26th Dec – Day 50, Temple 38 (Kongoufukuji)

Thought I slept so early last night, I could not get enough rest. The alarm rang at 4:30am, but I set it to 5:30am again. I woke up around 6am instead, feeling very tired and didn’t have the right frame of mind to walk at all. My throat was very dry and looked like it was developing to sore throat! And that was not a very good sign! The whole day I wasn’t at my 100 per cent. Felt chilly and not very sound. The cold weather these two days must have been the culprit! I realized I wasn’t crazy actually, but stupid instead! I wondered why would anyone be so foolish to suffer the cold sleeping out, just to save some few bucks!

Though I woke up at 6am, I surprised myself for getting ready so soon and was already walking by 7:30am! The morning sun was very beautiful. Today was following Route 321 basically, before joining to Route 27 all the way to Temple 38. There were so many henro signs along the road. Some for old paths. Some for new ones. I was confused and thought I had missed a turn and went the longer way. Instead, I wasn’t at that point yet! When I was actually there, the sign pointed down to the beach. I hesitated and confirmed a few times with my map book, until a man came out from a small food stall. He later offered me to come in for a coffee and bought me a bread set! The stall owner also offered me a couple of oranges. Later, two of the other patrons there gave me more oranges! I thanked them all with my name slips. After the great snack, I moved on down to the beach! It was a short 15 minutes walk before I was directed back to Route 321.

Haven’t met a walking o-henro-san for a long time, until today. He was from Temple 45 going the opposite direction. Realized I hadn’t been calling home for a long time since the Love Hotel night and had forgotten again. I recalled the two ladies in the laundry on the day before Christmas’s eve, saying, “Your parents must be really worried about you!” Hadn’t been very filial all these years. Was always away from home since high school. Went to Melbourne to study and then worked in Singapore.

Suddenly, I heard “Ham!! Ham!! Ham, ham!!” A dog was barking very strangely, that literally sound like that! Around 12pm, I reached a small town, Kubotsu and glad to stop for lunch. The set meal was wonderful and the rice was pretty close to the one I had at the lodging on Day 38, that I had a second bowl! The batter was so fresh that I could taste the smell of the flour! The owner later gave me a treat on the extra bowl of rice and another piece of bread as “o-settai”!

After that, I continued for an hour and reached the cheap lodging that I planned to spend the night. I informed the owner that I would be back around 5pm. I noticed the place was not bad and thought I could have a nice sheltered place tonight finally! It was only now that I felt more like myself. Probably because of having 70 lemons!! That was what the label said on my bottle of “C.C. Lemon Super Vitamin C” drink! I walked much faster and within an hour, I reached Temple 38 at 3pm. And so, I spent 4 days to make it to the temple, only to spend 14 minutes there! Almost forgotten how to go through the temple etiquette! I quickly walked to the store nearby to get my rations and rushed back to the lodging again, before it got dark! It had been a cold day and for the first time in my pilgrimage, I had both jackets on for the whole day!

The owner was a young guy. He was waiting for me. There were actually two options. The hut outside cost half the price at 500yen only, but the light was very dim and I thought the room inside would be more cozy, with a heater. So, I opted for the 1000yen and was happy with it, except the shower which was done outdoor!! The hot water was kept separately in a big bowl, which I needed to scope it out and mix with cold water from the tap. And it was a mistake to wash my hair! Luckily the heater in the room was strong enough to warm up the room!

After some planning, I decided to walk the longest day of my pilgrimage tomorrow at 34km, in order to stay at a paid lodging instead. Hence, I went to bed earlier so that I could start my walk sooner tomorrow morning!

Today I was another 26.4km closer to end my pilgrimage!