The rain never stopped since yesterday! But I had the best sleep of my pilgrimage so far! The hot carpet worked wonder! For the first time, I was only awoken by the alarm, and feeling hot indeed! I didn’t even need my sleeping bag! The owner was already started praying at 5am!! While having my breakfast, I noticed a sign in my room which read “shower” and “washing machine” were available too!
I thanked the owner and left around 6:50am. He recommended me to go to Koya-san after the pilgrimage! It was a warm morning. I already had my jacket’s sleeves up the moment I began walking. Didn’t need my bandana for the whole day too. Thankfully, the rain ceased when I was walking.
As I joined in to Route 55, two dogs rushed to me hopping non-stop, hoping for some food from me! They were determined and didn’t want to go away. I shared 2 of my biscuits with them, which they had it in one gulp!
There were many eagles flying boldly above me. Later, I saw a few people sitting on a patch of tar road, and I wondered what they were doing! When I got closer, the “tar road” was actually a very huge fishing net!! They were probably fixing the net instead!
Two hours later, it began to sprinkle again, but luckily, I only had to use my umbrella for a short while. At the 3rd hour, I took a toilet break at the petrol station and had my first can of hot coffee! Somehow, the walk became smoother the moment I had my morning dose! I slotted my umbrella back at the side for “Ah Wing” to hold. Before even close to 10 steps, it showered yet again! I had to quickly stop at the side to retrieve my umbrella once more! But, just after 35seconds, the rain was gone, like he was trying to play hide-and-seek with me! Since then on, the sun appeared at last and it got hotter as the day went by!
I passed by two public phones early in the morning, but didn’t want to call up the accommodation yet. Just when I wanted to make the phone calls when I saw the phone again, it wasn’t working! I spotted many surfers again today! Then, I caught sight of a vending machine and a hut! It was 11:15am and just right for my lunch! Actually, the place belonged to a lodging and I met the owners. They were very nice to offer me hot water when they saw I had instant noodle. I wanted to tell them that was my dinner instead!
The sun was very bright, and I didn’t realize the sky was so beautiful until I put on my sunglasses. I passed by a stair that bring you to the beach. Thought of dipping my feet into the cold water! That would be really relaxing, I supposed. Then, I saw another stair and went down, but not to plunge my legs. Instead, I wanted to add more salt to the sea, but I though it wasn’t very noble indeed. I tested the sea water and almost got my shoes wet by the waves. The water wasn’t very cold at all. Managed to call up a few lodging and found one at 3500yen after discount! I ran out of life line again!
I was only 8km away by now and the hot bath in the evening urged me to push on. Finally, I saw a huge statue from far. Probably it was 1km away. I thought I was close to the temple, but when I got there, it was actually the statue of Kobo Daishi in his youth! No wonder he wasn’t with his famous straw hat! Another kilometer later, I eventually reached the exit to the temple, and there were many more steep steps waiting for me! The slope almost killed me instantly. This stretch was really my “Henro Korogashi” (difficult path). It wasn’t any easier on the way down. I was screaming a few times when my toes didn’t land on the stones in the exact way it should be.
I understood some important lesson again from this pilgrimage today. Difficulty does not lie in the task or the event. Instead, it is the mind-set preparation and the timing of occurrence. When I was very well mentally prepared for the tough route at Temple 12, I managed to handle it well. Today, I didn’t expect the ascend to 200m a.s.l. could be this tough, and the fact that it was towards the end of the day, it made the hike even tougher! Having the right mindset and mental preparation doesn’t mean the difficult task or event will become easy all of the sudden! But it would make your attempt smoother and less painful.
Finally, at 4pm, I was at my lodging but there wasn’t any grocery store around for a heavier breakfast tomorrow. There was a tourist information center just next to my lodging, and the staff pointed me to a restaurant nearby. I tried one of the famous deep sea water products at the tourist centre. An ice cream, but nothing much difference. Also bought a box of biscuits for contingency plan. Walked to the restaurant, but I only saw a huge knife and a chopping board. Very contented that they had instant noodle and a box of chocolate on sale!
Came back to my lodging, showered and did my laundry. Was about to have my dinner, but the can of sardine that I had was not friendly to open. And so, I went down to the kitchen for help. The owner passed me a bowl of rice to go along with it!!! I guessed I had not eaten rice for a long long time! It was just awesome! I could possibly have another bowl by itself!
After updated my blog, I went to bed around 9:30pm.
Today, I somehow had another unplanned 33km, because there wasn’t any lodging in between.
I thanked the owner and left around 6:50am. He recommended me to go to Koya-san after the pilgrimage! It was a warm morning. I already had my jacket’s sleeves up the moment I began walking. Didn’t need my bandana for the whole day too. Thankfully, the rain ceased when I was walking.
As I joined in to Route 55, two dogs rushed to me hopping non-stop, hoping for some food from me! They were determined and didn’t want to go away. I shared 2 of my biscuits with them, which they had it in one gulp!There were many eagles flying boldly above me. Later, I saw a few people sitting on a patch of tar road, and I wondered what they were doing! When I got closer, the “tar road” was actually a very huge fishing net!! They were probably fixing the net instead!
Two hours later, it began to sprinkle again, but luckily, I only had to use my umbrella for a short while. At the 3rd hour, I took a toilet break at the petrol station and had my first can of hot coffee! Somehow, the walk became smoother the moment I had my morning dose! I slotted my umbrella back at the side for “Ah Wing” to hold. Before even close to 10 steps, it showered yet again! I had to quickly stop at the side to retrieve my umbrella once more! But, just after 35seconds, the rain was gone, like he was trying to play hide-and-seek with me! Since then on, the sun appeared at last and it got hotter as the day went by!
I passed by two public phones early in the morning, but didn’t want to call up the accommodation yet. Just when I wanted to make the phone calls when I saw the phone again, it wasn’t working! I spotted many surfers again today! Then, I caught sight of a vending machine and a hut! It was 11:15am and just right for my lunch! Actually, the place belonged to a lodging and I met the owners. They were very nice to offer me hot water when they saw I had instant noodle. I wanted to tell them that was my dinner instead!
The sun was very bright, and I didn’t realize the sky was so beautiful until I put on my sunglasses. I passed by a stair that bring you to the beach. Thought of dipping my feet into the cold water! That would be really relaxing, I supposed. Then, I saw another stair and went down, but not to plunge my legs. Instead, I wanted to add more salt to the sea, but I though it wasn’t very noble indeed. I tested the sea water and almost got my shoes wet by the waves. The water wasn’t very cold at all. Managed to call up a few lodging and found one at 3500yen after discount! I ran out of life line again!
I was only 8km away by now and the hot bath in the evening urged me to push on. Finally, I saw a huge statue from far. Probably it was 1km away. I thought I was close to the temple, but when I got there, it was actually the statue of Kobo Daishi in his youth! No wonder he wasn’t with his famous straw hat! Another kilometer later, I eventually reached the exit to the temple, and there were many more steep steps waiting for me! The slope almost killed me instantly. This stretch was really my “Henro Korogashi” (difficult path). It wasn’t any easier on the way down. I was screaming a few times when my toes didn’t land on the stones in the exact way it should be.
I understood some important lesson again from this pilgrimage today. Difficulty does not lie in the task or the event. Instead, it is the mind-set preparation and the timing of occurrence. When I was very well mentally prepared for the tough route at Temple 12, I managed to handle it well. Today, I didn’t expect the ascend to 200m a.s.l. could be this tough, and the fact that it was towards the end of the day, it made the hike even tougher! Having the right mindset and mental preparation doesn’t mean the difficult task or event will become easy all of the sudden! But it would make your attempt smoother and less painful.
Finally, at 4pm, I was at my lodging but there wasn’t any grocery store around for a heavier breakfast tomorrow. There was a tourist information center just next to my lodging, and the staff pointed me to a restaurant nearby. I tried one of the famous deep sea water products at the tourist centre. An ice cream, but nothing much difference. Also bought a box of biscuits for contingency plan. Walked to the restaurant, but I only saw a huge knife and a chopping board. Very contented that they had instant noodle and a box of chocolate on sale!
Came back to my lodging, showered and did my laundry. Was about to have my dinner, but the can of sardine that I had was not friendly to open. And so, I went down to the kitchen for help. The owner passed me a bowl of rice to go along with it!!! I guessed I had not eaten rice for a long long time! It was just awesome! I could possibly have another bowl by itself!After updated my blog, I went to bed around 9:30pm.
Today, I somehow had another unplanned 33km, because there wasn’t any lodging in between.
Beautiful beaches! Btw, i thought you would have completed your pilgrimage by now? Kuan.xx
ReplyDeletewa, where got so fast? =] but tomorrow will be the final day =]
ReplyDelete