Sorry, I just had to do it.
Anyway, the circle is quite literally complete as I returned to temple 1 yesterday. But first there's Wednesday. Not a whole lot happened on Wednesday. I left number 88 and headed back to temple 5, where I spent the night at the same place I stayed on my first night. The learner/master part of that quote also applies as I imparted my now infinite wisdom of the henro path to the fresh clean shaven henro I saw at the earlier temples. It was an interesting feeling to be on the other side of things for once.
Yesterday I went back to temple 1 in the morning, and headed back to Osaka in the afternoon. While waiting on the bus back to Osaka I found some internet access. I opened up my school webmail account to find 3664 messages waiting for me, at which point I immediately logged back out and decided to wait until I got back to my PC and spam filter. Riding on the bus was a slightly odd feeling (the whole moving without walking thing). But even odder was walking through Nanba station while changing trains. It felt like something out of a movie. Here I was in sweat stained clothes with a large backpack (with tarp and sleeping pad strapped to the top) walking amongst one of the more fashionable parts of Osaka. On one hand I definitely felt out of place, but on the other it did kind of feel like coming home. It was also a strange feeling to see so many other foreigners again. It was the first time since I left Osaka that I saw other Caucasians.
Today I went to Mt. Koya, where Kobo Daishi's grave is located (amongst a lot of other famous people). That was interesting, although more interesting than the actual temple mountain was the impossibly small odds chance encounter I had. I ran into the woman that I had met on the trail so many times. She had just finished yesterday, and come straight to Mt. Koya. Needless to say we were both quite surprised to see each other.
Anyway, this ends my adventures as a Henro (for now... I'll be back for a sequel some day). Hope you enjoyed the stories, I'll try to answer any questions in comments, though no guarantees.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
We did it!
Yesterday was fairly ugly. It started raining pretty hard right as I was breaking camp. Thankfully it didn't rain earlier as it turns out my chosen spot only half stayed dry.
I confirmed my theory of the military base on the mountain when my morning hike was to accompanied by the sounds of assault rifles set to burst fire. It was kind of freaky really. It was pouring down rain, between the clouds which had descended upon the mountain and the trees none of the dawn light made it through so it was quite dark, then the gunshots...
Anyway, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I ended up climbing one more mountain (there was one more planned that I ended up doing this morning instead). I don't know if I've said this before but it can be said again. Climbing up a mountain is easy, its the way down where you risk life and limb with every step you take. Don't know how many times I managed to slip on the way down from 84.
I ran into an interesting group at the super near where I stayed. A pair of gentlemen around 60ish, with another older man and two women popping in to the conversation at various times. For some reason it had a jay and silent bob feel.
One of them said something I've been told a few times recently. Apparently I'm starting to look Japanese. But not just any Japanese, I'm told I look like a samurai from the past. Maybe I'll have to take it a step further and show up to one day of gencon in kimono/hakama with a katana and wakizashi attached. I already own it all, might as well put it to use.
Anyway, yesterday night I camped out at the ropeway station at the base of my next mountain. I was told it was pretty nice, I was deceived. The benches were too short for me, and in bad locations anyway. The weather was supposed to get ugly, so I ended up unrolling my tarp under the shelter for bikes/motorcycles. Turned out to be a wise choice as it started pouring down rain at about 2:30.
I set out in the rain but made really good time to the temple, getting there about a half hour before it officially opened. The guy was nice though and stamped my book anyway.
Stopped raining again in the early afternoon, and the rest of the day was sunny. I finished up temples 86 and 87 pretty quick, then headed off to 88. On the way there they have a "Henro Salon" where they give you a pin and a little certificate saying you walked it (they assume you make it to 88 ok). 88 had me going over another mountain. Wasn't so bad except at the summit where it became much more of a hands and feet mountain climb. The view from the summit is supposed to be spectacular, but it was cloudy/hazy so I couldn't see anything.
Ended up arriving at the temple about the same time as another guy, probably about my age. His family was waiting for him and they all seemed quite happy. In his joy he bought 30 packs of udon to give to friends/family as souvenirs, and then gave me 3000 yen settai since we finished at the same time.
I was looking forward to staying at the tsuyado here, but apparently they got rid of it. There's still a nice place to camp out but I was hoping for a futon.
Tomorrow is off to the same place I stayed the first night, with a onsen nearby and futons for sleeping. Will be quite nice. Hopefully I can find a coin laundry too.
I confirmed my theory of the military base on the mountain when my morning hike was to accompanied by the sounds of assault rifles set to burst fire. It was kind of freaky really. It was pouring down rain, between the clouds which had descended upon the mountain and the trees none of the dawn light made it through so it was quite dark, then the gunshots...
Anyway, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I ended up climbing one more mountain (there was one more planned that I ended up doing this morning instead). I don't know if I've said this before but it can be said again. Climbing up a mountain is easy, its the way down where you risk life and limb with every step you take. Don't know how many times I managed to slip on the way down from 84.
I ran into an interesting group at the super near where I stayed. A pair of gentlemen around 60ish, with another older man and two women popping in to the conversation at various times. For some reason it had a jay and silent bob feel.
One of them said something I've been told a few times recently. Apparently I'm starting to look Japanese. But not just any Japanese, I'm told I look like a samurai from the past. Maybe I'll have to take it a step further and show up to one day of gencon in kimono/hakama with a katana and wakizashi attached. I already own it all, might as well put it to use.
Anyway, yesterday night I camped out at the ropeway station at the base of my next mountain. I was told it was pretty nice, I was deceived. The benches were too short for me, and in bad locations anyway. The weather was supposed to get ugly, so I ended up unrolling my tarp under the shelter for bikes/motorcycles. Turned out to be a wise choice as it started pouring down rain at about 2:30.
I set out in the rain but made really good time to the temple, getting there about a half hour before it officially opened. The guy was nice though and stamped my book anyway.
Stopped raining again in the early afternoon, and the rest of the day was sunny. I finished up temples 86 and 87 pretty quick, then headed off to 88. On the way there they have a "Henro Salon" where they give you a pin and a little certificate saying you walked it (they assume you make it to 88 ok). 88 had me going over another mountain. Wasn't so bad except at the summit where it became much more of a hands and feet mountain climb. The view from the summit is supposed to be spectacular, but it was cloudy/hazy so I couldn't see anything.
Ended up arriving at the temple about the same time as another guy, probably about my age. His family was waiting for him and they all seemed quite happy. In his joy he bought 30 packs of udon to give to friends/family as souvenirs, and then gave me 3000 yen settai since we finished at the same time.
I was looking forward to staying at the tsuyado here, but apparently they got rid of it. There's still a nice place to camp out but I was hoping for a futon.
Tomorrow is off to the same place I stayed the first night, with a onsen nearby and futons for sleeping. Will be quite nice. Hopefully I can find a coin laundry too.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
And now back to our regularly scheduled program
This will be long so take a seat.
As I recall we last left off on Wednesday, the 27th I guess it would be.
Well, not much to say about Thursday. It started raining again, but somehow it only really started raining right after I would take a break under a shelter, so I guess I was lucky.
I climbed up and most of the way back down one smaller mountain, stopping about 4k from temple 65. There I had a bus stop as my shelter for the night. Not the best of places as it was noisy and a little far from a bathroom and water.
Friday was a bit more interesting. I had about a 1000m mountain (the largest in my route) in the morning. It was a pretty steep climb and I was somewhere between dripping and pouring sweat. I would have hated to try that one in the afternoon.
The way down was a bit more leisurely, but its like someone messed up the measurements. Its a nice even descent until the last little bit, where it becomes nightmareishly steep.At the end of the descent there's a nice place that most people stop at. However I'm not most people so I went for 3 more temples, ending right after 69. The weather had been sunny (and unbareably hot) most of the day, but right as I was finishing up the last temple it started pouring. My plan was to sleep on the observation deck of the nearby park, though when I saw it I began to have my doubts, especially with the rain.
I had time to kill before the bentos at the super went half price for the evening so I decided to walk (in the rain) to the nearby michi no eki. It was closed. However on my way back a car stopped and the guy asked where I was staying. I say the observation deck. He suggests thats a bad idea (I already had that feeling) and mentions there's also an open air music/performance hall with roof thats really good for camping out, so I head there. It was indeed quite nice. Spacious, dry, and not located at the top of a large hill. After a couple minutes he shows up as well with bento in hand for me. We talked for a while, apparently he's done the trip by car and enjoys hanging out with the walking henros.
Yesterday (Saturday) there wasn't much distance to be covered, but it turned out to be a busy day. First off at temple 70 I ran into one of the other walkers I met my first night. The one that had done a lot of travelling. We talked for a while. apparently he had gone to about 36, then went back home to make some money, and was now starting from the other end and going backwards.
On my way to the next temple I managed to fing the 2 things I needed badly, coin laundry and an onsen. After both clothes and body were clean I continued on to temple 71. It turns out that one is well known for its 石段, or stone stairs. There were lots of stairs.
On my way up I ran into some friends of the guy from the night before. He had said he would stop and say hi if he met me on the road, but apparently he meant it in a more proactive way and had actually driven up and down the road looking for me. Probably while I was doing laundry. Then at the next temple the person at the stamp office looks at me really closely, then asks if I met a guy who gave me some osettai the night before. Apparently he had come searching for me at the temple too. Same thing happens at the next too temples.
As a completely unrelated interlude, I ran into a group of people driving to the temples at 71, again at 73, and again at 74. It gives me some amount of satisfaction that I kept pace with a car (and they were near dumbfounded). Nice people though. I gather that they're locals and just did a day trip to the nearby ones.
In the end I barely made it to temple 75 before the office closed. That limited my lodging to the parking lot of the temple or the park. At the parking lot they've got a gift shop with a nice overhanging roof to provide shelter, so not too bad. However they locked up the bathroom and while I think I can stay there there is a little bit of an off limits vibe.
The park also has a nice shelter, and the bench is better suited for sleeping. I also remember the guy from yesterday saying it was good. There were a number of stray cats and dogs though.
I had just eaten my dinner and was about to get everything ready to sleep when he found me. Apparently he had been searching most of the day and was somewhat annoyed/upset that I hadn't followed the schedule he had in his mind, which didn't take into account my laundry and bath. Also apparently he was expecting me to be at a different shelter up the hill a bit, which I ended up moving to. That turned out to be a good choice as some kids were setting of fireworks where I was before in the middle of the night.
Anyway, he finally leaves, saying to make sure to stay where I was planning on staying the next day (today) as he is going to drive all the way out there to bring me a bento.
And finally today. For the most part it was an uneventful day. It rained a few times.
In the afternoon I did run into another religious nutjob (This one had the cultist vibe going). As is the polite thing to do I greeted him as we passed (looked like your average salary man) and I was taken by surprise when his response was nonstandard. Then he started rambling on in broken English about how there were 2 religions, true religion and false religion, and that christianity was the true religion, but not morman or baptist, which were false religions. Anyway, I quickly managed to get away.
I made it to temple 81 today, and set up camp at the place I was told about by the temple. Its not bad, a rest and information place (closed for the night already) with a tremendous view of the surrounding area since I'm up on a mountain.
There appears to be a large military base on the mountain. I saw lots of big keep out signs and barbed wire fence, plus lots of military vehicles driving past.
Unfortunately either the crazy guy that is supposed to bring me food is either really late or not coming. While I was sensible enough to bring enough food to get by on its not the kind of stuff that's very filling.
And no, I did not write this massive post in one sitting.
As I recall we last left off on Wednesday, the 27th I guess it would be.
Well, not much to say about Thursday. It started raining again, but somehow it only really started raining right after I would take a break under a shelter, so I guess I was lucky.
I climbed up and most of the way back down one smaller mountain, stopping about 4k from temple 65. There I had a bus stop as my shelter for the night. Not the best of places as it was noisy and a little far from a bathroom and water.
Friday was a bit more interesting. I had about a 1000m mountain (the largest in my route) in the morning. It was a pretty steep climb and I was somewhere between dripping and pouring sweat. I would have hated to try that one in the afternoon.
The way down was a bit more leisurely, but its like someone messed up the measurements. Its a nice even descent until the last little bit, where it becomes nightmareishly steep.At the end of the descent there's a nice place that most people stop at. However I'm not most people so I went for 3 more temples, ending right after 69. The weather had been sunny (and unbareably hot) most of the day, but right as I was finishing up the last temple it started pouring. My plan was to sleep on the observation deck of the nearby park, though when I saw it I began to have my doubts, especially with the rain.
I had time to kill before the bentos at the super went half price for the evening so I decided to walk (in the rain) to the nearby michi no eki. It was closed. However on my way back a car stopped and the guy asked where I was staying. I say the observation deck. He suggests thats a bad idea (I already had that feeling) and mentions there's also an open air music/performance hall with roof thats really good for camping out, so I head there. It was indeed quite nice. Spacious, dry, and not located at the top of a large hill. After a couple minutes he shows up as well with bento in hand for me. We talked for a while, apparently he's done the trip by car and enjoys hanging out with the walking henros.
Yesterday (Saturday) there wasn't much distance to be covered, but it turned out to be a busy day. First off at temple 70 I ran into one of the other walkers I met my first night. The one that had done a lot of travelling. We talked for a while. apparently he had gone to about 36, then went back home to make some money, and was now starting from the other end and going backwards.
On my way to the next temple I managed to fing the 2 things I needed badly, coin laundry and an onsen. After both clothes and body were clean I continued on to temple 71. It turns out that one is well known for its 石段, or stone stairs. There were lots of stairs.
On my way up I ran into some friends of the guy from the night before. He had said he would stop and say hi if he met me on the road, but apparently he meant it in a more proactive way and had actually driven up and down the road looking for me. Probably while I was doing laundry. Then at the next temple the person at the stamp office looks at me really closely, then asks if I met a guy who gave me some osettai the night before. Apparently he had come searching for me at the temple too. Same thing happens at the next too temples.
As a completely unrelated interlude, I ran into a group of people driving to the temples at 71, again at 73, and again at 74. It gives me some amount of satisfaction that I kept pace with a car (and they were near dumbfounded). Nice people though. I gather that they're locals and just did a day trip to the nearby ones.
In the end I barely made it to temple 75 before the office closed. That limited my lodging to the parking lot of the temple or the park. At the parking lot they've got a gift shop with a nice overhanging roof to provide shelter, so not too bad. However they locked up the bathroom and while I think I can stay there there is a little bit of an off limits vibe.
The park also has a nice shelter, and the bench is better suited for sleeping. I also remember the guy from yesterday saying it was good. There were a number of stray cats and dogs though.
I had just eaten my dinner and was about to get everything ready to sleep when he found me. Apparently he had been searching most of the day and was somewhat annoyed/upset that I hadn't followed the schedule he had in his mind, which didn't take into account my laundry and bath. Also apparently he was expecting me to be at a different shelter up the hill a bit, which I ended up moving to. That turned out to be a good choice as some kids were setting of fireworks where I was before in the middle of the night.
Anyway, he finally leaves, saying to make sure to stay where I was planning on staying the next day (today) as he is going to drive all the way out there to bring me a bento.
And finally today. For the most part it was an uneventful day. It rained a few times.
In the afternoon I did run into another religious nutjob (This one had the cultist vibe going). As is the polite thing to do I greeted him as we passed (looked like your average salary man) and I was taken by surprise when his response was nonstandard. Then he started rambling on in broken English about how there were 2 religions, true religion and false religion, and that christianity was the true religion, but not morman or baptist, which were false religions. Anyway, I quickly managed to get away.
I made it to temple 81 today, and set up camp at the place I was told about by the temple. Its not bad, a rest and information place (closed for the night already) with a tremendous view of the surrounding area since I'm up on a mountain.
There appears to be a large military base on the mountain. I saw lots of big keep out signs and barbed wire fence, plus lots of military vehicles driving past.
Unfortunately either the crazy guy that is supposed to bring me food is either really late or not coming. While I was sensible enough to bring enough food to get by on its not the kind of stuff that's very filling.
And no, I did not write this massive post in one sitting.
schedule update
I will be posting my regular entry before I go to bed, but for now here's a quick update to my schedule. I should make it to 88 the day after tomorrow (Tuesday). I stay the night there, then head back to the beginning the next day. Its not too far, so my plan is to go as far as temple 5 and then stop at the same place I did my first night. I know there is an onsen there, plus I told the old lady that runs the nearby restaurant I'd stop by and say hi on my way back. Then Thursday morning I head back to 1, then back to Osaka in the afternoon.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Rest Of The Story
So yesterday morning I climb up the mountain, do my temple thing, and climb back down. There's something strangely rewarding about ovecoming a 800m Mountain by 10am.
At the next temple, 61, I ran into an older lady and I'm assuming her son that were going by car. We talked for a while and she was quite happy to meet a foreigner walking the trail. She ended up giving me \5000 as osetti.
My next encounter was at temple 64. I was about to head out when I hear a familiar voice call out my name. Sure enough it was the guy I had met my first evening and again the second day. He's not currently walking it, not sure if he just likes hanging around the temples or what.
Anyway, we talk for a bit, then he insists on taking me out for lunch. We ended up going to a pretty tasty conveyor belt sushi place. He then mentions he ran into some friends of mine. Turns out it was the older guy and the woman. They were about a day or two behind it seems.
I continue on my way and finally make my way to my objective for the day, a bento shop. I had heard that they had or knew of a place to stay in the area. I walk in and the lady behind the counter tells me to choose one of the two cheaper bentos and it would be on the house.
I got my bento, and just as I was about to ask about a place to stay yet again I hear a familiar voice call out my name.
Now, there aren't that many people on thisland that know my name. And this voice was definitely female, which left only one choice. I turn around and sure enough it was the woman that was supposedly a few days behind. apparently she hitched a ride and caught up. With her was an older getleman I had stayed with twice before but never talked to, and a slightly younger getleman I had never met.
It turns out they had found what I assume is the place I was looking for so we all head there. I ate my bento while they were out doing some shopping, then they decided to make a big pot of udon and we would all share that. Then the owner of the place who seemed happy to have such a big diverse group brought out bowls of rice with raw egg and fried fish.
Anyway, I need to wrap it up here, battery is about dead. Don't be surprised if my next post isn't until the 1st.
At the next temple, 61, I ran into an older lady and I'm assuming her son that were going by car. We talked for a while and she was quite happy to meet a foreigner walking the trail. She ended up giving me \5000 as osetti.
My next encounter was at temple 64. I was about to head out when I hear a familiar voice call out my name. Sure enough it was the guy I had met my first evening and again the second day. He's not currently walking it, not sure if he just likes hanging around the temples or what.
Anyway, we talk for a bit, then he insists on taking me out for lunch. We ended up going to a pretty tasty conveyor belt sushi place. He then mentions he ran into some friends of mine. Turns out it was the older guy and the woman. They were about a day or two behind it seems.
I continue on my way and finally make my way to my objective for the day, a bento shop. I had heard that they had or knew of a place to stay in the area. I walk in and the lady behind the counter tells me to choose one of the two cheaper bentos and it would be on the house.
I got my bento, and just as I was about to ask about a place to stay yet again I hear a familiar voice call out my name.
Now, there aren't that many people on thisland that know my name. And this voice was definitely female, which left only one choice. I turn around and sure enough it was the woman that was supposedly a few days behind. apparently she hitched a ride and caught up. With her was an older getleman I had stayed with twice before but never talked to, and a slightly younger getleman I had never met.
It turns out they had found what I assume is the place I was looking for so we all head there. I ate my bento while they were out doing some shopping, then they decided to make a big pot of udon and we would all share that. Then the owner of the place who seemed happy to have such a big diverse group brought out bowls of rice with raw egg and fried fish.
Anyway, I need to wrap it up here, battery is about dead. Don't be surprised if my next post isn't until the 1st.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Quite the 2 days
We last left our brave adventurer at temple 58. In the morning one of the things that the freeloaders were expected to do was attend morning chanting. It was an interesting experience and my practice with seiza came in handy. Afterwords we talked with the head monk for about half hour. Turns out we have the same opinion on foreign policy.
This set me behind in the morning so I changed my goal to a shelter at the base of the mountain to temple 60. Because my destination wasn't a temple I took it easy. At temple 59 I was given a small hand towel by a guy on my way into the temple. He told me to come back after I was done and he would tell me about the road to the next one. I don't really need directions but I had the time to kill. When I go back he gives me icecream and asks me to write down a phrase I like in his book. I went with 一期一会, which roughly means that each meeting is once in a lifetime. I find it fits this trip perfectly. He then proceeds to put that in his embroidery machine and make me another towel. Finally when he suggests he take a picture for me I mention that my camera is half broken and therefor not to worry about it (I gave up trying to explain how to hold the battery casing to keep it from losing power). He says that won't do and proceeds to open a disposable camera, take my pict
ure with it, and then give it to me.
I continued on. Just about lunch time I had someone call to me out their kitchen window. After general greetings she asks if I've eaten lunch. I had had some bread, but not a proper lunch so she tells me to come in and join them for lunch. quite tasty.
I was later given some fruit and drinks by an old lady when I stopped and asked for directions.
Today was quite the day as well, but its extremely late so you'll get a special edition detailing it if I have time tomorrow.
This set me behind in the morning so I changed my goal to a shelter at the base of the mountain to temple 60. Because my destination wasn't a temple I took it easy. At temple 59 I was given a small hand towel by a guy on my way into the temple. He told me to come back after I was done and he would tell me about the road to the next one. I don't really need directions but I had the time to kill. When I go back he gives me icecream and asks me to write down a phrase I like in his book. I went with 一期一会, which roughly means that each meeting is once in a lifetime. I find it fits this trip perfectly. He then proceeds to put that in his embroidery machine and make me another towel. Finally when he suggests he take a picture for me I mention that my camera is half broken and therefor not to worry about it (I gave up trying to explain how to hold the battery casing to keep it from losing power). He says that won't do and proceeds to open a disposable camera, take my pict
ure with it, and then give it to me.
I continued on. Just about lunch time I had someone call to me out their kitchen window. After general greetings she asks if I've eaten lunch. I had had some bread, but not a proper lunch so she tells me to come in and join them for lunch. quite tasty.
I was later given some fruit and drinks by an old lady when I stopped and asked for directions.
Today was quite the day as well, but its extremely late so you'll get a special edition detailing it if I have time tomorrow.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Night and Day
Yesterday was dark and dreary, only good thing about the weather is that it wasn't too hot. I was about 1k from my goal when the torrential downpour began. It was the kind of rain where the streets would flood not from drainage backup or insufficiency, but just because of the time required to get from the center of the road to the gutters.
I stayed in a local daishido half way between 53 and 54. Same guy as the night before was there.
Today was almost the complete opposite, bright sunny and hot. Got to 58, and I don't think I saw a single other walker until I met up with the guy from a couple days back at 58.
This temple has some nice accomodations. They let us use the onsen after the paying guests, although they did cut the water heater so while the onsen was plenty hot the showers were cold.
Supposedly the weather's going to be nice for the next week or so, we'll see.
I stayed in a local daishido half way between 53 and 54. Same guy as the night before was there.
Today was almost the complete opposite, bright sunny and hot. Got to 58, and I don't think I saw a single other walker until I met up with the guy from a couple days back at 58.
This temple has some nice accomodations. They let us use the onsen after the paying guests, although they did cut the water heater so while the onsen was plenty hot the showers were cold.
Supposedly the weather's going to be nice for the next week or so, we'll see.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Ever Onward
Yesterday was a fairly typical day. I came down out of the mountains and into something that was more or less civilization. My companions apparently didn't make it as none of them showed up to the lodging we were aiming for. I did run into another guy I've bumped into a couple times now and we both stayed the night at temple 47. Not bad accomodations. Had a fridge and microwave so I got a bit more variety in my diet.
Today was barely a day. Only had about 12k to cover as I wanted to end at temple 51 since the onsen near there is really famous. Really dissappointing as well. One bath only, no variety.
Another night in the temple. The room for this one is huge, but not much in the way of amenities. Its also used for traditional dance practice and all sortr of other local community things.
I was thinking my previous companions may catch up today, but no sign of them.
I've been taught the secret of all the free bread I could imagine. One of the interesting quirks of Japanese bakeries (and there are lots of bakeries here) is that they remove the heel from loves of bread (known as the bread's ears here). If you ask for these they gladly give you a giant bag of it. I picked up some jam at the grocery store and my breakfast and lunch just got a whole lot cheaper. The problem becomes carying it all. I've seen people who received a couple pounds worth.
Today was barely a day. Only had about 12k to cover as I wanted to end at temple 51 since the onsen near there is really famous. Really dissappointing as well. One bath only, no variety.
Another night in the temple. The room for this one is huge, but not much in the way of amenities. Its also used for traditional dance practice and all sortr of other local community things.
I was thinking my previous companions may catch up today, but no sign of them.
I've been taught the secret of all the free bread I could imagine. One of the interesting quirks of Japanese bakeries (and there are lots of bakeries here) is that they remove the heel from loves of bread (known as the bread's ears here). If you ask for these they gladly give you a giant bag of it. I picked up some jam at the grocery store and my breakfast and lunch just got a whole lot cheaper. The problem becomes carying it all. I've seen people who received a couple pounds worth.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Getting crowded
Yesterday was both good and interesting. In the morning we found out what had happened to our female companion. Her leg had started hurting so she accepted a ride from a passing bread truck and wound up a day ahead of us (she wrote this in the logbook type thing since she figured we would stay there to).
I got a late start in the morning to do laundry, but soon passed up the older guy as his legs were hurting and he was moving slow. I stopped at a 道の駅 to kill some time in the late morning, and was rewarded with a gift of ice cream by a random guy.
I made it to the next 道の駅 which was near the place to stop for the day about 2:30 and hung around there for a while. Apparently people in this part of shikoku are even more generous than usual, as there I received more ice cream, onigiri, and some tea. Once the other guy caught up we headed for the night's lodging, which was a local temple. When we got there it was already unlocked and I knew I recognized the shoes at the door. Indeed it was our female friend, as well as someone I think is one of her relatives. He's one of the people who just continuously goes around and around the path. Anyway, we made a giant pot of miso soup, and the two guys do what Japanese guys always do when you get a couple together, hit the sake. It was an interesting group to say the least. There was myself (a college student), a 32 year old woman who would best be described as a nomad, a 60 year old guy who used to be either self defense force or law enforcement, and a slightly older guy
who is ex-yakuza.
Anyway, whenever the guy I've been with lately starts drinking he always starts going on about why they lost the war and how present day America is pretty messed up. Although apparently I've managed to change his stereotype of Americans, though I'm probably not the best example of your typical American. Apparently I've become something of his 恩人.
The new guy tried mixing Japanese and English, trying to ask if I was right or left handed. I had no idea what he was talking about, finally the woman told him I understood Japanese just fine and asked in Japanese, at which point I immediately figured out what he was getting at. I found it ammusing.
Today was fairly uneventful made it to 44 and 45, staying at a bus station next to an onsen. Pretty nice place, but not much food.
Companions have increased yet again, with the 4 of us from last night, a 60ish guy on a bike I've met a number of times and another older guy I haven't met before and is pretty quiet.
I definately feel like one of the group as I sit eating my microwaveable rice (raw) next to the guy eating cup ramen with cold water.
I did have an experience that really made me realize how much some of the people here respect the henro. I had a guy in a truck stop on the road and give me some anpan. Now, anpan is 150 yen at most, so that may not seem that great, but this was a fresh anpan likely from a bakery. You don't buy that if you don't intend to eat it soon. This guy decided to give up a treat I have to assume he was looking forward to to a complete stranger in the 3 or 4 seconds between me coming into view and his truck passing me by. Now that is something.
I got a late start in the morning to do laundry, but soon passed up the older guy as his legs were hurting and he was moving slow. I stopped at a 道の駅 to kill some time in the late morning, and was rewarded with a gift of ice cream by a random guy.
I made it to the next 道の駅 which was near the place to stop for the day about 2:30 and hung around there for a while. Apparently people in this part of shikoku are even more generous than usual, as there I received more ice cream, onigiri, and some tea. Once the other guy caught up we headed for the night's lodging, which was a local temple. When we got there it was already unlocked and I knew I recognized the shoes at the door. Indeed it was our female friend, as well as someone I think is one of her relatives. He's one of the people who just continuously goes around and around the path. Anyway, we made a giant pot of miso soup, and the two guys do what Japanese guys always do when you get a couple together, hit the sake. It was an interesting group to say the least. There was myself (a college student), a 32 year old woman who would best be described as a nomad, a 60 year old guy who used to be either self defense force or law enforcement, and a slightly older guy
who is ex-yakuza.
Anyway, whenever the guy I've been with lately starts drinking he always starts going on about why they lost the war and how present day America is pretty messed up. Although apparently I've managed to change his stereotype of Americans, though I'm probably not the best example of your typical American. Apparently I've become something of his 恩人.
The new guy tried mixing Japanese and English, trying to ask if I was right or left handed. I had no idea what he was talking about, finally the woman told him I understood Japanese just fine and asked in Japanese, at which point I immediately figured out what he was getting at. I found it ammusing.
Today was fairly uneventful made it to 44 and 45, staying at a bus station next to an onsen. Pretty nice place, but not much food.
Companions have increased yet again, with the 4 of us from last night, a 60ish guy on a bike I've met a number of times and another older guy I haven't met before and is pretty quiet.
I definately feel like one of the group as I sit eating my microwaveable rice (raw) next to the guy eating cup ramen with cold water.
I did have an experience that really made me realize how much some of the people here respect the henro. I had a guy in a truck stop on the road and give me some anpan. Now, anpan is 150 yen at most, so that may not seem that great, but this was a fresh anpan likely from a bakery. You don't buy that if you don't intend to eat it soon. This guy decided to give up a treat I have to assume he was looking forward to to a complete stranger in the 3 or 4 seconds between me coming into view and his truck passing me by. Now that is something.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Ever Onward
Not a whole lot new. The other day right after I made my last regular post I got to talking to one of the people practicing Taiko near where we were camped out (I knew it would be easier to try and sleep after they were done anyway) and we both found it ironic that aside from thd music thing our club-type activities were the same (sado and aikido).
Yesterday got to temples 40 and 41, plus was given some fruit by a shop owner by 40. Camped out at under a shelter with the old man (I say old, but he's probably 50's). Somewhere along the way we lost the girl, not sure what happened to her.
Today was 42 and then stopped at a bangai temple near an Onsen for the night. Looks like its me, the old man, and a kid on a bike so far.
Weather hasn't been too bad, with a lot of the raining happening during the night. I think I've got indoor lodging lined up through temple 60, haven't looked past that yet.
Yesterday got to temples 40 and 41, plus was given some fruit by a shop owner by 40. Camped out at under a shelter with the old man (I say old, but he's probably 50's). Somewhere along the way we lost the girl, not sure what happened to her.
Today was 42 and then stopped at a bangai temple near an Onsen for the night. Looks like its me, the old man, and a kid on a bike so far.
Weather hasn't been too bad, with a lot of the raining happening during the night. I think I've got indoor lodging lined up through temple 60, haven't looked past that yet.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Interlude 1: The Henro RPG
As I sit here waiting for food to digest so I can eat more and get my monies worth out of this buffet, I've decided to write out one of the theories/ideas my mind comes up with in its descent to madness.
Now first, you have to understand that I've got 2 and only 2 things I look forward to in the US. The first is being reunited with my computer. The second is 4 days of nerdy bliss that are Gencon.
Along those lines I've determined that the henro pilgrimage can be described in terms of an RPG. There are 3 base player characters. The walking Henro, the driving Henro, and the bus Henro. There are then prestige classes, with myself being the 野宿 class. As I haven't experienced any of the others thats the one I'll describe for now.
The first ability granted by the class is henro sleep. This allows the character to sleep in any location under any conditions. Even if woken up many times during the night the character can always wake up early in the morning with no signs of tiredness.
The next ability is henro sense. This allows the henro to sense the presence of road marks telling them when to turn. This includes ones that have been hidden or even removed.
Then theres henro stamina. This ability allows the character to continue walking even after exhausted.
Finally henro movement, which allows the character to follow the markers detected by henro sense without active thought. This gives the character the appearance of having the route memorized.
I'd imagine this would have to be a computer based RPG along the lines of Final Fantasy. It's too linear to make a good PnP game.
The battles would most likely be with snakes, wild bores, and bugs, Though I guess people wasting your time with senseless rambling could make a good final boss.
Yes, I'm having nerdiness withdrawl. The hardcore nerd action of Gencon will be a good indulgence.
Now first, you have to understand that I've got 2 and only 2 things I look forward to in the US. The first is being reunited with my computer. The second is 4 days of nerdy bliss that are Gencon.
Along those lines I've determined that the henro pilgrimage can be described in terms of an RPG. There are 3 base player characters. The walking Henro, the driving Henro, and the bus Henro. There are then prestige classes, with myself being the 野宿 class. As I haven't experienced any of the others thats the one I'll describe for now.
The first ability granted by the class is henro sleep. This allows the character to sleep in any location under any conditions. Even if woken up many times during the night the character can always wake up early in the morning with no signs of tiredness.
The next ability is henro sense. This allows the henro to sense the presence of road marks telling them when to turn. This includes ones that have been hidden or even removed.
Then theres henro stamina. This ability allows the character to continue walking even after exhausted.
Finally henro movement, which allows the character to follow the markers detected by henro sense without active thought. This gives the character the appearance of having the route memorized.
I'd imagine this would have to be a computer based RPG along the lines of Final Fantasy. It's too linear to make a good PnP game.
The battles would most likely be with snakes, wild bores, and bugs, Though I guess people wasting your time with senseless rambling could make a good final boss.
Yes, I'm having nerdiness withdrawl. The hardcore nerd action of Gencon will be a good indulgence.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
すっきりした
The past 2 days have been pretty good. Yesterday it stopped raining, I ran into a bunch of old ladies weeding a park like area around one of the rest huts, and since they figured they'd run into henro they prepared lots of doughnuts, onigiri, and tea to feed me. Also yesterday marked half way distance wise so I bought myself some cheesecake and a slightly more pricey 弁当 to celebrate. Also I guess it was a special day at the temple we stayed at because they gave us bananas.
Of coarse my luck wasn't al good. On my way back to the temple from the super it started pouring and I had left my rain gear at the temple.
Today it rained a bit in the morning then cleared up. And best of all the gods of cleanliness smiled upon me and the onsen that was my goal for the day was both open and cheap. Although tomorrow is the one day a month they're closed, so it was a close one.
Tonight is camping out in a little shelter in the parking lot of the onsen.
Of coarse my luck wasn't al good. On my way back to the temple from the super it started pouring and I had left my rain gear at the temple.
Today it rained a bit in the morning then cleared up. And best of all the gods of cleanliness smiled upon me and the onsen that was my goal for the day was both open and cheap. Although tomorrow is the one day a month they're closed, so it was a close one.
Tonight is camping out in a little shelter in the parking lot of the onsen.
Friday, June 15, 2007
And so it continues
And the rain continues. Every once in a while it slows down to a barely noticeable dribble but I don't think its ever stopped.
Yesterday my plan was to make it a short day and stay in this really nice free place I found. However when I got there at about 1 there were a number of people hanging out there, pretty sure one was the owner. Anyway, its concidered bad form to stop that early in the day, and the owner would have likely turned me away if I stated that intention. So instead they convinced me to walk another 20k and sleep in a bus stop (basically a little 3 walled concrete hut). It wasn't the best of nights, but it actually wasn't half bad. There was a コンビニ across the street so I had access to food water and restrooms.
Today I'm actually indoors for a change. Staying at temple 39. I intend to make both tomorrow and the day after short 25k days, which both gives me temple lodging tomorrow and an onsen the next day.
I've been playing leapfrog with The people I've mentioned lately. Sometimes we walk together, sometimes one gets ahead/behind.
One gigantic dissappointment happened today. On the map there's a place where they have public baths/saunas right next to tonights temple, which had me quite excited. Unfortunately I go there to find they went out of business...
Yesterday my plan was to make it a short day and stay in this really nice free place I found. However when I got there at about 1 there were a number of people hanging out there, pretty sure one was the owner. Anyway, its concidered bad form to stop that early in the day, and the owner would have likely turned me away if I stated that intention. So instead they convinced me to walk another 20k and sleep in a bus stop (basically a little 3 walled concrete hut). It wasn't the best of nights, but it actually wasn't half bad. There was a コンビニ across the street so I had access to food water and restrooms.
Today I'm actually indoors for a change. Staying at temple 39. I intend to make both tomorrow and the day after short 25k days, which both gives me temple lodging tomorrow and an onsen the next day.
I've been playing leapfrog with The people I've mentioned lately. Sometimes we walk together, sometimes one gets ahead/behind.
One gigantic dissappointment happened today. On the map there's a place where they have public baths/saunas right next to tonights temple, which had me quite excited. Unfortunately I go there to find they went out of business...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
And it began
Yesterday was pretty typical. I ended up splitting from my companion as we had different desires in lodging. I opted for a park near where I could buy food and that put me closer to today's goal, she went for the place closer to the starting point but in the middle of nowhere, which was incidentaly where the older guy from last night was stopping.
Today however we met up again by chance. I was just finishing my lunch break and she just stopped for hers. It also started raining at that time, so neither of us had the urge to go on at the moment. We hung around the little store there for a while, then the older guy showed up this is where the fun began. He had forgotten the bottom part to his rain suit, so he decided this was as far as he was going today (there was a nice shelter with bench and bathroom). Then he saw that they were selling a giant bottle of sake for \1000. Deciding this was a good enough time to spend the day he buys it. The woman had 2 cups and he spilled one, but downed the rest in about 2 hours. Said lots of random stupid things. Myself and my once more companion decided to take our leave, and headed out in the rain. Due to the extended lunch break and rain I decided to not go as far as planned, so we both stopped at a shelter in a park for the night. She has a tent (the shelter has lots of big open
windows) but I'm hunkered down in a shelter made of a tarp, benches, and twine.
One thing that does dissappoint me is that I had a flash of insight too late. It didn't occur to me last night that I had lots of fish stores nearby and a giant beach on which to build a nice cooking fire until after dinner.
And so 梅雨 has begun.
Today however we met up again by chance. I was just finishing my lunch break and she just stopped for hers. It also started raining at that time, so neither of us had the urge to go on at the moment. We hung around the little store there for a while, then the older guy showed up this is where the fun began. He had forgotten the bottom part to his rain suit, so he decided this was as far as he was going today (there was a nice shelter with bench and bathroom). Then he saw that they were selling a giant bottle of sake for \1000. Deciding this was a good enough time to spend the day he buys it. The woman had 2 cups and he spilled one, but downed the rest in about 2 hours. Said lots of random stupid things. Myself and my once more companion decided to take our leave, and headed out in the rain. Due to the extended lunch break and rain I decided to not go as far as planned, so we both stopped at a shelter in a park for the night. She has a tent (the shelter has lots of big open
windows) but I'm hunkered down in a shelter made of a tarp, benches, and twine.
One thing that does dissappoint me is that I had a flash of insight too late. It didn't occur to me last night that I had lots of fish stores nearby and a giant beach on which to build a nice cooking fire until after dinner.
And so 梅雨 has begun.
Monday, June 11, 2007
good days
The past 2 days have been pretty good. I picked up a travelling companion yesterday. The woman I mentioned last time. Turns out she decided to do some travelling 4 years ago and just never stopped (until she runs out of money, then she picks up a part time job for a while). Yesterday was temple 26, where I was given a pretty nice hand carved coral ornament and wooden お守り from a guy who made that stuff near the temple.
In the evening we camped out at a 道の駅, kind of like a rest stop. There ended up being 5 of us, myself, my companion, 2 henro on bikes, and a guy biking his way to kyushu then hopping a boat to Okinawa.
I was reminded of how nice the people of Shikoku are when a guy came to start getting the vegetable selling area we were sleeping in ready for the day. Instead of being angry that we were using his table/pallet things as beds, he just pointed out which ones he would use right away and suggested we move to the other ones and get a bit more sleep.
Today was a bit shorter so we hung out at a tourist center, which had a shower with hot water we were grateful for. Also the old lady selling fish there kept giving us plates of fish. Small fish that are grilled and then eaten whole (head, tail, and bones included). She also gave us a bunch to take with, so I'm eating some now with dinner, and will likely be eating them all day tomorrow.
Tonight is a wooden shelter near temple 37 with a guy I've run into a night before and my companion for the past couple days.
In the evening we camped out at a 道の駅, kind of like a rest stop. There ended up being 5 of us, myself, my companion, 2 henro on bikes, and a guy biking his way to kyushu then hopping a boat to Okinawa.
I was reminded of how nice the people of Shikoku are when a guy came to start getting the vegetable selling area we were sleeping in ready for the day. Instead of being angry that we were using his table/pallet things as beds, he just pointed out which ones he would use right away and suggested we move to the other ones and get a bit more sleep.
Today was a bit shorter so we hung out at a tourist center, which had a shower with hot water we were grateful for. Also the old lady selling fish there kept giving us plates of fish. Small fish that are grilled and then eaten whole (head, tail, and bones included). She also gave us a bunch to take with, so I'm eating some now with dinner, and will likely be eating them all day tomorrow.
Tonight is a wooden shelter near temple 37 with a guy I've run into a night before and my companion for the past couple days.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Irony
So as opposed to going chronological as usual I'll start with my irony of the day. As I was taking a break and sitting in front of a supermarket I was approached by 2 middle aged women. I'm used to the whole where are you from/why are you here routine so I'm only half paying attention as they talk about what they do. I see one of them digging around in her purse as she's talking, and then the next thing I know she is asking me if I am sure to read my bible every day hands me a small book of passages from the bible translated into Japanese. They were trying to convert me to Christianity! Isn't it the Americans usually trying silly things like that?
Anyway aside from that pretty uneventful. I ran into a self proclaimed travelling philosopher yesterday. He seemed fairly well educated and some of his theories were sound, so he may not have been a complete nutcase.
I only made it to 33 yesterday, was hoping for 34. Due to that and the fact that I'm still ahead of schedule I decided to take it easy today, get laundry done in the morning, then spent half the afternoon hanging out in front of that super.
I talked to a few people there, one was a Japanese guy who had lived in switzerland for a number of years and spoke fluent English with no accent. The funny thing is he assumed English wasn't my first language. Keep in mind that the vast majority of Japanese automatically assume any caucasion people they see speak English. Apparently since I don have any regional accent (if I ever had one from Indiana I lost it here) he thought it was a second language.
I made it to temple 35 today, not much of a trip but this looks to be the last free indoor lodging for a while and my hip has been bugging me since this morning so I figured I'd take it.
It keeps threatening to rain. The weather report for today said 80% chance of thunderstorms all day. In reality it was bright, sunny, and hot. We'll see about tomorrow.
Tonights temple actually has 2 rooms, which is convenient as the other occupant is a woman. Tomorrow is likely to be camping out at a rest stop.
Anyway aside from that pretty uneventful. I ran into a self proclaimed travelling philosopher yesterday. He seemed fairly well educated and some of his theories were sound, so he may not have been a complete nutcase.
I only made it to 33 yesterday, was hoping for 34. Due to that and the fact that I'm still ahead of schedule I decided to take it easy today, get laundry done in the morning, then spent half the afternoon hanging out in front of that super.
I talked to a few people there, one was a Japanese guy who had lived in switzerland for a number of years and spoke fluent English with no accent. The funny thing is he assumed English wasn't my first language. Keep in mind that the vast majority of Japanese automatically assume any caucasion people they see speak English. Apparently since I don have any regional accent (if I ever had one from Indiana I lost it here) he thought it was a second language.
I made it to temple 35 today, not much of a trip but this looks to be the last free indoor lodging for a while and my hip has been bugging me since this morning so I figured I'd take it.
It keeps threatening to rain. The weather report for today said 80% chance of thunderstorms all day. In reality it was bright, sunny, and hot. We'll see about tomorrow.
Tonights temple actually has 2 rooms, which is convenient as the other occupant is a woman. Tomorrow is likely to be camping out at a rest stop.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Another day, another temple
Not a whole lot new. Scenery has been pretty consistant with ocean on my left and mountains on my right. From time to time there are some houses between me and the mountains.
Weather's been pretty much hot and cloudless, so much for this rainy season concept.
My new best friend sustinence-wise is milk. I've found nothing gets me ready to walk again like chugging a liter of whole milk.
Last night was free temple lodging at temple 27 (nice little rest house with tatami mat and futon and tonight is another night in the temple at 28, though this one is more like camping out as all I've got is a small space on the floor between the inner and outer portions of one of the big halls.
One of the things I'm often asked by the locals is why am I doing this. While there are a number of interpretations to this question the most traditional would be what is my wish/desire I want to be granted. The theory goes that if you complete the pilgrimage something good is supposed to happen. The 2 most common reasons people do this are to cure some medical condition or success in some business venture. Not being very original and being about to graduate I went with the latter and decided to wish for success in finding a computer job that would bring me back to Japan.
Today was a long day (40k) and tomorrow might be as well, though tomorrow I'll be in the city so it will be harder to make good time. Looks like tomorrow should be temple lodging at 34. That one's supposed to be pretty nice.
Just as a forewarning, between the suntan and weight loss I barely recognize myself in the mirror anymore (the hat could have something to do with it too) so those of you who will see me shortly after I get back don't be too surprised. I never did end up shaving my head bald (trimmer part of my razor is acting up) so at least I do still have some hair.
Weather's been pretty much hot and cloudless, so much for this rainy season concept.
My new best friend sustinence-wise is milk. I've found nothing gets me ready to walk again like chugging a liter of whole milk.
Last night was free temple lodging at temple 27 (nice little rest house with tatami mat and futon and tonight is another night in the temple at 28, though this one is more like camping out as all I've got is a small space on the floor between the inner and outer portions of one of the big halls.
One of the things I'm often asked by the locals is why am I doing this. While there are a number of interpretations to this question the most traditional would be what is my wish/desire I want to be granted. The theory goes that if you complete the pilgrimage something good is supposed to happen. The 2 most common reasons people do this are to cure some medical condition or success in some business venture. Not being very original and being about to graduate I went with the latter and decided to wish for success in finding a computer job that would bring me back to Japan.
Today was a long day (40k) and tomorrow might be as well, though tomorrow I'll be in the city so it will be harder to make good time. Looks like tomorrow should be temple lodging at 34. That one's supposed to be pretty nice.
Just as a forewarning, between the suntan and weight loss I barely recognize myself in the mirror anymore (the hat could have something to do with it too) so those of you who will see me shortly after I get back don't be too surprised. I never did end up shaving my head bald (trimmer part of my razor is acting up) so at least I do still have some hair.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
And the journey goes on
Yesterday war fairly unspectacular with the exception of 2 events. First I saw a set of 3 monkies raiding a field. I didn't know Japan had monkies. Second I caught my first glimpse of the ocean, which made me happy. I stayed the night in a small shack at a small temple. Pretty sure the whole thing was run by 1 monk and his dog.
Today was more walking along the ocean, with the occasional trip up a couple hundred meter hill for a temple. I wouldn't mind the hills and mountains so much if the person who made the paths wasn't so sadistic. First off the numbers saying how far is left often increase at points, then on the way down they see how many times they can almost make you break or twist something.
Anyway, tonight is my first night in the open air, no nice accommodations for me. So time to sleep.
Today was more walking along the ocean, with the occasional trip up a couple hundred meter hill for a temple. I wouldn't mind the hills and mountains so much if the person who made the paths wasn't so sadistic. First off the numbers saying how far is left often increase at points, then on the way down they see how many times they can almost make you break or twist something.
Anyway, tonight is my first night in the open air, no nice accommodations for me. So time to sleep.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
double feature
Don't get used to it, but you're getting another update already. My lodging for the night is just that stylish.
But first, last night I actually had to work for my lodging. they had me pealing beans for one of the locals. I also got some instant noodles out of the deal though, so not going to complain. I did end up with 3 roomates last night, one guy my age that didn't do the college thing. He has been going at an increadible pace (was a day ahead of me, and I'm moving fast), and has the blisters to show for it. The next guy was in his 60's and possibly a little crazy from walking this thing so many times. He certainly was happy to have people to talk to. He's doing the circuit backwards so he doesn't ever have someone going in the same direction, plus he usually sets up a tent instead of staying in places like I do. The last guy came late and didn't talk much.
And now to the main event, tonight's lodging. First off today was just a short 20k jaunt. This is primarily because there was an onsen and free lodging right next to eachother, which is a big plus. It also ended up raining pretty heavy all afternoon, so it was nice to not have to walk in that. I was a little wary of my accommodations though as its a bus. And while it is a dirty old broken down bus, it's got power coming in from the outside, a tv, hot water for tea, and some electric fans. The inside was gutted and replaced with wood flooring and tatami mats. However, the kicker is it included a great dinner. The owner of the bus runs a Japanese buffet nearby, so he brought over a big tray of food, including rice, fish, an assortment of tempura and kara age, yakisoba, and a really tasty tofu dish. granted it was all a little cold and had been sitting out for a while, but I'm not going to complain when free lodging comes with free food.
Tomorrow I've got a 40k day planned, but its all flat with lots of scenic ocean. At the end I should be able to stay at one of the temples. they have a little bit of space set aside for walkers. Apparently a number of the temples do, and the crazy old guy from last night circled them all in my book.
That's all for tonight, tune in next time
Dan
But first, last night I actually had to work for my lodging. they had me pealing beans for one of the locals. I also got some instant noodles out of the deal though, so not going to complain. I did end up with 3 roomates last night, one guy my age that didn't do the college thing. He has been going at an increadible pace (was a day ahead of me, and I'm moving fast), and has the blisters to show for it. The next guy was in his 60's and possibly a little crazy from walking this thing so many times. He certainly was happy to have people to talk to. He's doing the circuit backwards so he doesn't ever have someone going in the same direction, plus he usually sets up a tent instead of staying in places like I do. The last guy came late and didn't talk much.
And now to the main event, tonight's lodging. First off today was just a short 20k jaunt. This is primarily because there was an onsen and free lodging right next to eachother, which is a big plus. It also ended up raining pretty heavy all afternoon, so it was nice to not have to walk in that. I was a little wary of my accommodations though as its a bus. And while it is a dirty old broken down bus, it's got power coming in from the outside, a tv, hot water for tea, and some electric fans. The inside was gutted and replaced with wood flooring and tatami mats. However, the kicker is it included a great dinner. The owner of the bus runs a Japanese buffet nearby, so he brought over a big tray of food, including rice, fish, an assortment of tempura and kara age, yakisoba, and a really tasty tofu dish. granted it was all a little cold and had been sitting out for a while, but I'm not going to complain when free lodging comes with free food.
Tomorrow I've got a 40k day planned, but its all flat with lots of scenic ocean. At the end I should be able to stay at one of the temples. they have a little bit of space set aside for walkers. Apparently a number of the temples do, and the crazy old guy from last night circled them all in my book.
That's all for tonight, tune in next time
Dan
Saturday, June 2, 2007
making good progress
I reached temple 22 today, which puts me at 130.1 kilometers according to the book. Actual walked distance is probably another 20k when you figure in to and from lodging, times I accidentally took the car route, and food searching.
This puts my average at 28.9k/day, which exceeds the 27.6 I need to maintain. My daily distance tends to vary greatly depending on what places are available to sleep at. For instance the other day I went 10k further than planned (40k all told) to get to a good free spot, whereas tomorrow I'll only go 20k since there is a good spot right near an onsen.
Yesterday night's accommodations were pretty good, including a water heater so I could make tea. My roomate for the night was a little sketchy. He was a nice enough guy, maybe in his 60's, but from a phone conversation I overheard it sounds like one of the things that prompted this trip for him were debt collectors looking for him.
Tonight I've got a bath, TV, fridge, washing machine, and fans/AC. I'd be hard pressed to find all that in paid accommodations. Theres a stove too, but out of gas so no tea for me. It's still early so I'm waiting to see if anyone joins me tonight.
I got held up by about an hour today by an elderly farmer. I had just finished resting and was about to head over the last hill to the next temple and he calls out to me. I stop to talk, aside from being the polite thing to do I'm always looking for information. He then began rambling on about everything from the way people walk to the foreigners that don't speak Japanese. He repeated himself many times. It took an hour to get moving again, and for once it was a relief to walk uphill. Standing there with my pack on like that not moving was killing my feat.
Along those lines physically I'm holding up quite well. I had a few blisters almost form, but taped them up early enough to prevent them. My legs are a little sore, but thats to be expected. I am a little on the sunburned side, but I'll just let that turn into a dark tan to help prevent it in the future. Its mainly just my arms, which only ever bug me when I put my pack on or take it off.
This puts my average at 28.9k/day, which exceeds the 27.6 I need to maintain. My daily distance tends to vary greatly depending on what places are available to sleep at. For instance the other day I went 10k further than planned (40k all told) to get to a good free spot, whereas tomorrow I'll only go 20k since there is a good spot right near an onsen.
Yesterday night's accommodations were pretty good, including a water heater so I could make tea. My roomate for the night was a little sketchy. He was a nice enough guy, maybe in his 60's, but from a phone conversation I overheard it sounds like one of the things that prompted this trip for him were debt collectors looking for him.
Tonight I've got a bath, TV, fridge, washing machine, and fans/AC. I'd be hard pressed to find all that in paid accommodations. Theres a stove too, but out of gas so no tea for me. It's still early so I'm waiting to see if anyone joins me tonight.
I got held up by about an hour today by an elderly farmer. I had just finished resting and was about to head over the last hill to the next temple and he calls out to me. I stop to talk, aside from being the polite thing to do I'm always looking for information. He then began rambling on about everything from the way people walk to the foreigners that don't speak Japanese. He repeated himself many times. It took an hour to get moving again, and for once it was a relief to walk uphill. Standing there with my pack on like that not moving was killing my feat.
Along those lines physically I'm holding up quite well. I had a few blisters almost form, but taped them up early enough to prevent them. My legs are a little sore, but thats to be expected. I am a little on the sunburned side, but I'll just let that turn into a dark tan to help prevent it in the future. Its mainly just my arms, which only ever bug me when I put my pack on or take it off.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
So...
we'll just pretend that today didn't happen. Next time I decide I can do 42km in one day with a ~15kg pack including climbing over 3 mountains, someone smack me. So we won't talk about today anymore, instead we'll talk about my companions so far. After all, what would a journey be without the people along the way.
My roomates for the first night were 2 Japanese guys. One probably about my age and one in his mid 30's, give or take 20 years. Not much to say about the younger one, I think he's just kind of out for some adventure. The older one seems to love travel. He's done this trip on motorcycle before, and drove around the US to all 50 states (most likely didn't drive to Hawaii). I also met a guy I've dubbed big pappa bear there. He wasn't staying the night, just came by to chat. Somewhere close to 50 I'd say, I think he works for the company that supports the trail and has done it more than 50 times, I assume a number of those were by car.
The next day I ran into the young guy and a girl, so we started travelling togetger. We ran into another girl that joined us, and big pappa bear (who treated us all to lunch). Finally we ran into the traveller after lunch, who joined us as well. In the evening I went with the traveller to a free place for the night, the unfortunately the onsen it was attached to was closed for the day.
I split off from the group in the morning as I wanted to cover more ground today. We all know how that turned out...
My roomates for the first night were 2 Japanese guys. One probably about my age and one in his mid 30's, give or take 20 years. Not much to say about the younger one, I think he's just kind of out for some adventure. The older one seems to love travel. He's done this trip on motorcycle before, and drove around the US to all 50 states (most likely didn't drive to Hawaii). I also met a guy I've dubbed big pappa bear there. He wasn't staying the night, just came by to chat. Somewhere close to 50 I'd say, I think he works for the company that supports the trail and has done it more than 50 times, I assume a number of those were by car.
The next day I ran into the young guy and a girl, so we started travelling togetger. We ran into another girl that joined us, and big pappa bear (who treated us all to lunch). Finally we ran into the traveller after lunch, who joined us as well. In the evening I went with the traveller to a free place for the night, the unfortunately the onsen it was attached to was closed for the day.
I split off from the group in the morning as I wanted to cover more ground today. We all know how that turned out...
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
I have arrived
The sun has set on my first day in Shikoku. While I didn't get as far as I wanted I would definately qualify it as a success. I didn't get started until late afternoon due to coming from Osaka and the temple offices where I get the stamps close at 5. So I made it to temple 5 but have to wait until 7 tomorrow to get stamped.
However, I did have a pretty fortunate series of events. I was going to camp out under a little shelter by temple 4 but I needed dinner so I headed down to temple 5 just down the road and found a restaraunt nearby. It said udon but the おばあさん running the joint only told me about the okinomiyaki. But then she proceeded to tell me about a nice place to sleep and gave me some onigiri as a gift, so now I'm staying in a pretty decent 4坪 place with sink and water heater. She also told me about a nearby onsen which felt great. I could get used to this homeless thing. I think I've got free lodging at an Onsen lined up for tomorrow.
However, I did have a pretty fortunate series of events. I was going to camp out under a little shelter by temple 4 but I needed dinner so I headed down to temple 5 just down the road and found a restaraunt nearby. It said udon but the おばあさん running the joint only told me about the okinomiyaki. But then she proceeded to tell me about a nice place to sleep and gave me some onigiri as a gift, so now I'm staying in a pretty decent 4坪 place with sink and water heater. She also told me about a nearby onsen which felt great. I could get used to this homeless thing. I think I've got free lodging at an Onsen lined up for tomorrow.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Welcome
Welcome to my archive. I call this an archive rather than a blog because its purpose is to archive my thoughts as I wonder about the island of Shikoku. I shall try to post approximately once every day or two, but it could be less depending on how things are going.
Since English is my native language most of this will be English. However, as this is meant as an archive of my thoughts and I often find a Japanese word better fits there may be Japanese as well. If I am feeling 元気 I will not settle for an English alternative. If you don't read Japanese, google wwwjdic.
Also, as I'm on the road I won't actually be looking at the archive myself, so don't be surprised when I don't answer comments.
I am writing this whole thing via cell phone emails, so don't be surprised if there are misspellings and the formatting is horrible.
I think thats all the intro needed, the next post will likely not be until the 29th when I start my journey.
Dan
Since English is my native language most of this will be English. However, as this is meant as an archive of my thoughts and I often find a Japanese word better fits there may be Japanese as well. If I am feeling 元気 I will not settle for an English alternative. If you don't read Japanese, google wwwjdic.
Also, as I'm on the road I won't actually be looking at the archive myself, so don't be surprised when I don't answer comments.
I am writing this whole thing via cell phone emails, so don't be surprised if there are misspellings and the formatting is horrible.
I think thats all the intro needed, the next post will likely not be until the 29th when I start my journey.
Dan
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