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.
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