25th Dec – Day 49, Tosa-shimizu City (Shimonokae Junior High School)

It was Christmas Day!! And I overslept! I thought I overheard someone saying “o-henro-san” and sprung up immediately to find out it was already 7:15am!! My alarm did not ring and I only realized it was set to silence! I turned on the “Silent Mode” last night, thinking I would not be aroused from my sleep, by my friends when they send me well wishes SMS! But, I was kind of depressed to see none this morning. Looked like I wasn’t very popular among my friends!

It was so cold last night that the tissues I used to slot under the toilet door were all soaked! I hurried and managed to get going only at 9am! After an hour of walk, it snowed!!! It was only my second witness of snowing and the first time in a city!! I still remembered my first snowing experience at Mt Buller, Melbourne, Australia. The weather was perfect, and I could see snow falling down gently from the sunny clear sky!! Today, it was equally beautiful! It was heavy and the view was great! Really wanted to capture the moment, but the camera I had couldn’t do a good job. But soon, the wind got stronger too. And sent the snows coming from all directions! I didn’t know which way to hold my umbrella. Then, very strong wind followed and basically blew the snows horizontally to my right, trying to wet my shoes! Luckily I was pretty close to the convenient store to get some shelter. It was 11am and just time to break for lunch too. It was so windy and cold outside that you didn’t feel like walking again after you’d stopped.

An hour later, I had to move on. The snow really loved me. For as long as I had rested, the snowing stopped, but as soon as I started hitting on the road again, it came back! Shortly, I reached a long bridge and found out the secret of how Michael Jackson did his 45 degree stun in the “Smooth Criminal” MTV! The wind essentially made me pushed forward in 45 degree!! After I had crossed the bridge, my poncho was blown away, and I witnessed it flying off bit by bit slowly down to the river until the last slope before it felt off and stopped! I quickly ran down and managed to grab it before I really see it for the last time!

After lunch, I could walk faster and smoother again, ironically, after a can of coffee again! At around 2pm, I reached the first checkpoint and felt like eating something hot. So, I stopped again for an Udon soup at the restaurant. This place was where I would be coming back again to Temple 39!

I continued Route 321 and came to a very long 1.6km tunnel! When I came out half an hour later, I almost forgotten it was the day time still! Soon, I reached the area where the cheap lodging should be. I tried hard to look out for signs that the guide mentioned, but couldn’t find any at all. Instead, I found a stall selling 8 takoyaki for only 200yen! I couldn’t resist and stopped to enjoy the snack! The stall owner was very nice and added two more extra for me!! I tried asking if she knew about the cheap lodging. She pointed me to the hut just outside her stall! I thanked her and was happy to find it! But when I checked out the place, it was more like a deserted store! I moved on to try my luck elsewhere.

Reached the school but there was still no sign of the lodging. I had already planned to give up and looked up for the toilet instead. After turning one round, it was actually outside the school compound. And when I saw the inside of the handicapped toilet, I was delighted and checked in to the “Toilet Hotel” immediately! I saw shower available in the toilets too! I thought it was my luckiest day! But no, there was no hot water! I cleaned up and went out to the convenient store for food. On the way, I saw a restaurant and ate there instead since I could have a proper seat and probably stayed longer indoor! The set dinner was wonderful!! Fried chicken with tomato fish and miso soup. The rice was very nice that I ordered another. All for 900yen! Sadly, the place closed at 7pm. I was very tired. Went to get my breakfast at the convenient store and returned to sleep immediately instead of updating my blog. It was a cold night. Everything in my pouch seemed be to just taken out from the freezer!

Today was another tiring 23.8km.