23rd Dec – Day 47, Temple 37 (Iwamotoji)

It was another sleepless night because of the wintry weather! I remembered looking at the time once at 2:50am and heard someone getting a drink from the vending machine in the middle of the night! Woke up around 5 and found small cubes of ice all over my tent!! It was similarly freezing in the morning, that it hurt my nose when I breathed in too deep!!

Around 7:30am, I started walking to Temple 37 which was about 3km away. It was all well, until when I was almost there. The urge suddenly came very quickly and without much warning! Even though I was just a few more minutes away, I could not walk at all and it felt like it was going to burst!! I got to a corner, threw my pouch and tried to pull down my pant! Before I could completely do that, I had already pee on my pant!! I still couldn’t believe it myself too!! After more than 30 years, I did it again!! I wondered if it happened 30 years earlier! I changed at the temple and had to do my laundry one day earlier again!

At the coin laundry, I met a couple of old ladies and started chatting as usual. One of them recommended the restaurant just opposite because it was famous for giving out big serving! Then, the restaurant owner came in and joined the chat. She then passed me a packet of red-bean rice as “o-settai”, but looked amused, like she was seeing the name slip for the first time in her life! She then returned me something else, which I wasn’t sure what it was, inside an envelope. The two ladies were discussing and explained to me that it was probably a courteous in return for the name slip! Shortly later, the restaurant owner came back and handed me a notebook with a pen instead, realizing she had given me the wrong thing earlier! We all laughed together! The other lady also gave me a bunch of banana, and she was surprised to see the name slip too. I had to tell her what it was instead!!

It was amazing how cold this morning was, but by 9:30am, the sun was already burning hot even inside the laundry! I resumed my walk only after 10:30am. About 3 hours later, I stopped at a rest hut for my “o-settai” lunch. After that, it was a tough battle exactly like yesterday! I rested after every half an hour instead of my usual 60minutes! My legs were weary, my shoulders were worn out, my back was painful and my bag was heavy!! During my last break just before the final 2.7km, I suddenly saw a chicken out of no way and walked very close towards me!

Around 3:30pm, I finally ended my day at a convenient store. I checked out the toilet nearby as shown on the map, and it was pretty decent. There was a patch for me to set up my tent, but I supposed I need to get some permission from the Jinja because it was just outside the shrine. However, I couldn’t find anyone there. I walked back to the convenient store to have my tea break first and wondered if I should walk further to the park 3km away! Eventually, I decided to stay put since there was convenient store around. I hung around inside the convenient store to avoid the cold outside. Then I saw an area where I could sit on the floor! I asked the shop attendant. She went in to get permission and the lady boss came out puzzled at my request! I just kept smiling and it seemed to work! She invited me to sit inside the staff area instead! She then introduced her husband, the boss and we all sat down and chatted. The lady boss then cut me a big bowl of apples and passed me some oranges and a bread! She also gave me a bag of the heating packets, which seemed to work better than the one I bought! Later I met one of their son working with them. They gave me their name cards. After that, the lady boss told me she had called the guy in-charge of the shrine and I could actually sleep inside the Jinja later!! I was overjoyed to hear the news and thanked them very very much!

About 6pm, the lady boss drove me over to meet the Jinja’s in-charge, Kotaro-san. I was so blessed to meet the family. I thought he would be bringing me over to the shrine, but instead he invited me in to his house! Kotaro-san and his wife Mieko-san was 31. They had 3 kids, the eldest daughter Komati (“ti” was pronounced as “chi”) at 6, second son Kinichiro at 4 and Anzou at 2! They actually invited me for dinner, offered me shower, and a room to sleep inside their house!!!! I could not believe it and lost for words! They treated me like a friend whom they had not met for a long time! I could only kept saying “Domo arigatou gozaimasu” and “Domo arigatou gozaimasu” and “Domo arigatou gozaimasu”!

The dinner was splendid!! Mieko-san cooked tempura! And I had 2 bowls of rice!!! Kotaro-san kept filling up my glass with the Asahi beer. The house was very clean and beautiful! After a great shower (I could even play with the kid’s water gun in the tub!!), we played an interesting Japanese chess game, called… (oh, Kin-chan played with my phone and accidentally deleted the photo I took). Very simple animal chess game with each player having only, a lion, an elephant, a giraffe and a chick. The objective of the game was to cross your lion over to the opponent side or eat your opponent’s lion! Lion could move in any direction. Elephant moved diagonally, while Giraffe vertically and horizontally only. The little chick could only move forward, but if it gets to the other end, it turned into a hen, and could walk backwards! We also played the Japanese famous finger pointing directional game! It was really fun and enjoyable! =]

Kin-chan liked to stick around with me and played with my iPhone too. The moment I came in to the house, he offered me his bag of sweets, showing me the different colours he had and slotted them inside the side pocket of my backpack! Then, he showed interest in my water bottle! I told him it was just plain water, but he was still persistent, until I told him it was from the toilet!! When his mom called for bath, I asked if he likes bathing since there was toy in the bath. He said he disliked it! =] He was cute, but also very mischievous!

Anzou liked to eat a lot! He kept eating and had a fat tummy!! He cried when his brother and sister took some of the chocolates from him. Mieko-san, then, brought three small bowls to split them up. An-chan was very clever and poured everything into his first and left the remaining that could fill up his bowl for his siblings!!

Komati-chan hurt her leg and was limping the whole night poorly! During the dinner, she drew a picture of the six persons in the house and gave me as a present! She asked me what do I drink usually!? Somehow the first word that popped up in my mind was “beer”! But, I did not say that immediately, and replied “water, milk, juices…. And beer!” =]

Just before bed, I walked to the convenient store to get my breakfast and some gifts for the family for such a warm hospitality! Updated my blog and went to bed around 11:16pm. I was still jolly in disbelieve!! Even the blankets smelled soooo nice!!!

Today was an amazing day to stop at 20.4km!

22nd Dec – Day 46, Shimanto Town (Aguri Kubokawa Michi-no-eki)

Woke up around 6 and had a great breakfast before leaving at 7:24am. I love my instant Nescafe coffee! I started off the day passing through several tunnels. There were many cars and going very fast just besides me! Very soon, it was an hour and I reached the Yakezaka-touge Pass and my nightmare already began before it was dark! First, there was supposed to be just a 0.5km cut-through, but indeed, walking henro path could be closed as well. Signs were indicating to detour to the long way, and it became a 3km walk instead! Then, I was lost and couldn’t locate myself on the map, but still there were many henro signs to follow, but the uphill direction was just the opposite of my compass reading and accordingly to the map! I had only one option that was to follow the signs. It was a very long hike until I finally reached 305m a.s.l., which I initially thought it was only going to be around 200m plus. The downhill continued to bring me to the main road, and another 4km or so I reached a small town, Tosa-Kure.

It was really a demoralizing day indeed. I was so tired after just 3 hours of walk today, and was cynical again if I could finish the remaining days! I just wished I could end the pilgrimage as soon as possible. For the first time, my knees were really tired. I stopped for a drink and checked some messages! Then, I saw a supermarket shortly, calculated the time I needed for the rest of the day, and stopped again for early lunch. I had a nice chicken and fish skewers with my favourite rice!

I moved on again and needed some energy drink to boost my strength! The sun was bright and hot by now. I decided to take out my shoes and hoped to dry it along the way, but it didn’t really work in the end. Only the surface was dried up slightly. After around 5km of walk, I reached the final 1km stretch of constant climbing at the Nanako-touge Pass!! I almost had to climb literally!! Took me almost an hour for the short path, and bang my head on the tree branches along the way! And I thought I had chosen the easier route, since the other option I saw on the map was going through hikes! I learned that I should avoid any route with “Pass” today!

Back to the main Route 56, I saw a ramen shop and stopped again! I was just too tired and didn’t want to bother about today’s schedule anymore. I just felt like stopping any time to eat whenever I wanted to! I didn’t want to have another set of bread again, since I had been eating it almost every meal!

When I moved on again, I saw the road sign of a town that I saw on day one! I couldn’t believe I had only about 10 days left for this pilgrimage! I was very close already!! But the remaining days seemed much tougher, just like the remaining hours of the each pilgrimage day!

Just half an hour later, I stopped again at a convenient store for a snack! Had been pretty alien to “o-settai” these days, and the shop attendant gave me a bottle of green tea! Finally, at 4pm I came to the supermarket-cum-restaurant where I was planning to spend the night. There even had free hot shower!! But, the toilet was only opened until 8pm. The shop attendant suggested the Michi-no-eki further up was a better choice, since there was a convenient store just opposite as well! My guide wasn’t updated with this information, and I already bought my milk and yogurt earlier! I asked if there was coin laundry, and he mentioned only near Temple 37. And so, I walked another half an hour to the Michi-no-eki, left my stuff in the handicapped toilet, and came back again for my shower and dinner. I thought of going to the coin laundry, but it would be too rush to come back for my shower by 8pm.

It was really wonderful to have free hot shower for as long as you wanted! After my wonderful rice meal (I had been enjoying my rice more than the main dishes these days. I mean, the pork that I had today was really delicious too, but I just loved my rice more!), I spent the rest of the time there planning for my next 4 days journey to Temple 38! And yes, it would take 4 days to go there comfortably, or 3 days which I thought of initially, but I would have to do close to 30km again. The distance between these two temples was the longest among all, at 81.6km! And the map did look very confusing!! When they were closing at 8pm, I walked back to the Michi-no-eki. The same 30 minutes seemed much shorter on the way back. While in deep thought, suddenly a train flew passed me in great speed! The track was just beside the walking path. It was like crashing towards me! Then, a guy suddenly appeared very close to me! He was kind of walking side way and cut through me very quickly!

I passed by the convenient store to warm myself up and got some junk food. Thought of asking the shop attendant to let me sit there, but there wasn’t really any place to sit at all. Backed to the Michi-no-eki and updated my blog outside at a bench. It was still ok initially but it got colder by 9pm. I stopped and went to set up my tent. Just when I was about to begin, a police car drove passed! My ground sheet was pretty obvious from the roadside, and then it turned in to the Michi-no-eki! I thought “Die!” The police must have seen me carrying my tent and came over to warn me! I quickly sat down on the bench and then pretended to get a drink from the vending machine! I did not turn back until a couple of minutes later. And thankfully, the patrol had already gone! I quickly got it done and went inside my tent around 10:45pm, because it was very cold outside!

Today was one of the toughest days I had at 30.3km.

21st Dec – Day 45, Bangai 5 (Daizenji)

Could only wake up at 7am today although I had set my alarm at 6am. Went down for my Pacific Ocean Breakfast set, which consisted of a banana, a 180g yogurt with cereal, a 500ml milk, 2 slices of bread with butter and cheese and a can of coffee! I noticed I wasn’t very environmental friendly at all. Got very paranoid of keeping plenty of plastic bags, and this morning, I realized my cereal was packed with 3 layers of it!!

I bid the staff farewell and began my walk only at 8:50am!! The rain had already started, but I decided to go with my New Balance. After about half an hour, I thought I could actually wrap my shoe with plastic bags! The timing was almost pre-planned and I found a shelter (someone’s home garage) and did exactly that! After half an hour, it worked without flaw! I thought I had found the ultimate solution for my wet shoes and painful toes!! Regrettably, it didn’t last longer than that. My right foot already had the damp feeling and slowly forming a pond! Within 10 minutes later, small bugs were already there for a swim! Perhaps, I did not tied up the plastic bag tightly on my right shoe, because my left foot was still pretty ok so far. Until when I was happily enjoying the great view of the Pacific Ocean, I wasn’t aware of a puddle in front, and created another swimming pond for the small bugs! Luckily it wasn’t very cold today, or else my feet would be frozen already. Nevertheless, soaking for 45minutes didn’t make much difference too! That was how long before I could reach a sheltered area to get change. Basically, the first half of the day was walking along the highway and the road had hardly any place for you to sit or rest! I tried to turn on my iTune for some music, but realized I did not complete my synchronization last night after upgrading the software! And so, I had to entertain myself singing! Almost reaching the highest pitch, the poncho suddenly got hooked onto a tree branch and came off from the backpack!! I had to unload and fix it again!!

Finally around 11, I reached the toilet and changed to my Nikko. There was a vending machine as well and so I had my lunch too. It was a frustrating moment! I had to dig all the way down inside my backpack to get my thinnest socks, and then, couldn’t find my towel to dry my feet again! After I’ve placed everything back neatly, I had to take out everything again to get my can of sardine!

Around an hour later, I continued my walk. Although it was raining, it wasn’t that cold and I didn’t need my gloves at all. Thankfully, it wasn’t very windy too! Else, I would have a hard time keeping my poncho still to cover the backpack! And, my Nikko seemed to work fine with the thin socks! But I was not sure if there was a defect with the Goretex material! My right foot seemed to be wet after 2 and half hours!!

I kept walking in the rain. Sometimes it got lighter, sometimes it got heavier. I was grateful my shoulders were in perfect conditions! For more than 5 hours, I also did not speak at all, or even a chance to greet anyone on the street! Then, a big truck drove passed and wet my pants! Luckily, my pouch was just a little splashed.

After 6 hours plus, I finally reached Bangai 5. The last half an hour was horrible. Probably, the rain drops added on weight to the baggage!! The temple was empty and quite different from the others. The stamp office was located slightly off the way, and you could actually take an elevator from the Main Hall to the stamp office for 200yen a trip! What a new to make money!

I felt very hungry after getting my stamp and needed to eat some rice very desperately! So I went into a ramen restaurant and ordered a stirred fried chicken set dinner with soup and a bowl of rice! It was lovely! The rain had finally stopped after my meal. It was already 4:30pm! I dragged myself to the Michi-no-eki 1km away, but when I was there, the place wasn’t very convincing. There wasn’t any decent place to put up a tent or benches suitable for sleep out. I tried to call the accommodation that the dormitory staff recommended several times but there were no answer! I tried another lodging close to that, but there was no vacancy today! I just sat down motionless inside the Michi-no-eki, feeling lost. I could walked back to the temple where there was a toilet to look for a spot for my tent. Or I could just walk to the accommodation which was an hour away and barge in as before! I pondered over it. I could hardly walk further for the day, and the rain made me very moody to sleep out tonight! Then, I studied the map again and saw a business hotel near the Mochi-no-eki! Tried my luck again, and 4000yen was the best I could get, and I had no more life-line! But it was Christmas period!!! So, I just added a new rule that said “You get a free life-line for Christmas celebration.”!

The business hotel was just so-so. And there wasn’t any light in the toilet. Too lazy to ask for a change, I took my shower immediately and rest for a while. Around 7:30pm, I walked over to the supermarket just opposite to look for bargain again for my supper! Had my favourite white rice with diced chicken for 200yen! Then, I got a couple of thinner socks from the 100yen shop upstairs! I just love 100yen shop so much! Continued downstairs to shop for food again! Bought the same dessert cake again and some interesting vegetable-based cereal for my breakfast tomorrow! Tried some new rye bread as well. Also bought an egg bun. And with my usual yogurt and milk, I thought I bought too much for breakfast tomorrow! In the end, I was too full to have my dessert cake and had to save them for breakfast as well! I wanted to sleep, but got distracted by a Japanese TV show! It was quite an interesting performance contest, and some of the contestants were really funny and entertaining!

Today, I had 23.2km but it seemed tiring than usual!

20th Dec – Day 44, Temple 35 to 36 (Kiyotakiji, Shouryuuji)

Last night was a good night! The blankets kept me warm and asleep although I had lots of dream and probably did rest well. I started my walk around 8:05am.

I remembered catching the weather report on TV at the Onsen a few of days ago that today was a rainy day at most part of the island, except for Kochi! There were a few droplets this morning but by 11am, it got very sunny again!

Temple 35 was just 2 and half hours away. Passed through a bigger Tosa city and got distracted by MOS burger for a moment. There was a short hike but no sweat! At the temple, I met a part time o-henro-san. Hanada-san was walking once every 11 days! He was staying at the same place I was going too! He went off first, while I took time for my tea break.

After another 2 hours, I stopped at a nice rest hut with even a slide, and had another round of tea break. There was a Tomato Basil on the vending machine and gave it a try. It wasn’t too bad! While I was deciding between a can of boring Cocoteen or a nice coffee again, I couldn’t resist to jump on the slide! It wasn’t actually easy to set my camera and run to the slide on time within 10 seconds. But, I had a perfect take with 3 shots very well taken in the best sequence! For that, I rewarded myself with a coffee instead!

Next, it was an 800m upslope to 180m a.s.l. With the heat from the sun as well, I was drenched by the time I reached the top. I met Hanada-san again and we walked together after that. He was 55 years old from Fukuoka. When we reached the main road, we parted again. I wanted to go to the shopping center for lunch, while he moved on to the temple.

And I really thought it was a shopping center, as the name suggested, but it turned out to be just a normal supermarket! I had my rice for lunch and bought my dinner and breakfast. Reached Temple 36 in an hour later. The name was called Green Dragon Temple, and I was expecting a green dragon head at the front gate! Didn’t realize the dragon was hiding at the back of the temple. The few hundred meter upslope was pretty harsh on my already wearing shoulders! But, the end result was really rewarding! I finally reached the dormitory and it looked more like a 5 stars hotel to me!! I was still doubtful when I checked in at the reception if the price was really 2500yen!

Immediately, I went for my bath to get rid of the stinky smell on me! I met Hanada-san at the onsen again! This place was really amazing! There was a superb view of the Pacific Ocean, and the staff was recommending the outdoor onsen where I could enjoy the great view! The staff was really friendly and nice. He suggested the walking options to the next temple and proposed a couple of good accommodation along the way. He then showed me through a telescope to view the moon. And, it was incredible how beautiful the moon was, up close! He sighed that tomorrow would be a rainy day, or else the view along the early part of the journey would be devastating!

Around 6, I had my dinner at the lounge. After that, the staff was very kind to offer the internet cable when he saw I was with my laptop! And since then, I was fixed in front of the computer for hours! I heard Emil Chou’s hit tune playing at the lounge. Then, Leslie Cheung, then Leon Lai, then Miriam Yeong! I had been listening to “Japanese” songs all these while!

Around 11:30pm, the staff went to bed and closed all the lights, but he was still very nice to let me use the internet! He slept at his office everyday! However, my laptop suddenly went into snail mode!! Perhaps, it was time to go to bed! I logged off and went up to my room to get some rest at 12:30am.

Today was a 24.1km walk from Temple 34 to 36.

19th Dec – Day 43, Temple 32 to 34 (Zenjibuji, Sekkeiji, Tanemaji)

I supposed the night wasn’t too cold. My sleep wasn’t interrupted much and I even thought I overslept when I woke up at 4 plus. The dry morning made it much easier to pack up the tent. When I was about to go, it was already 7:15am.

Temple 32 was just 30minutes away. After that, the walk just didn’t feel right. “Ah Wing” was just too heavy today! I blamed it on not having the coffee and gave myself an excuse to stop again for a can! Also took the opportunity to change my sock to a thinner one. The last two days weather had been really great. It was hot again! I wonder what was the black magic did my sister casted! Once I had the caffeine, I got the hang of my backpack again, although I knew it was probably not the coffee that did the trick. It was all in the mind! After so many centuries, my ghoul’s fingers finally turned more human-like now!

I was planning to end at Temple 35 since there was a free lodging there. But, it looked pretty tight to be at the temple on time, since I needed to do my laundry as well. I took a look at the free lodging guide from two sources and it seemed pretty convincing that Temple 34 had one too!

I asked the convenient store attendant for the closest coin laundry and thankfully there was one just a short detour away. It was just a small one with no seats. While waiting for my laundry, I dropped by a bakery to get some tea break. The doughnut and egg bun were heavenly! Almost wanted to turn back for another one! When it was time for drying, I realized I had actually done my laundry one day in advance! I still had another set of clean clothing!!

Around 11am, I continued to Temple 33. Crossed over a long bridge and saw many people fishing after that. There was even free ferry service mentioned in the guide, if you didn’t fancy taking the bridge. I was amazed it was actually part of a walking henro’s path!

There weren’t many signs to direct you to Temple 33, I wondered if this area had many non-believers as well! I almost thought I got lost. At the temple, I bought some snack for 350yen, but the dried potato was as hard as a stone! I observed that I wasn’t very lucky with trying new things! The ginger slice that I bought, also for 350yen, at Temple 22 was still taking up space in my backpack!

Since I had more time now, I wanted to eat some cooked rice so badly that I detoured again to a convenient store that I saw on the map. But, I was so pleased I saw an Okunomiyaki (Japanese pancake) restaurant instead, along the way! I had the rice like it was the main dish! Very good bowl of rice indeed, but a bit pricey at 200yen! To be fair, the Okunomiyaki was pretty good as well. The cook managed to make the vegetables inside not overly done, and there was ginger in this special Japanese pancake that I had!

Needless to say, the walk with a full stomach after that was challenging. I progressed like a tortoise, but I was still early at Temple 34 around 2:45pm. After my prayer, I asked about the lodging and there was really one! However, the staff didn’t seem very welcoming and told me that I could only go in at 5pm! I was perfectly fine with that, and I asked if I was supposed to come back to look for her. She said the place was somewhere else pointing to the left direction and told me a name. So, I thought it probably wasn’t at the temple but some other nearby area and went to find the place. I was lucky and met a restaurant owner just outside the temple and he volunteered to help and walked me back to the temple staff. They were then conversing very fast and fluent that I couldn’t catch anything out of it. Later, the restaurant owner told me to come back at 5pm at the same place where I got my temple stamp!

It was still around one and a half hours more before 5. I asked a shop owner outside the temple if there was any grocery store. They were very nice and lent me their bicycle! I rode to the place but there was a sign that mentioned it was closed on 19th December! I followed the guide map further up and found the store in the map instead! Unfortunately, there wasn’t much hot food on sales, and no microwave as well to heat them up. I just bought some banana and had a hot bun, a strawberry cream bun and a half-price milk there for tea break. The milk was only 64yen before discount! Should had grabbed a couple more! And I noticed, things at grocery doesn’t always sold cheaper than a vending machine!

Couldn’t find any place with power plug around the area, I rode back. Discovered that the man-made mirrors that I had been seeing along the walking path at the side of the road was probably for cyclists to take note when they wanted to make a turn! I rested at a sheltered area with milk and instant noodles vending machines just opposite the temple. I was so tired and took a short nap, but I overslept and woke up at 5pm! I quickly crossed over to look for the temple staff but it was already closed!! Luckily someone responded when I rang the bell! He showed me the room and asked for 300yen to stamp the book. I read about this in the guide, but I thought I had already got my stamp earlier. Didn’t want to question further, I just paid and confirmed later it was a separate charge to stay at the lodging, because the staff just stamped on the same page again the second time! Anyway, there was nothing to complain about. The room was really nice and clean. Most importantly, I could have hot shower!!!! This place was quite good, since there were food readily available around the lodging.

I went for my shower at once and then bought two instant noodles separately for my dinner! Finished off the can of sardines and corns that I had as well. After that, I updated my blog and went to bed around 9pm. It was pretty cold even inside the building, but the blankets kept me warm all night!

Today, I actually walked less than 19.9km because some of the distance was covered yesterday on the way to the park.

18th Dec – Day 42, Temple 29 to 31 (Kokubunji, Zenrakuji, Chikurinji)

The sleep was good. Woke up only once around 5 but my alarm was set at 6am. When it finally rang, I was still deep in my dream. Set a new alarm half an hour later and went back to sleep. 6:30am, it rang again, but I was still pretty blur! Set the alarm again for another half an hour and continued my dream. Eventually, I had to wake up at 7am, the latest so far! I told the staff yesterday that I would be gone by 7am, but I was still having my breakfast when she came in to clean up at 8am! I left around 8:42am, the slackest so far! I tried my instant coffee with the new cup that I bought yesterday! It tasted more like milk than coffee, but at least I could hold the cup to warm my palms!

This morning was like going through a storm in the ocean! At the early stage of the journey, it was very noisy with many cars along the path that I walked, and I was still kind of adjusting my backpack to a comfortable position. Then, I suddenly came to a very quiet passage and also at the same time, found my comfy spot for the baggage. My vessel survived the storm and the weather got stable again!

Saw a group of young baseball team having their jog with the trainer in front. Today, I realized you could actually tell roughly when the other person started his or her day through the way they greeted. If it was an “Ohayo Gozaimasu” around 9:30am or so, the person had probably just woke up not long ago! If the person greeted “Konnichiwa” instead at about the same time, he or she must have a long morning already!

About an hour and half, I reached Temple 29. It was so plain that not even the Main Hall and Daishi Hall were worth taking a picture. Anyway, I took one for consistency sake. Had a quick tea break and carried on to Temple 30. Saw a group playing soccer and my legs got very itchy! Somehow, the water in the drains here was always so clean, while those back home could be totally black sometimes!! Saw a group playing tennis and my hands got very itchy! About an hour and half, I was at Temple 30. Didn’t want to have a heavy lunch, I had a heavier tea break instead with 2 slices of my remaining raisin bread on butter and cheese! After that, I made more than 10 calls to various accommodations at the Kochi city centre, but the cheapest was still the first one I called at 3400yen. All the lodging had no laundry service! Still deciding, I resumed my walk. Would love to spend a night at the city and go online again. Besides, tomorrow happened to be a Sunday, and there was a famous Sunday market in the town.

Along the way, I saw a group of oldies having a lawn bowl competition! Some of the players were really old!! Amazing Japanese! Stopped at a traffic light and suddenly noticed a left-hand drive car passing by!! When I was almost at Temple 31, a car stopped in front and a guy in “Men In Black” suit offered to fetch me there instead! He said the road to the temple was close! For a moment, I really thought the walking henro path could be closed! But, I told him I would have a look instead since I couldn’t understand much of the rest that he said. He left disappointed. Maybe he was trying to recruit me to kill some bad monsters and aliens!

There was a distance of uphill, but only a piece of cake, for Benro, the Korogashi Dragon Slayer! When I reached the top, there was a nice café with beautiful Christmas decoration and cool jazzy Christmas tunes on play! I nearly wanted to dance to the beat! There was a taxi driver asking if I was finishing for the day and going downtown. I said “Yeah”. By now, I had decided to stay in the town to do my laundry too. He invited me to take his cab! Business must be bad for him!

After my prayer, I called up the first option, but it was full!! Thought for a moment, and called the 2nd option, but it was also full! Even the distant Youth Hostel was full as well!! I remembered reading a note, by chance, in the guide this morning. It said “Every year between November and February, some professional baseball teams hold training camp at places between Aki and Kochi city. As a result, it might be difficult to book a hotel room in this area due to the many visiting fans and media-related staff.”!!

I saw a couple of toilets near Temple 32 and rushed there before it got too dark to view the site. Around 5:10pm, I found the first toilet. Good spot with flat ground! I walked further to the next toilet which was closer to the supermarket and convenient store. It was even better with bigger toilet and nicer field! Left my backpack in the toilet, I wanted to get something hot to eat at the convenient store. Unfortunately, it wasn’t there as shown in the map anymore. Probably it had closed down. Luckily the supermarket was still around. Had something light, so that I could have the bargain later before it closed at 9pm. Glad there was a sitting area to hang around. Around 8, I walked over to the food section and most of the stuffs had already been snatched away! But I still managed to grab a drumstick and a set of tempura for half price. Wanted to have some rice, but all were sold out. Had to settle with instant Udon again.

I walked back to the park close by, cleaned up and built my tent! The ground was perfect for my pegs and they held the tent very well. Probably my best tent! I wrote my name slips just outside my tent and finished off my coffee before going into my camp at 10:30pm. I wished I had a convertible top so that I could view the beautiful starry sky tonight!

Today, I walked more than 24.7km to reach the park.

17th Dec – Day 41, Temple 28 (Dainichiji)

I was glad no one banged on the door to ask for the toilet! It was already bright when I woke up. I was quicker in my preparation this morning and started moving around 7:40am. I was glad I bought my dessert cake yesterday. They were just wonderful!! It was a happy day and I already whistling early in the morning. Probably I was going to meet Ronald McDonald again later!

The sun already came out at 8:30pm today! I thanked my sister very much for praying to have great weather for me. Nevertheless, the fingers were always freezing in the morning. My water bottle kept falling off a few times, until I tied it up nicely again. I was too lazy to do it earlier.

It was a long 20km plus walk to Temple 28. Around mid morning, “Ah Wing” threw temper and offended my shoulders! For the first time, my knees were tired instead and seemed to give way on a few occasions when I was walking a bit too fast. I dared not go too quick after that. And my toes still hurt especially if I had thick socks on. But all these were gone, the moment I thought of the big M sign!

On the way, I saw an interesting van parked at the side of a road entrance. Guillaume told me he watched a Japanese TV program before where the contestants were tested on parking at some places where it was almost impossible for non-residents there!

I walked and walked and walked. And finally I was just 1km away from my craving lunch outlet! I pressed on and eventually reached around 1:15pm! Too bad the Texas burger didn’t wait for me. Instead, Big Mac was only 200yen from today onwards until Boxing day! I saw some interesting key straps and decided to get one too. And so I ordered the large set, but the young lady told me there wasn’t any large size for hot drink, but only medium size. I said it was ok to have medium instead. But, when I asked for my key strap, there was some misunderstanding and the station manager came over to deal with me! I couldn’t express myself well in Japanese, to tell them what I wanted! Thankfully, the guy waiting patiently behind me in the queue, could speak English and helped me out! It seemed that I could only have LARGE cold drink in order to have the key strap!! What a stupid McDonald rule! But, I still had the guts to ask the not-so-patient-anymore station manager, if I could choose the key strap I like! After the Big Mac and a large fries, I was still not contented and had another McPork! It was something different and tasted good and only cost an amazing 100yen!!

I left around 2pm and got very thirsty after the junk meal! The slow 45minites walk eventually brought me to Temple 28. I was already used to “No” answer and had a contingency plan in mind, but when I asked the staff, they really had a place to sleep there!! It was a nice and clean room, but no blankets. The staff even served green tea with a boiler! I was more interested that I could have hot water!! I asked if there was a bath house around and the staff mentioned an onsen at a hotel some half an hour away. She offered to drive me there at 5pm, but I said I was ok to walk.

Reached a huge Marunaka supermarket with even a 100yen store! Went in and very happily got my stainless steel cup and spoon and a box of plaster for 105yen each!! Was trying so hard to look for internet access along my way and found a couple of spots but no proper seats available, but took note of them, just in case I really wanted to go online so desperately. In the end, I had the perfect spot at the onsen!!! After my bath, I stayed at the rest area enjoying my internet access, while having my feast of tidbits and breathtaking bottles of milk!! I had not had such great taste since my early uni days in Melbourne! I could still remember very clearly my first taste of milk at a hostel near my university. I almost wanted to throw up because I could not get used to the taste yet! Any fresher, you probably have to milk it yourself!! But 10 years later when I returned to Melbourne, the taste was sadly never the same anymore!

Around 8pm, I was so happy that I was allowed to come back to the onsen after my dinner!! I planned to go back to a restaurant I checked out at the supermarket with rice meals at reasonable price. But when I was there, they had already stopped accepting new customers although they closed at 9pm!

Dejected, I walked out and saw a place pretty local-like and thought the price should not be too expensive. I went in. The owners and patrons were looking at me like I was an Alien! Well, I was indeed an alien from another country to them! But shortly, a warm-looking lady welcomed me to my seat and asked what I like to drink. I said water will do, but she looked surprised and wondered if I don’t drink beer. I said I was on a walking pilgrimage and didn’t want to get a headache. She brought me one anyway and said it was ok to have just one! And they like to say “present” for a treat! I thanked the boss and tried to order my okunomiyaki, but they suggested a Saboyaki (fried noodle) instead because the Japanese pancake would took a long time to be ready. They knew I was very hungry!! The place was very lively, and reminded me of the small restaurant I went, near the Genpei-no-sato Michi-no-eki. The patrons were chatting and laughing together with the owners. It was more like a party than a restaurant! They were all very amazed where I came from and why I was walking the pilgrimage! I introduced myself and cheered with them as well!! The guy next sitting next to me then ordered a whole plate of sashimi for me as “o-settai”!! That was the first time I had so much sashimi at once in my life!!! But it was really very fresh and delicious!! Kochi was famous for its sashimi too, and I was very fortunate to taste it tonight. Then, he brought his glass of beer and said “Henpai” to me (instead of “Kanpai to mean cheers). The boss explained that only people from Kochi-ken did this. When someone “Henpai” with you, they would first down their glass and then poured for you to drink it all off as well! Basically, it meant “bottoms up” to us!! =] When I wanted to pay for my Saboyaki, the patrons sitting at the back offered it as “o-settai”!! I thanked them all and gave 6 name slips out!! The owner also gave me another golden name slip of a guy who did his 278th pilgrimage at the aged of 85years!!!! He said it was to be hung at the entrance of the house for protection! I was so grateful to meet this group of nice people and thanked them again before I went back to the onsen!

As I was trying to turn on my laptop, I realized my list of free lodging paper, slipped inside my guide book, was missing. I wouldn’t mind so much of the list actually because I had another copy in my laptop, but unfortunately, the contacts of the two Americans o-henro-san whom I met were written on that piece of paper! I believed I dropped it at the restaurant and walked very quickly back while leaving my things behind! Sadly, it wasn’t there as well. At this time, there was an old friend of the boss sitting there and I was introduced. He seemed very interested in me and wanted me to join him with a drink. I tried to “Siam” (meaning “avoid” in Hokkien dialect), but could not refuse him and the beer was already on the table! I went back quickly to the onsen again to collect my things and came back to join the old man. It started off with some usual plain chatting, but soon, he got into very deep conversations. Asking me about my objectives in life, what I wanted to do in life, and it took me a long while to realize he was actually a non-believer or not supportive of this pilgrimage at all. He kept saying a same phrase, repeated over and over again, that I couldn’t understand. Only managed to catch “Kokoro (heart)” and something like “Nancha”, “Shin” and “Zetai”!! When I was trying to pass him a name slip as courteous of the beer, he actually snubbed it fiercely! Glad the repetitive “Kokoro” and “Nancha” last for less than an hour, because the restaurant was closing at 11pm. The lady boss was trying to hint and chase him away, when he wanted to go “Kokoro” again!! I thanked both the owners very much once again for their hospitality and walked back to the temple in the dark! Still had some name slips to prepare, I hurriedly got it done and slept at 12am feeling pretty blur after just 2 glasses of beer!

Today, I walked the remaining 24.7km to Temple 28.