phone for a while and we bid each other all the best.
It was dark and I couldn’t find the Youth Hostel. It was all houses around. And there was no one to ask as well! After spinning around like a headless bird, I finally saw a girl to ask. She wasn’t sure too, but she got help from a man, who was very kind to walk me there! I thanked him very much.
The Youth Hostel was actually the owner’s home. Shin-san’s daughter was married to a foreigner and probably so, he could speak very good English. He had a very cute dog, Miu! Miu greeted me as soon as I went it! She was huge! Quite and very obedient! I wanted to play her longer but I was exhausted. I asked Shin-san if there was a convenient store nearby and quickly went to get my breakfast before it was closed in half an hour. Came back to shower and had my supper. There was free wifi too. I planned my trip, prepared my name slips and try to update my blog but was still left with today’s. Too tired and too late to continue, I went to bed around 12:30am!
Today, I completed 24.2km.
I had to continue my pilgrimage. I thanked Hajime-san and bid him farewell. I went to the onsen and managed to get my toiletry back! I decided to look for my general. I went to the first lodging that we’d been to, but the place was locked. The shop attendant next door was really kind and offered to call the owner. Unfortunately, the owner couldn’t understand me and thought I was one of the tenant last night. Next I went to Fujiya. The owner was around, but they hadn’t seen any as well. I forgotten about Funaya and left very reluctantly.
On the way, I met an old man who directed me although I didn’t ask. He said a lot of sentences, but I could only catch koban (police station), shingo (traffic light) and the well wishes. It was a mournful morning. I hardly greeted anyone. And it was very windy too. I missed my general. I wasn’t myself. Kept thinking about how silly could I be to drop the jacket unknowingly! Missed a junction. Went back but couldn’t find the original path, and continued walking forward to follow a different route instead.
I was sweating when I walked in the sun. But when the wind blew, it chilled me. I was pulling up my sleeve up and down and up and down repeatedly. The feeling wasn’t good at all. I wanted to complete the day as soon as possible to check with Hajime-san at 4pm.
Reached Temple 52 and did my business. I remembered Hajime-san mentioned that it would start to be cold from today onwards. The staff at Temple 52 warned me again! There was no food around. I had several chocolate. At Temple 53, I met the same guy at Temple 52 whom I asked about the Daishi hall. The current one was renovating then. He told me many things about kami (god, which I just learned yesterday from Yumi-san). I couldn’t understand the rest, but he was very enthusiastic and I didn’t want to interrupt him. Then, he prayed for me. I read about this in one of the henro book before. He used his hand to crisscross in front of me, while mumbling something. My palms were clamped together. Next, he took a kind of priest’s necklace and put them on my head and started mumbling again. I thanked him and gave him a name slip. Soon, it got very windy, and looked like it was going to rain, but luckily it didn’t.
I recalled Hajime-san’s word. I decided to take the “shiren” (test) with stronger courage. I walked pass the sea side. It was exceptionally windier there. Found a phone and call a Youth Hostel further down along the henro path. It was also very close to the train station. If Hajime-san managed to retrieve my jacket, I could take a train back to pick it up. Finally, it was 4pm. I called Hajime-san but there was no answer. The phone card would be charged anyway. It was a very very long walk and I got very tired. I called again at 5 plus, but there was no answer still. I walked passed a place that looked like a tsuyado (free lodging for henro), but it was locked and there was no one to ask around. I continued to walk to the Youth Hostel. At 6pm, Hajime-san called back. I didn’t want to answer to save the oversea calls charges and try to find a public phone to call back. When I found one at the train station and returned the call, there was no answer again. I had already reached the Youth Hostel area actually, but was trying to wait for Hajime-san’s call. So, I went to a nearby restaurant and had my dinner. Luckily, I got the call once I just finished. Quickly paid up and made the call again, but there was no answer still. Eventually, I used my iPhone to call and it was Yumi-san, who, understandably, didn’t want to answer unknown calls. As expected, Hajime-san didn’t manage to find my jacket. I talked to Yumi-san using a public phone for a while and we bid each other all the best.
It was dark and I couldn’t find the Youth Hostel. It was all houses around. And there was no one to ask as well! After spinning around like a headless bird, I finally saw a girl to ask. She wasn’t sure too, but she got help from a man, who was very kind to walk me there! I thanked him very much.
The Youth Hostel was actually the owner’s home. Shin-san’s daughter was married to a foreigner and probably so, he could speak very good English. He had a very cute dog, Miu! Miu greeted me as soon as I went it! She was huge! Quite and very obedient! I wanted to play her longer but I was exhausted. I asked Shin-san if there was a convenient store nearby and quickly went to get my breakfast before it was closed in half an hour. Came back to shower and had my supper. There was free wifi too. I planned my trip, prepared my name slips and try to update my blog but was still left with today’s. Too tired and too late to continue, I went to bed around 12:30am!
Today, I completed 24.2km.
Monday 15 November 2010
14th Nov – Day 8, Temple 48 (Sairinji), Temple 49 (Joudoji), Temple 50 (Hantaji), Temple 51 (Ishiteji)
Set my alarm at 6, but could only woke up at 6:22am. Hajime-san was awoken 10min later. We had breakfast in the room together. Then, he went to the temple while I continued my packing.
We started off around 7:45am. Hajime-san had a Yakidori shop at Tokyo. He closed it to get the money for this pilgrimage! He wanted to study a course in food industry and then set up a new shop again. Hence, he was doing this walk to pray for the success. 4.6km seemed pretty near and soon we reached Temple 48. We met a couple who gave us 1000yen as o-settai. I just humbly showed him the "no" hand gesture as instinct. But, Hajime-san said you must accept when someone offered you an o-settai. It’s a rule and it would not be nice to reject!!! Actually I had read about this in the guide and book from previous henro, but it was just the instinct of Chinese’s spirit (华人精神). And so, I accepted and gave my name slip. The husband tried to lift my backpack but couldn’t move it at all!! I thought of a mission I must do back in Temple 43.
Another 3.1km, we were at Temple 49 and met two Americans there. Hajime-san reminded me that I must keep my valuables with me at all time! Luckily the temples today were all pretty close by. I asked Hajime-san if I would slow him down. He said no. He walked 40km yesterday! He needed a “rest” today. At Temple 50, he met his friends from his hometown, where were driving their kids to the zoo around the area, and pop by to see him. Since they had to catch up, I left Hajime-san and planned to meet again at Dogo Onsen, near Temple 51, later.
Suddenly, I felt so lonely waking alone. I found out another henro sign from Hajime-san. Soon, I reached Temple 51. It was huge. So different from the others that I didn’t know how to start with! There was an area with a small pillow and the name of each 88 temples. Some would go around and touched at each of the pillow to signify that one had been there and complete the pilgrimage. There was also a big bowl, with lots of incense burning with smoke. People would go near it to let the smoke ran through them. Some may use their hands to spread the smoke to themselves. Took a lots of pictures, and had an expensive lunch for 550yen, but little meat. Luckily, I had the sausage from the walking-stick henro. As I was about to leave the temple, I met Hajime-san. He was quick. I told him I would wait at the Onsen since he would need some time at the temple.
When I reached the Dogo Onsen, there was no lodging as the guide mentioned. So, I thought of waiting for Hajime-san at a nearby hotel which happened to have a wifi as well. After some 30 minutes or so, there was no sign of him yet. So, I wondered where to go. I asked where was the nearest public phone to call any cheap lodging around or perhaps the Temple 52 to see if they have free lodging. I was thinking if I should continue my walk to Temple 52, but Rule 1 (Don’t rush yourself) helped me to stay put. So, the next thing was to find a place to stay! Couldn’t find any public phones around and since the accommodation were nearby, I decided to go the places instead.
I went to the Youth Hostel first. Saw people playing tennis along the way and my hands felt itchy. Reached the hostel but it was 2500yen without wifi. So I thought Fujiya was better with wifi at 2000yen. Decided to check in there. I was inside the building and went to the lobby. All lady staffs were in kimono! I thought what a wonderful dormitory this place was, until I realized I was actually at Funaya instead!! The “Fu” and the “Ya” were same and I did not take note of the middle character clearly. Anyway, found Fujiya after some effort and guidance on direction. Unfortunately, no one was there. The owner was actually living somewhere else nearby. So, I had to find a phone to call, and met the same old lady who directed me earlier to Fujiya. I told her my situation and she suggested another place for 2000yen as well. The name was ecodogo she said. At this moment I met up with Hajime-san. It was 4:30pm already!
We went to check out a place he found for 2000yen as well. It was not bad but we wanted to see ecodogo as well which was also very close to the Dogo Onsen. It was even better with very cheap laundry. The detergent was even free but I used mine instead. I was very impressed that there was even power plug in the locker itself!! So, after 8 days of sleeping out, this was my first paid accommodation. We checked in and headed to the Onsen immediately. This Dogo Onsen is a very famous place with 3000 years of history. The oldest onsen in Japan and a tourist spot too! I was wearing the Japanese clogs for the first time. When we were there, we had to queue to get the tickets! The cheapest rate was 400yen and you were allowed to stay for an hour only. Good business. Perhaps, it was a Sunday too. It was so packed inside!! People coming in and going out. The onsen was nothing special. Only a single pool.
After that, we walked around to check out the restaurants for dinner. Then, we saw a sign outside that says “One gulp of beer taken just after a bath is the time when you feel most refreshed” We could not resist and went in. I had a chicken set for 740yen and 2 glasses of solid draft beer (one dark and one stout). They were all wonderful!! After more than 3 weeks, I had my first taste of alcohol!! Then, Hajime-san introduced me to Yumi-san whom was also a walking pilgrim. She just reached and joined us in the restaurant for a beer and short chat. Yumi-san became our translator! She was good in English. At night, we were all in our room having shochu, a 40% alcohol drink! It burned your throat!! Yumi-san suggested to heat it up and it still burned your throat! They were both great drinker!! Hajime-san also treated me a kind of beer called “Chu-hi” earlier. It’s like beer but with lemon taste and it was very refreshing!!!
Yumi-san had actually been travelling for 3 years. She was at Jordan and just back to Japan to do the pilgrimage. They both offered me a lot of advice and tips. Hajime-san even mentioned a temple with ghost and warned me to avoid that!! He showed me a lot of free lodging at different temples. Yumi-san bought the local famous Jakoten (something like a fish cake) and I was just thinking where to try this. It was delicious! She then noticed my tattoo on my feet and complimented it. She said usually onsen does not allow tattoo. Japanese always associate tattoo to Yakuza. She told me not to be worried if someone was giving me weird looks or felt uncomfortable with me in the onsen. But, she added that I probably be ok since the design does not resemble those Yakuza’s. At 11:30pm, we were all knocked out. It was a great and fun night.
Today, I merely walked for 11.8km.
We started off around 7:45am. Hajime-san had a Yakidori shop at Tokyo. He closed it to get the money for this pilgrimage! He wanted to study a course in food industry and then set up a new shop again. Hence, he was doing this walk to pray for the success. 4.6km seemed pretty near and soon we reached Temple 48. We met a couple who gave us 1000yen as o-settai. I just humbly showed him the "no" hand gesture as instinct. But, Hajime-san said you must accept when someone offered you an o-settai. It’s a rule and it would not be nice to reject!!! Actually I had read about this in the guide and book from previous henro, but it was just the instinct of Chinese’s spirit (华人精神). And so, I accepted and gave my name slip. The husband tried to lift my backpack but couldn’t move it at all!! I thought of a mission I must do back in Temple 43.
Another 3.1km, we were at Temple 49 and met two Americans there. Hajime-san reminded me that I must keep my valuables with me at all time! Luckily the temples today were all pretty close by. I asked Hajime-san if I would slow him down. He said no. He walked 40km yesterday! He needed a “rest” today. At Temple 50, he met his friends from his hometown, where were driving their kids to the zoo around the area, and pop by to see him. Since they had to catch up, I left Hajime-san and planned to meet again at Dogo Onsen, near Temple 51, later.
Suddenly, I felt so lonely waking alone. I found out another henro sign from Hajime-san. Soon, I reached Temple 51. It was huge. So different from the others that I didn’t know how to start with! There was an area with a small pillow and the name of each 88 temples. Some would go around and touched at each of the pillow to signify that one had been there and complete the pilgrimage. There was also a big bowl, with lots of incense burning with smoke. People would go near it to let the smoke ran through them. Some may use their hands to spread the smoke to themselves. Took a lots of pictures, and had an expensive lunch for 550yen, but little meat. Luckily, I had the sausage from the walking-stick henro. As I was about to leave the temple, I met Hajime-san. He was quick. I told him I would wait at the Onsen since he would need some time at the temple.
When I reached the Dogo Onsen, there was no lodging as the guide mentioned. So, I thought of waiting for Hajime-san at a nearby hotel which happened to have a wifi as well. After some 30 minutes or so, there was no sign of him yet. So, I wondered where to go. I asked where was the nearest public phone to call any cheap lodging around or perhaps the Temple 52 to see if they have free lodging. I was thinking if I should continue my walk to Temple 52, but Rule 1 (Don’t rush yourself) helped me to stay put. So, the next thing was to find a place to stay! Couldn’t find any public phones around and since the accommodation were nearby, I decided to go the places instead.
I went to the Youth Hostel first. Saw people playing tennis along the way and my hands felt itchy. Reached the hostel but it was 2500yen without wifi. So I thought Fujiya was better with wifi at 2000yen. Decided to check in there. I was inside the building and went to the lobby. All lady staffs were in kimono! I thought what a wonderful dormitory this place was, until I realized I was actually at Funaya instead!! The “Fu” and the “Ya” were same and I did not take note of the middle character clearly. Anyway, found Fujiya after some effort and guidance on direction. Unfortunately, no one was there. The owner was actually living somewhere else nearby. So, I had to find a phone to call, and met the same old lady who directed me earlier to Fujiya. I told her my situation and she suggested another place for 2000yen as well. The name was ecodogo she said. At this moment I met up with Hajime-san. It was 4:30pm already!
We went to check out a place he found for 2000yen as well. It was not bad but we wanted to see ecodogo as well which was also very close to the Dogo Onsen. It was even better with very cheap laundry. The detergent was even free but I used mine instead. I was very impressed that there was even power plug in the locker itself!! So, after 8 days of sleeping out, this was my first paid accommodation. We checked in and headed to the Onsen immediately. This Dogo Onsen is a very famous place with 3000 years of history. The oldest onsen in Japan and a tourist spot too! I was wearing the Japanese clogs for the first time. When we were there, we had to queue to get the tickets! The cheapest rate was 400yen and you were allowed to stay for an hour only. Good business. Perhaps, it was a Sunday too. It was so packed inside!! People coming in and going out. The onsen was nothing special. Only a single pool.
After that, we walked around to check out the restaurants for dinner. Then, we saw a sign outside that says “One gulp of beer taken just after a bath is the time when you feel most refreshed” We could not resist and went in. I had a chicken set for 740yen and 2 glasses of solid draft beer (one dark and one stout). They were all wonderful!! After more than 3 weeks, I had my first taste of alcohol!! Then, Hajime-san introduced me to Yumi-san whom was also a walking pilgrim. She just reached and joined us in the restaurant for a beer and short chat. Yumi-san became our translator! She was good in English. At night, we were all in our room having shochu, a 40% alcohol drink! It burned your throat!! Yumi-san suggested to heat it up and it still burned your throat! They were both great drinker!! Hajime-san also treated me a kind of beer called “Chu-hi” earlier. It’s like beer but with lemon taste and it was very refreshing!!!
Yumi-san had actually been travelling for 3 years. She was at Jordan and just back to Japan to do the pilgrimage. They both offered me a lot of advice and tips. Hajime-san even mentioned a temple with ghost and warned me to avoid that!! He showed me a lot of free lodging at different temples. Yumi-san bought the local famous Jakoten (something like a fish cake) and I was just thinking where to try this. It was delicious! She then noticed my tattoo on my feet and complimented it. She said usually onsen does not allow tattoo. Japanese always associate tattoo to Yakuza. She told me not to be worried if someone was giving me weird looks or felt uncomfortable with me in the onsen. But, she added that I probably be ok since the design does not resemble those Yakuza’s. At 11:30pm, we were all knocked out. It was a great and fun night.
Today, I merely walked for 11.8km.
Saturday 13 November 2010
12th Nov – Day 6, Temple 45 (Iwayaji)
It was very cold last night. I guessed it was due to the rain again at 11 plus. Awaken up at 2 something. And then 4. At 4:30am, couldn’t take the cold anymore and got up. The rain had not stopped until around 9am. Got ready and set off at 7:56am.
Early in the journey, I had to tackle slopes! Sweats were dripping on my face! Saw a stone to land my backpack and immediately took the chance to catch some breath, rest my shoulders and sip a drink. Every time, I try to unload my backpack, I was like a pilot looking for a suitable place to land it, so that I could take off easier instead of being a weight-lifter.
On the way, saw a few worms, including some blue ones!! But it was unlike Melbourne, where they were basically covering the whole path that you walked on, when it rains. Now and then, you would hear “cracking” sound. Not that the worms have shell, but it was the snail! They were just too many for you to 
look out and avoid!
Quite like a sign that I saw. It was the Kanji (or Chinese) character for the word “four” or “shi”, shaped like a road inside a box. “Shi” as in Shikoku (the island where this pilgrimage is), literally means “Four Country”.
Later, it was downhill and uphill for some kilometers. Then, I noticed a fresh foot print! Based on the size, that looked a guy’s. Probably the young Japanese I met
yesterday. After some distance, I started to daydream again. I was the first Singaporean to complete the pilgrimage and I became famous! During an interview, I was questioned that someone would like to challenge me for completing it in lesser days. I told the interviewer, “Completing the pilgrimage was not for competition. It’s was for oneself! Anyway, I would like to walk the pilgrimage again, because some of the paths I have not been taken before. Perhaps, this round, I would prefer to walk with someone else!” After just 5 minutes of rest today, I felt cold. Quickly, start walking again.
I made a pledge to myself today. That I would not eat any meat on the 8th of every month in remembrance of Meiseji (refer to Day 1 blog).
I just set a special routine for this pilgrimage too
. I would alternate my handkerchiefs from one pocket to another daily. The left one will be passed over to the right pocket, and keep a clean one for the day. This will be used for my heavy sweat and running nose. The previous one from the right pocket will be sent to the “laundry” department.
Suddenly, I saw a big sign that said “Beware of Mamushi”. Not that I know how to read Japanese, but knowing some Chinese characters did help a lot =] My dictionary said it’s a kind of viper! Immediately, I heard a yell later. Scared the hell out of me! It was the young Japanese guy! We met again, and he told me he slept at one of the shelter along the path that I just came from!!! This guy was amazing! Gave me a lot of courage to sleep out! So, the footprint just now was probably his! Soon, I saw another mamushi sign, while I was blowing my nose! I thought I wouldn’t be so unlucky to hit one of the viper, which identified me and then informed his comrade to attack me later up front!!
The next half an hour were all walking down slope. I couldn’t wait for lunch. I sped up a lot. The thought of a hot soup meal energized me! Reached Temple 45 but couldn’t find the Suiya (water house, I thought that’s what it called in Japanese) to purify myself first before the prayer. Part of the temple etiquette where you used the scope to get water out and wash your hands and mouth before you start going to the halls to pray. I asked a nanny working there but she could not understand even though I showed her the Kanji. Then, I went further down to ask some fellow henro, who told me downstairs. They probably thought I was looking for a toilet or a drink. I walked almost to the main road until I met an old lady who confirmed it was up at the temple. I went up again and somehow missed it at the corner!
After my prayer, I was backed on the trail 
again. I realized the weight of my baggage actually pull me down and hurt my knees more. I was walking the same path down without my bag, and it was ok. So, I started walking backwards. It was in fact faster with the grip at the side to hold on to. At the bottom, a shop owner offered me his hot ginger drink he was selling. Very refreshing and nice.
When I reached the main road, the restaurant in the map has already shut down! A lady told me there was no food sold around nearby except instant noodle. I decided to continue my walk. The uncle I met earlier at the temple, stopped his car in the middle of the road and asked if I would like a ride. I declined politely. After some distance, I doubt my way when I saw the sign going to Temple 44! The map had a tunnel close by, which I noticed on the opposite direction! So, I went back and after crossing the tunnel, I felt something wrong again. The tunnel name didn’t seem right and it was also shorter. Soon, I realized my initial path was right. The correct tunnel at the other side had another kanji word in front, although their names were
similar. After a long walk, I regretted not having the instant noodle. My shoulders were getting uncomfortable and my stomach yearning for hot soup! Out of a sudden, I realized I was pretty stupid yesterday at the Town Office! I could have asked the lady to help me to call those accommodations I wanted to try instead of looking for a public phone!!
So glad to reach an onsen place with cheap hot udon soup! The onsen was not expensive too but too bad it was at the wrong place =[ I still have some 5km to reach the same park where I camped last night. To go to Temple 46, I had to pass by the area at Temple 44. That explained why I saw the sign to Temple 44 earlier. Actually, there was a free sheltered lodging few more kilometers further, but I had ran out of time for the day. The onsen place was also just opposite a famous rock formation. The small patch in the picture took 4000years to form! Don’t play play!
I like my deodorant! Used it for the fi
rst time and I smelled nice again! Met a group of visitors there and one of them had been to Singapore. He said “kirei desu”. I replied “ma ma” (So so) Since when Singapore was beautiful, I thought! But, soon I realized and quickly corrected myself “hai, hai, kirei desu” (yes, yes, it’s clean!)
Continued my journey and started to doubt my navigation skill again! Then, I met an old man. I asked to confirm if this was the henro path. He told me it was an old henro path. He added there was no road up front! He also showed me the “dig tunnel” hand signals if you need to go through that. I trusted him, but found out he was wrong! Wasted 20minutes of my time!
After 1km, I was basically going through the same route that I came from, this morning. Saw a cyclist henro at the opposite side of the road. When I was about 3km away from my camp site, I walked very fast! Almost to the extent of jogging! Found another public phone but it was the 12th that couldn’t work! I thought something must be amiss! I could hear the dial-tone for emergency calls!
Finally I reached the park, half an hour earlier than my estimation. Took some time to dry up my tent first and set up at about 510pm so that it would get dark as soon as I finished. Today, there were many distractions. A lot of people were looking at me and I was worried they would stop me, but luckily no problem. Forgotten to take a picture of it again!!
Then, I walked to the same convenient store, called Cicrle-K. And there I was. Sitting on the same steps, outside the same pachinko building, having my same beef rice! Except, it wasn’t the same cold level. Tonight was colder!! I quickly went in to the pachinko building to get a hot drink after my dinner. I was still feeling cold inside the building. I thought I couldn’t afford to get sick. After a while, I felt better. Then, I started to plan for my trip tomorrow. Decided to do some short 10km plus walk for the next two days partly because I wouldn’t want to get sick overworked myself. Secondly, the stop points were where the free lodgings were! After that, I was writing my name slips, which was something holy inside the gambling building!
I came back around 7:30pm and cleaned up. By 8:30pm I was inside my tent. Not very comfortable because the ground was slightly slanted. Wanted to update my blog on my laptop but was too lazy to turn it on. I typed it on my iPhone and slept early.
Today, I added 18.5km to my pilgrimage.
Early in the journey, I had to tackle slopes! Sweats were dripping on my face! Saw a stone to land my backpack and immediately took the chance to catch some breath, rest my shoulders and sip a drink. Every time, I try to unload my backpack, I was like a pilot looking for a suitable place to land it, so that I could take off easier instead of being a weight-lifter.
On the way, saw a few worms, including some blue ones!! But it was unlike Melbourne, where they were basically covering the whole path that you walked on, when it rains. Now and then, you would hear “cracking” sound. Not that the worms have shell, but it was the snail! They were just too many for you to 
look out and avoid!Quite like a sign that I saw. It was the Kanji (or Chinese) character for the word “four” or “shi”, shaped like a road inside a box. “Shi” as in Shikoku (the island where this pilgrimage is), literally means “Four Country”.
Later, it was downhill and uphill for some kilometers. Then, I noticed a fresh foot print! Based on the size, that looked a guy’s. Probably the young Japanese I met
yesterday. After some distance, I started to daydream again. I was the first Singaporean to complete the pilgrimage and I became famous! During an interview, I was questioned that someone would like to challenge me for completing it in lesser days. I told the interviewer, “Completing the pilgrimage was not for competition. It’s was for oneself! Anyway, I would like to walk the pilgrimage again, because some of the paths I have not been taken before. Perhaps, this round, I would prefer to walk with someone else!” After just 5 minutes of rest today, I felt cold. Quickly, start walking again.I made a pledge to myself today. That I would not eat any meat on the 8th of every month in remembrance of Meiseji (refer to Day 1 blog).
I just set a special routine for this pilgrimage too
. I would alternate my handkerchiefs from one pocket to another daily. The left one will be passed over to the right pocket, and keep a clean one for the day. This will be used for my heavy sweat and running nose. The previous one from the right pocket will be sent to the “laundry” department.
Suddenly, I saw a big sign that said “Beware of Mamushi”. Not that I know how to read Japanese, but knowing some Chinese characters did help a lot =] My dictionary said it’s a kind of viper! Immediately, I heard a yell later. Scared the hell out of me! It was the young Japanese guy! We met again, and he told me he slept at one of the shelter along the path that I just came from!!! This guy was amazing! Gave me a lot of courage to sleep out! So, the footprint just now was probably his! Soon, I saw another mamushi sign, while I was blowing my nose! I thought I wouldn’t be so unlucky to hit one of the viper, which identified me and then informed his comrade to attack me later up front!!
The next half an hour were all walking down slope. I couldn’t wait for lunch. I sped up a lot. The thought of a hot soup meal energized me! Reached Temple 45 but couldn’t find the Suiya (water house, I thought that’s what it called in Japanese) to purify myself first before the prayer. Part of the temple etiquette where you used the scope to get water out and wash your hands and mouth before you start going to the halls to pray. I asked a nanny working there but she could not understand even though I showed her the Kanji. Then, I went further down to ask some fellow henro, who told me downstairs. They probably thought I was looking for a toilet or a drink. I walked almost to the main road until I met an old lady who confirmed it was up at the temple. I went up again and somehow missed it at the corner!
After my prayer, I was backed on the trail 
again. I realized the weight of my baggage actually pull me down and hurt my knees more. I was walking the same path down without my bag, and it was ok. So, I started walking backwards. It was in fact faster with the grip at the side to hold on to. At the bottom, a shop owner offered me his hot ginger drink he was selling. Very refreshing and nice.When I reached the main road, the restaurant in the map has already shut down! A lady told me there was no food sold around nearby except instant noodle. I decided to continue my walk. The uncle I met earlier at the temple, stopped his car in the middle of the road and asked if I would like a ride. I declined politely. After some distance, I doubt my way when I saw the sign going to Temple 44! The map had a tunnel close by, which I noticed on the opposite direction! So, I went back and after crossing the tunnel, I felt something wrong again. The tunnel name didn’t seem right and it was also shorter. Soon, I realized my initial path was right. The correct tunnel at the other side had another kanji word in front, although their names were
similar. After a long walk, I regretted not having the instant noodle. My shoulders were getting uncomfortable and my stomach yearning for hot soup! Out of a sudden, I realized I was pretty stupid yesterday at the Town Office! I could have asked the lady to help me to call those accommodations I wanted to try instead of looking for a public phone!!
So glad to reach an onsen place with cheap hot udon soup! The onsen was not expensive too but too bad it was at the wrong place =[ I still have some 5km to reach the same park where I camped last night. To go to Temple 46, I had to pass by the area at Temple 44. That explained why I saw the sign to Temple 44 earlier. Actually, there was a free sheltered lodging few more kilometers further, but I had ran out of time for the day. The onsen place was also just opposite a famous rock formation. The small patch in the picture took 4000years to form! Don’t play play!I like my deodorant! Used it for the fi
rst time and I smelled nice again! Met a group of visitors there and one of them had been to Singapore. He said “kirei desu”. I replied “ma ma” (So so) Since when Singapore was beautiful, I thought! But, soon I realized and quickly corrected myself “hai, hai, kirei desu” (yes, yes, it’s clean!)Continued my journey and started to doubt my navigation skill again! Then, I met an old man. I asked to confirm if this was the henro path. He told me it was an old henro path. He added there was no road up front! He also showed me the “dig tunnel” hand signals if you need to go through that. I trusted him, but found out he was wrong! Wasted 20minutes of my time!
After 1km, I was basically going through the same route that I came from, this morning. Saw a cyclist henro at the opposite side of the road. When I was about 3km away from my camp site, I walked very fast! Almost to the extent of jogging! Found another public phone but it was the 12th that couldn’t work! I thought something must be amiss! I could hear the dial-tone for emergency calls!
Finally I reached the park, half an hour earlier than my estimation. Took some time to dry up my tent first and set up at about 510pm so that it would get dark as soon as I finished. Today, there were many distractions. A lot of people were looking at me and I was worried they would stop me, but luckily no problem. Forgotten to take a picture of it again!!
Then, I walked to the same convenient store, called Cicrle-K. And there I was. Sitting on the same steps, outside the same pachinko building, having my same beef rice! Except, it wasn’t the same cold level. Tonight was colder!! I quickly went in to the pachinko building to get a hot drink after my dinner. I was still feeling cold inside the building. I thought I couldn’t afford to get sick. After a while, I felt better. Then, I started to plan for my trip tomorrow. Decided to do some short 10km plus walk for the next two days partly because I wouldn’t want to get sick overworked myself. Secondly, the stop points were where the free lodgings were! After that, I was writing my name slips, which was something holy inside the gambling building!
I came back around 7:30pm and cleaned up. By 8:30pm I was inside my tent. Not very comfortable because the ground was slightly slanted. Wanted to update my blog on my laptop but was too lazy to turn it on. I typed it on my iPhone and slept early.
Today, I added 18.5km to my pilgrimage.
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