{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}

--Thoughts during Week One--

During the flight, they showed three movies, but i only watched one of them, a Robin Williams movie where he dies in an auto accident and ends up going through hell to find his wife. Overall, i wouldn't rate it a great movie, but i was impressed with the two messages that they emphasized over and over again, throughout the last half. A) Never listen to the nay-sayers and give up when you are going after something you dearly want, and B) Don't be fooled by, and don't make judgements based on, appearances. What you have been looking for may be right in front of your eyes if you only discard your preconception of what you think it should look like.

We got to the Ôsaka airport on schedule and i was out of the airport and on a train to Wakayama by five o'clock.

It was amusing when i went through both passport control and customs at the airport. On the immigration form that all foreigners receive when arriving, you have to fill in a block that gives your address during your stay in Japan. Obviously i don't have just one address so i simply wrote in "Shikoku," the name of the island.

The girls at both stations looked at that and told me i needed to be more specific (well, actually, the girl at passport control first told me she couldn't read my writing and then told me to be more specific). I told them i was travelling around the island of Shikoku and that i would be staying in a different minshuku (a bed and breakfast) each night. That didn't really satisfy either one of them and they persisted so i told them that i was walking the 88 Kasho Meguri, as this walk is called. That made their eyebrows shoot up almost to the hairline at the top of their foreheads. Each one of them then simply said, "Oh, OK, then just put down where you are staying tonight. That will be sufficient." I found that to be an interesting reaction. OK, if that is what you are doing, then we can let the formalities go this time. It will be interesting to see how other people react to me throughout the trip.

It was sprinkling when i got to Wakayama so i didn't walk around like i usually do when i arrive in Japan each year. I took a taxi to the hotel from the Wakayama train station because i had no idea where it was, had no maps, and because i had been told that it was a ten minute drive from the station by taxi. Boy was i shocked when the driver turned into a side street about 3 minutes walk from the station, stopped, and said, "here you are." I had just paid about five and a half bucks for a ride that i could have walked faster because he stopped at the two stoplights!

After checking in i walked back to the station (and saw the same taxi again sitting in the queue with the other taxi's) and had sushi and a beer for dinner. Since it was raining, i just went back to the hotel and watched TV. Of course i fell asleep early and woke up at 2:30 in the morning. Luckily, i fell back asleep for an hour at 5:30. Otherwise, Saturday would have been a long day. After breakfast at the hotel, i called the temple where i'm staying on Saturday to confirm my reservation and then caught the train up to Mt. Kôya.

--3/27 Two days before starting to walk--
Got to Mt. Kôya at noon after a train ride to the bottom of the mountain and a cable car ride up the mountain to the top. What a wonderful day it was, too. When i checked in at 4pm, i looked at the thermometer on the wall by the front desk and saw that it's 8 degrees Celcius (46 F) inside the temple where i'm staying tonight. Outside it is colder still, raining, and dreary in every sense of the word. The entire day has been like that.

Ive decided that i'm going to rate the weather each day on a scale of one to four. One means it wasn't raining, two means i had to wear the rain coat and put the rain cover on my pack, three means i had to use the umbrella as well as the rain coat and pack cover, and four means that, in addition to those, i even had to put on my rain pants.

On that scale, today started out as a solid three. I spent most of the morning walking around with the umbrella. Luckily, though, while i was eating lunch the rain slowed down and the rest of the day has been moved up to a two. I guess i can now say that the rain gear and pack cover have been tested and i know for sure that they work. When i checked in me and the pack were chilly, but dry from top to bottom.

For lunch i had Kitsune Soba. I'm not really sure how to describe that to those that haven't eaten it, partly because i don't know what part of it is called - in Japanese or English. Soba is a soup broth kind of like chicken noodle soup. Then you add noodles made of buckwheat and a few vegetables like leeks. Finally on top of that you put this large square paddy about 3 inches by 2.5 inches and a quarter inch thick. I have no idea what it is made of, but it looks like maybe deep fried tofu? Soba is both delicious and leaves you warm all over - just what i needed today.

Spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the sights here on the mountain. The cemetary that you walk through on the way up to Kôbô Daishi's mausoleum was especially surreal this year. Last year it was simply a very dim location because it is located in an forest of cedar and pine trees. This year, what little light usually filters in was all cut off because it is overcast and raining. Then, to top it off, it was so foggy that there were times i couldn't see a half-kilometer down the road.

The first thing i did when i got to the mausoleum was to get the monk to stamp and sign my nôkyôcho (the book that each temple stamps to show you've been there). Being the professional that he is, he started by stamping the wrong page! Luckily he caught himself before adding anymore than the first stamp, but the stamps from Temple One will forever more include one stamp from Mt. Kôya in my book. Maybe it was just too much pressure for him - having to sign a foreigner's book with a group of people standing around watching him do it. Oh well, no one but me will ever know.

You can tell this is the main pilgrimage season. There are hordes of bus pilgrims on the mountain today. There were three or four groups of 30, or so, at the mausoleum alone while i was there. And then there were one or more busses on the side of the road in front of all the souvenir shops in town. I wonder what percentage of the total year's revenue these shops make in the months of March, April, and May? I'd be interested to find out some day.

As soon as i checked in to the temple, i immediately headed for the bath. On cold and dreary days like today, there is nothing better than washing off and crawling into a nice hot bath to soak and relax for a while. You can feel the muscles relax and the tension drain away as you sit there. Of course, the problem is to first get your body in the darn bath since there is this little problem of the water being hot enough to melt lead. But, if you start with just the toes and work in slowly, by the time the toes have melted you are pretty used to it and i usually adjust after just a few minutes of hell.

For supper, it was all vegetarian. Fresh tofu with soy sauce for appetizer, tofu and vegetables boiled in a small stone pot right there in front of you for the main dish, rice, and an orange for desert. All washed down with green tea. Delicious, but fairly small portions. I'm sure i'll be hungry by the time breakfast rolls around.

I have a heater in my room, but i'm sure most people would be chilly in here. I don't mind because my bedroom at home doesn't have a heater and gets pretty cold in the winter. This is just about the same so i should sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow morning i have to go to the 6:30am meditation and sutra chanting service down on the first floor. I didn't go last year, and didn't intend to go this year either. But, as i was heading to the bath, the monk stopped me and asked if i was going. What could i say? And then, he singled me out and served me my dinner while everyone else was served by one of the helpers and junior monks. That puts me under sever pressure - there is no way i can't go now. Oh well, it only lasts for thirty minutes and breakfast is immediately after at 7:00.

After i eat in the morning, i'll immediately pay and head out. I have to go back to Wakayama to catch a ferry over to Shikoku. I think the ferry ride takes two hours, so i want to be onboard and on my way by noon.

--3/28 One day before starting to walk--
Went down to the morning service as i had promised i would. I stopped to look at the thermometer on the way there and wasn't at all surprised to see that it was zero degrees Celcius (32 F) inside the building. All i can say to put this in perspective is that i came dressed for late spring weather.

Luckily for the few of us who showed up for the service, the monks had thought to put a space heater in the front of the room where we were kneeling/sitting. The back half of the room is the inner sanctuary where all the statues and religious artifacts are, and where the monks performed the service. They perform the service whether or not anyone shows up to watch. After all, we were staying in an active temple that put up guests, not a hotel that puts on a show.

As we sat in the front watching our breath and watching the service, the junior monks chanted sutra after sutra to the beat of tiny hand bells. And while this was going on, the head monk sat on one side of the room performing the most important functions. Some of it involved playing with fire, blowing a horn like you might see or hear on the Materhorn, swinging a sword around like he was trying to kill an invisible devil, and chanting.

Immediately after the service we were served a breakfast of miso soup, rice, a hard-boiled egg, more rice, and a few pickled vegetables. After breakfast i left for the train station.

To make a long story short, after a cable car ride, three trains, a ferry across the Inland Sea, and two bus rides, i arrived in front of Temple One. I bought the white jacket that is semi-mandatory for people making this trip and went to find my minshuku (bread and breakfast- but they give you dinner as well).

I found the minshuku just down the road about a block from Temple One. I tried to check in at 3:30 since i really had no where else to go, but was politely rejected. They asked if i had gone to see the "German House" down the road and when i told them i hadn't, they gave me directions and told me i had to go. Really. Not wanting to argue, i left my bag and, following the directions they had given me, went off to find the famous tourist attraction.

To be honest, having seen it i'm glad the sent me off. The story is, in 1917, near the end of WWI, the Japanese attacked Tsing Tao in China and took thousands of German's as prisoners of war. Several thousand of these ended up on the island of Shikoku in a camp run by a very unusual Japanese man.

This man had decided long ago that prisoners were just as human as the Japanese themselves and, therefore, deserved the same respect. He basically allowed the Germans to live a life free of all but a few regulations and do anything they wanted to - all under guard of course. He received a lot of criticism from colleagues and superiors for what he did, but he ignored it and ran the camp the way he felt necessary.

The Germans ended up building the camp into a small town, built a boating pond, a bowling alley, sports fields, and more. Many of them started their own businesses and made clothing, furniture, musical instruments, books, and magazines. In addition, they started their own orchestra and made their own money to use in the camp.

But most incredible of all, the prisoners were allowed to leave camp whenever they chose to go out and mingle with the local people. There ended up being a huge cultural exchange between the people of Bando (the town where the camp was) and the Germans with both sides teaching the other agriculture, pottery, music, construction, and on and on.

This "German House" was built in the 1970s by the local people of Bando and the Germans in recognition of the exchange that had taken place between them at the time.

I found when i returned to the minshuku that i would be sharing a room with a Japanese man from Nagoya. He was also walking around the island and also planned on taking about fifty days. He just retired last year, so that would make him sixty-one this year. Apparently his wife was going to France as part of a local chorus so he felt it was fair for him to take off by himself and make this trip.

Supper was the standard rice, miso soup, a piece of fish, a few slices of sashimi (the raw fish that goes on sushi, but without the rice under it), a few pickled vegetables, and tea.

--3/29 Day One--
The owner woke everyone up at six for breakfast so we were out the door at six thirty. I parted ways with my new roommate at Temple One as he had stopped to see the first two temple the day before, before coming to the minshuku.

The temples are smaller than i expected and most are little else than the main temple, a second temple for Kôbô Daishi, and the administrative offices. None are in great shape structurally, but all hold their age well.

There is nothing to tell of the trip from Temples One to Three. Coming out of Temple Four, i met woman walking up the hill who stopped me and asked in perfect English how far until she got to the temple. I told her it was just around the corner and she said Thank you, but we didn't talk other than that. She had a small backpack and was wearing hiking boots, so i figured she was walking as well, but thought nothing about it after starting off again.

When i got to Temple Five, i was feeling pretty smug about myself. I had come all the way from the US, was now underway, and was feeling good. Then i received my first (of many, i'm sure) reality checks. First i met a Japanese woman who was also walking the pilgrimage. But, it appears as if she is walking it with NO backpack and NO guidebook. Nothing but her walking stick, her brand new hiking boots, and her white jacket. I was amazed.

Then, if that wasn't enough to put me in my place, while we were talking, a man came up to talk to us and ended up mentioning that this was his fourth time around and that he and his friend were running the entire pilgrimage! I didn't get any more details as he and the woman chatted for a while and then his friend came up and they took of running - literally. I guess this shows that what i'm doing is pretty insignificant in the entire scheme of things.

Soon after leaving Temple Five, i found myself not heading where i was supposed to. I knew i was on the right road since i passed the minshuku where i was supposed to spend the night. The only problem was that i wasn't supposed to pass it until later in the day. After leaving Temple Five i was supposed to veer to the North to go to Ooyamaji, the first Bangai Temple. The bangai temples are the twenty temples that fall outside the standard eighty-eight numbered temples that make up the main pilgrimage. Well, i missed that veer to the north and continued to sag to the south, unfortunately. That left me on the right road to my minshuku, but it meant that i had to go way out of my way to go another route to Ooyamaji.

I asked directions at a restaurant where i had Yakisoba for lunch and they seemed perfectly clear. But, halfway there i decided to take a shortcut and ended having to backtrack for forty-five minutes just to get back to the road that i was told to use. By the time i got up to the mountain temple i had gone from being ahead of schedule for the day to being worried if i'd make it back for dinner.

There is absolutely nothing i can say about the first of the Bangai temples. It appears that all but a miniscule minority don't bother to visit any but the original eighty-eight. The temple compound was deserted and eerily quiet and i even had to ring a bell to get the monk to come downstairs to sign the book i carry and get stamped at each of the temples.

I hurried to get back to my minshuku and ended giving myself my first blister for the trip on one of my little toes. But, it is bizarre. There is no blister on the bottom or side of the toe, but i may lose the toenail as it is all red under the nail like when you smash your finger with a hammer. Yuk.

The owner of the minshuku put me in this huge room all by myself, but asked if i would mind if she put up any other walkers that might call or show up in the same room. Of course i told her it was OK. The room had two ventilation fans that weren't sealed so it was the exact same temperature inside as out - and i could see my breath. I think Shikoku is the coldest place on the earth. I have never been this cold for this many days in my life. Obviously the first thing i did was to get the space heater going on full blast and sat with my nose plastered against the heating element. About an hour later the owner showed up with a young Zen monk from Hiroshima in tow and told me that he would be sharing the room.

I'm convinced that this guy is on his last fling for whatever reason. He is thirty-one (that is one of the first things they always tell and what they want to know about you) and will probably be travelling most of the year. He went to Thailand in February, is walking this pilgrimage between now and the first of May, hopes to climb Mt. Fuji in July, and is planning to come to the US in October for a month.

The two of us spent hours talking about anything and everything until about nine o'clock. He is as fascinated with America as i am with Japan. He lives at his father's temple in Hiroshima but when i asked if he was being groomed to take it over, he told me that he doubted it. He told me that he is hoping that his older brother (who is teaching Zen Buddhism in San Francisco) will return to Japan someday to take over the temple and free him to go to the US in his (the brother's) place. He thinks he has a chance of this happening since the other brother is the older brother and that means a lot in Japan.

Dinner was this incredibly delicious pot of what i'll call a stew, but that isn't what it is called. Each person gets a little hot plate of his own. A porcelain pot is put on with a stock soup and then a HUGE shrimp is tossed in, some beef, some pork, and lots and lots of various vegetables. Then you are given a plate of more of each so that as you eat it down you can restock the pot, let more cook, and continue eating until you burst - which is what i did. And, of course, you push all of this down with a few bowls of rice and a few cups of green tea. Delicious doesn't do justice to how this tasted.

By the end of the night, the monk had decided that we should walk together the next day as both of us wanted to get to Temple Eleven before stopping again. I agreed and we went to sleep. After my first day on the road, i slept like a baby from about nine o'clock to six the next morning.

--3/30 Day Two--
We were up at six for a six-thirty breakfast of rice, a raw egg, a few vegetables, miso soup, and more rice. All washed down with green tea. A woman who sat at the same table as us seemed fascinated with the monk who was walking the pilgrimage and his foreigner friend who was also walking. She gave the monk a bag of candy for the trip, and the owner gave each of us a new water bottle (Evian) in a hand-made cloth holder that hangs on your belt or the side of your pack. We thanked them profusely and were on the road at seven.

The monk (his name is really Shuken-san) had already been to Temples Six and Seven the day before, but because he couldn't find an empty room anywhere in the area, he had to return to where i had been staying (Is that a bad omen for me? My reservations run out after Wednesday night.). Since he had already been here, we hurried through these two and made our way towards Temple Eight.

Just to fill in a gap, i have been walking on all types of roads to get here. I've walked on the side of four lane highways, two lane busy roads, two lane country roads with little traffic, narrow single lane roads, mountain trails, and mountain trails that are so poorly maintained that i had to occasionally get on my hands and knees to crawl under the tree that had fallen across the trail. I had to crawl because on my right the mountain went up at an angle of 70 degrees or so and on my left the mountain dropped straight down - and i walked this on a trail no more than twelve inches wide.

I was surprised when we got to Temple Ten to see my friend the backpackless and guideless woman from Temple Five. I was doubly surprised when, after greeting her, i turned around and found myself face to face with the English-speaking women from Temple Four.

The monk and i were treated to a sweet potato (without an 'e'), a couple of rice cakes, and a few cups of tea by a woman running a stand at the temple gate. This is something called "Settai" and it means a gift offered to pilgrims walking the pilgrimage. From what i have read, they will offer anything from food to clothing to rides to money -and it is considered entirely wrong to ever refuse. But in this case we were both thirsty and the sweet potatoes looked delicious so we accepted gladly.

While we were eating, the backpackless woman came up to the woman who ran the concession and asked her to do something i didn't understand. But i did understand the owner when she looked shocked and said "Who, me?"

After a short discussion, the owner of the stand not very happily went out (we were sitting under a two-sided tent) and the other woman stood behind her and started to chant a sutra in a loud voice. While she was doing this, she was shaking her rosary beads up and down and around the woman's whole body and every now and then, just for added emphasis (i guess) she would pound on one of the woman's shoulders. The whole thing lasted about three minutes and the whole compound stopped to watch. The monk told me that she wasn't a nun, but didn't know what she might be. Maybe some kind of shaman??

I forgot to mention that, when we were invited to go in and eat, we were introduced to a sixty-something looking man who was deeply tanned and seemed to be one of the happiest people on earth. His eyes had a jolly glow in them like Santa Clause is always supposed to have. He was large, but not fat, and seemed in good shape. He was standing around talking to a few people when we got to the concession booth. We shook hands (a tip off right from the start that he is different, Japanese NEVER shake hands) and he asked the typical questions about who i was, where i was from, what i was doing, and so on.

While we were eating the concession owner told us (the English-speaking women had by now been invited to join us as well) that the man i just described had committed to spending 1000 (yes, One Thousand) days walking the pilgrimage. That is almost three years! And, if i can do it in two months, even though he is walking much slower he should be able to do about five trips a year. Did i mention that what i am doing is rather insignificant? I am seriously impressed with some of these people.

As it turned out, my English-speaking friend didn't speak much English and we all stuck to Japanese for the half-hour or so that we were there. The monk and i left the English-speaking woman in the concession and finally headed on our way. As i left, i wondered about this small family i seemed to have joined. Would i be seeing any of them again as we all made our way around the island? I was walking faster than the two women, but they seemed to catch up as i veered off track to go visit the Bangai Temples.

I had a bowl of udon noodles for lunch with a tonkatsu special. Udon is like soba, but the noodles are made of regular wheat instead of buckwheat. And tonkatsu is made a slice of pork about the size of a regular pork chop, breaded and deep-fried. All of this came, of course, with the requisite bowl of soup and the rice. All washed down with green tea.

When we came out of the restaurant we found that it had started raining. The day had started out cloudy and windy, but at least no rain. We had to walk the last ten kilometers (six miles) in the rain.

We arrived at Temple Eleven at three and i felt terribly sorry for the monk. While i had a reservation for the night, he had been unable to find one. So, while i was staying at a minshuku only a hundred meters (330 ft) from the temple gate, he had to put on his pack and head out for another place someone told him about. But, the reservation came with a price - he had to walk two or three hours more down the trail. If he was lucky he would get there by five thirty but he was told to expect six-thirty. And it was raining. And his feet hurt. And it was all uphill.

I'm feeling a little guilty, but there is nothing i could have done. After my bath and sitting right in front of the heater to warm up, i had another wonderful dinner of rice, miso soup, sashimi, vegetables, tempura, and green tea. After dinner, i just came back to my room to finish this and then i'll go to bed and read a little. It is now five minutes until nine and i think i am the only person awake in the building. The guy in the room next door is snoring so loudly i'm afraid the door is going to fall down.

Tomorrow is going to be the first hard day. From here it is all uphill to Temple Twelve at 700 meters (2300 feet). It normally takes about six hours to get to the top and then, after visiting the temple, i have another ten kilometers (6 miles) to my minshuku for tomorrow night.

--3/31 Day Three--
Well, i survived the first test.

The minshuku (Minshuku Fujiya) started to come awake somewhere just after five in the morning. I refused to bow to pressure an laid there until about six, though, since i found that i had woken up with a full-blown cold. Yesterday my nose had run like a faucet, but this morning my head was stuffed up, my nose was so clogged that i was breathing through my mouth, and i felt like -- well, let's just say i didn't feel all that good. After a six-fifteen breakfast of the standard rice, vegetables, miso soup, and raw egg (which you put on your rice, but i didn't eat), i was out the door at six-thirty for the trip up the mountain to Temple 12.

At breakfast i was told that it was supposed to get to 15 degrees (50 F) today at the top of the mountain. I found that pretty hard to believe as i started up the mountain walking through the clouds. It was cold (as usual) and misting so i had to wear my rain jacket while i was walking. This made my life miserable. I was pooped before i had gone 100 meters (330 ft).

The problem with wearing a jacket is that it was only really turtleneck shirt type of weather. But, i felt cold so i wore the jacket. Unfortunately, though, it is heavier than necessary so i started to sweat. As your sweat evaporates that lowers your body temperature, which makes you feel colder. Well, you can see the vicious circle here. In the end, the sun did come out but not until i was already on my way down from the top of the mountain. As it came out, i started to feel a lot better.

Temple 12, like many of the other temples, is really nothing to speak about. If it weren't part of the famous 88 temples, i don't think anyone would come up. It took me 5 hours to wallk to the top and that was five hours of very hard work. It had rained hard the night before (and maybe into the morning hours) and the trail was water logged, slippery, steep, and downright hard to walk from time to time.

I stopped halfway up the mountain at a minshuku on the trail and asked about my monk friend from the day before and found that he had safely arrived at about six last night. That made me feel better as he had to walk what i was walking in the rain and partly in the dark by the light of a flashlight.

As i said, there just isn't much to tell you about the temples. They consist of the main temple where the statue of the main Buddhist deity is located, the temple dedicated to Kôbô Daishi, a bathroom, and the room where you get the stamp in your book.

I sat around and watched a hundred, or so, bus pilgrims get ushered through the temple compound and had lunch before heading down the mountain to my minshuku for the night. For lunch i had what is called onigiri and which was made for me at Fujiya Minshuku this morning. An onigiri is a rice ball about the size of a closed fist with something in the center and, in this case, a few sesame seeds around the outside. I have no idea what the seeded thing in the center was. In any case i didn't eat it. I ate the rice and threw the center away - it was much too sour for me.

Last night at dinner, while i was talking to the husband and wife who were sitting at the same table as me, the husband commented that we would be staying at the same minshuku tonight as well. Since that was the case, he asked, did we want to walk together? Being the selfish person i am, i said no because he appears to be in his sixties and i was afraid he would walk a lot slower than i would want to.

I had breakfast with them again this morning and told them goodbye as i left. She was returning to Tokyo and he was continuing his walk. As i was leaving the minshuku at six-thirty, he was heading back to his room with his wife and was still dressed in his yukata (a cotton robe you wear when hanging around the minshuku. It is much more comfortable than western clothes.)

Well, i assumed that was the last i had seen of him. Then, low and behold, as i got off the mountain and arrived in the town where my minshuku is located tonight, there he was, standing on the street corner talking to a shop keeper! Now i just don't like calling anyone a liar, but how could i believe that this guy had left after me, caught up to me, and then beat me down the other side of the mountain - all without my ever having seen him, or without him passing me on the trail?

And to top that off, i had walked the trail up in five hours. According to the guidebook, the normal time up is six hours, with slower people taking eight hours and faster taking four. Keep in mind that this guy is in his sixties and NOT an athlete. And to top that off, because of the rain the trail was a mud pit in places. Both my trousers and my boots were muddy. And yet, neither his shoes nor his trousers were dirty in the least??????

But, OK, let's be fair. Maybe he left after me but somehow could walk as fast as me. While i was sitting around eating lunch he arrived, got his book signed, and left, all while the other hundred bus pilgrims were there so i missed him. That could be possible, i guess.

As an interesting aside before i finish the story. When i met him on the street corner talking to the shop keepers, he had a dog with him. I didn't think much of it until we crossed the street to sit down on some benches and commiserate each other on our sore feet. When we did this, the dog followed him. I asked about it, and he told me that on the way down the mountain the dog (from an udon restaurant near the top of the mountain) had decided to follow him. He tried to shoe it away many times, but the dog just kept following. He was now several hours from home.

As we sat there and talked about him, the dog just laid there next to us on the side of the road. When my friend decided to go use a pay phone to call and make sure his wife had returned home safely, the dog walked over to me so i petted it and scratched it behind the ears. When i decided to leave, i told my friend that i would see him at the minshuku and left. As you are probably guessing, the dog followed me for the next hour and a half while i walked to the minshuku. It was sort of cool walking with a dog, if you forget the fact that it wasn't mine and that i had just led it a total of about 3 or 4 hours from home.

In the end, my friend tried to call who he thought was the owner, but found out that the dog didn't belong to him. But, the guy on the phone did know whose dog it was and would pass on the word. He went on that we shouldn't worry as the dog had acquired the habit many, many, years ago of following henro down the mountain. I have no idea what happened after that. When i asked later in the evening, my friend told me the dog had left and probably gone home on his own. I can only hope that is true.

So, back to my original story. I had now left this guy at a pay phone and headed for the minshuku (with a new dog in tow). At a pay phone within sight of the corner where you turn to get to the minshuku, i found a phone with a data jack and decided to check my e-mail and upload some of the journal. That took about fifteen minutes and i then headed to find my room.

When i arrived at the minshuku five minutes later, there was this guy already there, already in his room, already out of his clothes and into a yukata, and already working on a beer! And, he had never passed me while i was walking. So what's going on here? Is he using taxis everywhere and telling people he is walking? The only reason i'm still not settled on that is because i can't explain the dog (it could have come from the mountain). , and because i saw his stamp book later. While i didn't think of checking to see if he had a stamp for Temple 12 (which you can only get at the temple) he did have numerous other stamps. But then again, he could still have the stamps if he had actually gone to the temples, but had gone by taxi.

So, tomorrow i am going to walk with this guy for a few hours in the morning. He is going straight to Temple 13 and i am stopping at the second bangai temple first. But, our paths are the same for the first five or six kilometers (3 or 4 miles). I just have to see how well and how fast he walks.

I did some laundry tonight at the minshuku and while that was going we went to the local public bath to relax and get clean. When we returned, he invited me to his room on the first floor to drink beer, eat snacks, and watch the cherry blossoms.

I ran out and was able to make a phone call to make a ryokan reservation (a ryokan is like an minshuku) for tomorrow night and by the time i returned he had ordered more beer. Then, the two of us were called to dinner where he treated me to two bottles of sake. We sat and talked for about an hour about everything from newspapers (he is a retired newspaper reporter from one of the major daily papers) to Japanese politics to baseball (both Japanese and American) to the Japanese actresses we think are the prettiest and best actresses. All in all, a very interesting and knowledgeable person. But i'm still not sure i trust him.

As i said, tomorrow i'm off to see the second bangai temple, then to see Temples 13, 14, 15, and 16. Tomorrow night's ryokan owner told me on the phone when i called to go to Bangai 2 first, and the go to Temples 13, 14, 15, and 16 in reverse order. That may put me a little ahead of schedule, but i'm still not sure since i need to take some time off the next day to go find a bank to cash some traveler's checks. That delay may put me back on schedule. Well see.

--4/1 Day Four--
During breakfast this morning, a couple in their sixties ate at the same time as me and the reporter. He is a retired Chemistry professor from Osaka and is now doing some other work at a women's college somewhere else. They were biking (real bikes, not motorcycles) through the province i am in now and will be on the road for a few weeks. It turns out that he was a Post Doctoral Scholar in Madison Wisconsin 30 years ago or more and was happy to talk to someone from the Midwest so he could relive a few memories. And, incidentelly, the wife decided that amongst everything else we could talk about, i needed to learn how to hold the rice bowl correctly - thumb on top and fingers on bottom. She giggled after telling me how to correct myself, but seemed happier now that i had changed. I think i used to just sit the whole bowl in the palm of my hand.

The reporter asked for my address when we were finished with breakfast and told me that he was intending to write an article about his journeys on the trail here. He wants to send me a copy - to which i gladly accepted. He isn't walking the whole trip now, though. He is walking through Tokushima Prefecture now, Kôchi Prefecture in the fall, Ehime Prefecture next year in the spring, and, finally, Kagawa Prefecture next year in the Fall.

I wish him the best of luck but have one more reason to distrust what he says he is doing. As we were getting ready to leave, i just assumed we would walk the beginning part together; he had, after all; asked if i wanted to the previous day. But, to my surprise, he told me no and wouldn't leave his room until all other guests had left. The bikers and i were the last to leave because they wanted to take a round of pictures with me and each of them. But, he wouldn't leave until we were gone. Why?

I headed out just after seven and found it to be a beautiful day. That made my cold much more tolerable. I shed the jacket after not much more than thirty minutes, or so. I spent the entire time from seven to about twelve-thirty meandering through mountain passes to get from the south side of the mountain ridge, where the last few Temples had been, to the north side, where Tokushima City, the second Bangai Temple, and Temples 13 through 17 are.

I can't even begin to describe how beautiful the scenery was walking through the passes. The passes were narrow and the mountains on both sides of the road were solid walls of trees and plants. There were greens of every hue and color, bright reds and burgundy reds, oranges, and yellows. And then, here and there, rising just above the canopy of those colors, were explosions of pink coming from a mountain cherry blossom tree - exploding above the other colors like those huge fireworks that burst high in the sky in a spherical shape and rain down in bright colors.

The best way to tell you how beautiful it was, is to simply say that i forgot all about my cold for those five hours.

When i came down the other side of the mountain and was finally entering town again, a woman came running out of her cleaning shop yelling "Wait. Wait, Henro-san." (A henro is a pilgrim, and 'san' is the suffix which you attach to people's names to make it 'Mr. or Ms. Smith,' e.g.) When i did, and she saw my face, she froze in her tracks and said, "Are you a foreigner?" When i admited that i was (and for some stupid reason appended "i'm sorry.") she invited me into the shop for a cup of coffee as settai.

I don't think i have ever really explained settai before so maybe now is the time to do so. It used to be that this was a strictly religious pilgrimage and that those who did it were really religious people, not just common people on the pilgrimage for whatever reason. Most people couldn't take the time off from work, and of course there were some who were physically unable to undertake the pilgrimage, or financially unable. Therefore, a system developed where by giving something to a pilgrim, or aiding a pilgrim in someway, you were, in effect, participating in that person's pilgrimage. So even though you couldn't go around to all the temples yourself, if you aided a person who did, you received some of the merit.

The woman wanted to give me the chance to relax and have a cup of coffee without having to go to a coffee shop. Remember that expenses are the hardest part of this trip to deal with. The coffee was delicious and i chatted with her and her junior high school aged daughter in her shop for about twenty minutes.

The woman then announced that she would lead me to Dougakuji, the Bangai temple i was looking for. It was only about a mile away and she goes often, she said, so it would be easier taking me than trying to explain it. And she was correct - the road twisted and turned on many occasions.

We chatted the whole way there and back and the whole time i was wandering around the temple compound. She was a very interesting and friendly woman. She gave me directions to the next temple and i promised to send her a copy of the picture we took together at the temple.

Later, on the way to the last temple for the night, a man in his late sixties, at the youngest, stopped me to ask if i was walking the pilgrimage. He was thrilled that i was and told me that he had walked part of the pilgrimage a few years ago with an American reporter who had come over to walk it. I asked him how often he walked the pilgrimage if he had just done it a few years ago and was flabbergasted when he told me he had been walking it for the past four years. Nonstop. And to prove it to me he showed me all the patches and repairs on his clothes, and how dirty they were. And, they were all in sad shape. They weren't dirty, per se, they just looked like he lived in them so much, that even though they had been washed, they would never be white again.

He was carrying a bag of food - fruits, instant ramen, and that type of stuff. He offered me whatever i wanted, but i thanked him and told him i was staying in minshuku and ryokan and that always included my food. He took back his offer then and said he handed out food to people who walked the pilgrimage and slept outside each night, thus having to worry about their meals. Apparently he begged for everything (he said he had ZERO money) and gave away as much of it as other people needed. What an incredibly good-hearted person. We wished each other the best of luck and headed our own opposite ways.

When i got to the last temple, i met another very interesting woman. While i was walking around the compound i noticed that a woman pushing her baby in a stroller seemed to always stay just a little behind me, but always behind me. When i sat down for a break and watched her stroll up, i said hello and made some comment on the weather.

The woman started what turned out to be a fifteen-minute conversation by telling me that she wasn't Japanese, but Korean, and had come from Seoul. She was married to the priest of the temple and the kid in the stroller was theirs.

It turns out that she is a performer of classical, traditional, Korean dance. Her dance is considered a National Living Treasure (but not her - yet, she said) and she travels back to Seoul several times a year to give performances. She even gave a solo performance sometime last year at Carnegie Hall in the US. She must be good, very good, and i told her so. She acknowledged that in a way that came across as not in the least bragging and not in the least self-centered, but simply as an acknowledgment that yes, she is a professional and considered by many to be very good at what she does. She told me she has been studying for thirty years; since she was ten years old.

After checking in to the ryokan (Myozai Ryokan outside Temple 13) and taking a bath, my cold caught back up to me and i think i had a fever. I was incredibly cold and felt like death barely warmed over. We had another delicious dinner and i stopped on the way back to the room to call and make a reservation at Minshuku Chiba outside Temple18 for Friday night. Since i was sharing a room with three other people, i couldn't control the light, but was relieved when they turned it off a little after nine. Some time in the night my fever must have broken because i woke up for a few brief seconds just to realize i was in a pool of sweat

--4/2 Day Five--
Today is an easy day to write about. Not much of interest happened.

I left the Ryokan at seven and headed back down the same road as i had walked the night before. Remember that when coming from Bangai Tempe 2, the ryokan owner had told me to cut through town instead of going back up into the mountains, and to go from Bangai 2 directly to Temple 16. I was then told to walk back to Temple 13 in reverse order (16, 15, 14, and finally 13).

Since i had done that, i now had to walk past all of them again to get to Temple 17 this morning. What i didn't tell you yesterday was that somewhere near Temple 14 late yesterday, i dropped and lost the coin purse that i carry around so i don't have pockets full of loose change. I noticed it was missing when i was about a half mile away on my way to Temple 13 and retraced my steps back to Temple 14 but couldn't find it. Oh well, not the best way to finish the night, but there had only been about 5,000 yen in it.

Now that i was walking back past the same temples again this morning, and by the same route, i took the time to walk slowly and scour the road between where i had noticed it missing and the front of Temple 14. Still nothing so i wrote it off as a 5,000 yen lesson in learning not to care about spilt milk.

This was my last day in or around Tokushima City and from here i am out in the countryside and in the mountains for a few weeks - until i reach Kôchi City and the Temples starting with Temple 30, or so. Because of that, i stopped at the bank and cashed some traveler's checks. After that, i spent the rest of the day walking to Temple 18. The weather was a very pleasant partly sunny and partly cloudy with very sporadic and very light sprinkles, even though rain was forecast for the afternoon. I'm lucky now, but i'll bet it rains tomorrow.

I didn't see a restaurant when i was starving around one o'clock, or so, so i just stopped at a convenience store and bought two egg salad sandwiches, some anpan (a roll with bean paste as a filling), and a bottle of Pocari Sweat (like Gatorade). I also bought a cheap 90 cent coin purse to replace the one i had lost yesterday, and promptly put my change for these purchases in it. I ate while i sat on the ground in front of the store and took a break.

After about fifteen minutes, a little boy (maybe 2?) comes out of the store by himself, looks around, and walks away. I yelled at him as he was heading towards the street, but he ignored me and climbed the stairs to the pedestrian bridge that goes over the street and was up on top looking down on the traffic. Well, i wasn't comfortable with that at all, and when a woman came out of the store i told her and asked if that was OK? (I knew it wasn't, but maybe here, in this neighborhood, they all know him and he does this and......). The woman went over and looked up at the kid and stared at him for a few minutes and then just walked away. Now i was really perplexed.

Suddenly, i heard a motherly sounding voice call out a kid's name. I looked at her and asked if she was looking for a small boy. When she said yes, i told her where he was and she dropped everything right there on the sidewalk and ran over to get him. I left at that time, and they left walking the other way. She never did go back and pick up what she had dropped on the ground.

About two hours later i finally arrived at Temple 18. After getting my book stamped, i found a bench and decided to sit and rest until the bus group that was there had left. It was interesting to sit and watch and listen as they stood in front of the hall dedicated to Kôbô Daishi chanting the Heart Sutra and others that i didn't recognize.

As they were leaving, first one, then another, and finally about fifteen of them came over to ask me questions and see who i was. I've found that words seems to travel fairly rapidly when groups find out that i can speak the language. That makes me more than just approachable, but fair game. After about ten minutes of questions and answers (the former on their part and the latter on mine), all but three women and one man left. These four stayed to take pictures of me alone and me with each of them. Then, one of the women decided that she wanted to give me 1,000 yen as settai. Not to be outdone, another then had to give me 1,000 yen and a hand full of candy. Finally the man and the other woman followed suit and each gave me 1,000 yen as well.

Valuable lesson number ?. By not worrying about the 5,000 yen that i had lost in the coin purse i had dropped somewhere, i had now, in one fell swoop, replaced 80% of it and promptly put it in my new coin purse that will always be remembered as the one i bought on this trip. Sometimes things happen to prove that there are still good people in this world.

As i said earlier, by giving me the money, they must have felt that they were, in some small way, gaining some merit from what i am doing. Even though i make it clear every time that i am not a religious pilgrim. I always tell people that three things came together to interest me in this trip: a) i love Japan and things Japanese, including it's history and culture, b) i love to go hiking and being in the outdoors, and c) i do have some interest in Buddhism, but am not a Buddhist and am not here to study Buddhism. And those three things are all contained in this pilgrimage so i needed to walk it.

After everyone from the bus group was gone, i sat there with my boots off enjoying the quiet, and drinking a can of orange juice while crying about my sore left foot. The only other woman still there besides me came back to get her backpack to leave and we started to talk. When she said something like "it is a little tiring, isn't it," i told her no, my left foot was telling me it was incredibly tiring.

The word in Japanese for 'foot' and for 'leg' are the same and she immediately came over and started poking and prodding my leg while asking where it hurt. I was too surprised to say anything other than say no, it is here, and pointed to my foot. She then spent the next five minutes massaging my foot while we chatted about her coming to Shikoku and her work as a facial masseuse in Tokyo. Can you believe that?

After the massage, i walked back down the hill (with a new spring in my step, i might add) and checked into my minshuku (Minshuku Chiba) for the night. When i checked in, the girl told me that the monk had stayed here last night and that he passes on his greetings. She said he was doing OK, but was walking pretty slowly. That doesn't bode well since he needs to finish by the first week in May to get back and help his father at the temple in Hiroshima. I have twenty more days than him in my schedule but am only one day behind him. But, he'll gain a day on me since it will take me all day tomorrow to get to Bangai Temple 3, Jiganji, and then several hours of backtracking to get back on the main trail.

Had a delicious dinner of tempura, sashimi, somen (it's like soba, but the noodles are much thinner. I don't know what other differences there are), vegetables, rice, and some kind of pudding. All washed down with green tea.

The minshuku has coin washers and dryers so i did a load to bring me back to a full load of clean clothes. I also called and made a reservation for tomorrow night in the lodge at Bangai Temple 3. Since very few people ever go to the Bangai temples, i'm expecting an empty house.

As i write this i am lying in bed (futon), under the quilt and two blankets and wearing a yukata and an outer warmer jacket that goes over the yukata. Man i hope this cold goes away soon. Tomorrow i'll go to Temple 19 and then up the mountain to Bangai Temple 3 where i'll spend the night. I've screwed up the order of what i was going to see, and when, but if all i see on Sunday is Temples 20 and 21, then i am still on schedule. I'll see on Sunday night where i stand.

--4/3 Day Six--
Woke to a beautiful day of mostly sunny and reasonably warm weather. For the first time, i wasn't shivering as i headed out the door, which i did at seven after the standard breakfast. I had virtually no appetite this morning and i attribute that to this cold. Ate one bowl of rice and the miso soup, but left the rest untouched.

Met no one and talked to no one until i checked into the Temple for the night at 3:15. I am coming to realize that one of the harder things about this trip is finding lunch in the afternoons. On one day, i was smart enough to accept when the minshuku asked if i wanted them to make me a bento (box lunch) for the next day. But, other than that one time, no one else has asked and i haven't asked them.

Spent almost the entire day walking through the mountains and it was just as beautiful as yesterday. This is really a lovely island. It seems that most of the countryside around this part of Tokushima is used for raising cows and growing mikan oranges.

One of the things that i noticed today was the absolute lack of young kids. Japanese children are on spring break right now and don't return to school until the 8th of April. That should mean, i would think, that all those kids are out running around and playing in the streets. I saw a few junior high school-aged boys heading out to go fishing, and i saw a grand total of about six, or so, kids that were probably still too young for schools, but saw no other kids all day. And, to top it off, it is Saturday. Where are they all? Could it possibly be that there are that few families still here with young children?

Today, like yesterday, i bought a few things in a convenience store and ate it sitting on a bench in front of the building. But, that just isn't healthy enough so i am going to have to come up with another plan. I had saved a cinnamon roll to eat as a snack later in the day and did that on the front step of a local post office. While i was eating, a man in his thirties came by to close up the cash station for the day. We chatted for just a few minutes before he raced off in his car. Later, further up the mountain, as i was walking by he came out of the local barbershop and handed me a handful of candies as settai. I thanked him, but didn't stay around to talk again as we had already done that down at the post office.

I found out when i got to the temple (Jiganji) that they have some famous caves that people are allowed to spelunk in here. Other than that Kôbô Daishi probably made them famous, i don't know what is in them, though, as they say that no one over 70 kg (154 lbs) should go in - it is too tight and bigger people could get stuck. Since i weighed myself last night and found that i still weigh about 78 kg (172 lbs) i didn't go. But, that is really a silly rule. One of the men who went in when i would have may have weighed less than 70 kg but that is only because he is short. He was definitely overweight and wore trousers much bigger than i do. If they weren't afraid of him getting stuck, there is no way i would have. Unless, of course, there are really short (as in height) passages where i would have to bend over and then i wouldn't fit through. That, i admit, is a possibility.

While the outside of the temple is rather nondescript and well worn, the interior of the shukubo (temple lodge) looks brand new and is well, well, maintained. Looking into the kitchen while eating in the dining room, i saw a kitchen that many restaurants would drool over. The temple is spotless, well equipped, and all the tatami and everything else looks to be new. Each wall panel in the main temple is painted with a different picture of some Buddhist scene. Even those looked as if they had just recently been painted. What a difference between the outside and the inside of this place.

While eating i talked to the head priest's wife for a few minutes. She told me that she walked the pilgrimage about 30 some years ago - as her honeymoon trip. She laughed as she recalled that her first blisters broke out on the third day and lasted until somewhere around Temple 50. I don't get there until the beginning of May so i guess i have a long way to walk still with the ones i have.

After dinner of rice, somen, miso soup, and other 'stuff,' i called ahead and made a reservation at Minshuku Sakaguchiya, about 4 km (2.5 mi) past Temple 21. So far, i haven't had trouble making reservations (knock on wood). Everyone keep your fingers crossed that my luck continues.

Tomorrow is going to be my last tough day for a while, i think. Jiganji, where i am tonight, is on top of a mountain at about 500 m (1650 ft) and i spent all day climbing to it. Tomorrow i drop back down to about 140 m (450 ft) to get back on the main trail. I then climb back up to 500 meters to Temple 20, drop back down the other side of the mountain to 140 m, climb back up the next mountain up to 600 m (2,000 ft) to Temple 21, and then drop back down the other side of that mountain to just above seal level - where i'll stay for a week or more.

I can't keep the heater running in the room and don't know what is wrong with it. So, i'm going to close this and just get in bed for the night even though it is only eight-thirty. I'll read for a short while, and then just turn out the light and try to stay warm. I already got another blanket out of the closet and added it to the others on my bed.

Have i told you that Tokushima Prefecture is the coldest place on the face of the earth? I can't even remember what i feels like to be warm all day, from the time i wake up until the time i go to bed.

--4/4 Day Seven and end of week one--
This morning started out so promising. The weather was chilly, but not freezing, my feet didn't hurt, and my cold is going away.

The only problem with going to the bangai temples is that you have to backtrack to get back on the main trail again. I spent the first two and a half hours of the morning walking back down the same hill i had walked up yesterday - on the exact same roads. Psychologically that just bothers me. It felt like i was making reverse progress.

But, let's be realistic about it. I have always maintained that this trip isn't about getting from one place to the other. This trip isn't about goals, objectives, stamps, and deadlines. This trip is simply about walking around the island; walking whatever trail happens to be the next one needed to continue around the circle. Not going anywhere, really, just being exactly where you are - all day. So, it shouldn't bother me. But it did. I'll have to work on that.

There is only one reason i have found, so far, that i prefer to walk alone. The average Japanese just can not take two months off from work or anything else they are doing. That goes against the social order. So, those that want to walk this pilgrimage need to do so in as short a time as possible.

Then, there are others who seem to be on the trail for no other reason than to collect the stamps that you get in your Nôkyô book at each of the temples. There is no reason for them to linger and enjoy the scenery or to stop and talk to someone one the road.

My pace is decidedly slower than all but a few others i have met. That makes it convenient to walk alone because i don't have to worry about whether or not i am slowing someone down if i just want to sit and take a break. But as i have told people who seem shocked that i am willing to walk alone, i was born alone and will, most likely, die alone, so what difference do a few more months thrown in the middle make?

Speaking of slower paces, i ran into the retired newspaper reporter at Temple 20 today. To give him credit, he was walking as if he had been walking to get there. When we met, the first thing he asked me was if i had stayed at Minshuku Chiba two nights before? When i said yes, he laughed a huge laugh and said that he had stayed there last night and everyone was telling him about this interesting foreigner who had been there the night before that. He told them he was sure it was me when they told him that my name was David. It's a small world, isn't it. After a few minutes, though, we went our separate ways and i didn't see him again before leaving for Temple 21.

By the time i got up to Temple 21, i was just about as tired as i have ever been in my life. Every muscle in my legs was tired and when i would stop to take a break, my right leg would tremble. Two mountains in one day, and those after spending the morning coming off a third one, have taken their toll. I will sleep like a baby tonight.

Having told you that i need to do more for my diet, at breakfast this morning the head monk's wife (and chef and hotelier) asked if i wanted some onigiri (those rice balls with a filling) to take with me for lunch. When i told her yes, she asked if 'X' was OK (with 'X' being a Japanese word i didn't understand). I had no idea what she was talking about other than that she was asking if it was OK to put 'X' in the middle of my onigiri.

I couldn't see any reason to say anything other than 'Sure, OK,' since i couldn't have offered a suggestion of anything else even if i had wanted to. I just don't have a vocabulary when it comes to onigiri - i don't know what the options are and what is good or bad. So, i just blindly said yes, didn't like what i got, and, like last time, ate the rice around the center and threw the center away.

Now that i had food for the road, i thought my lunch problems were over. But, i found that i had no appetite for lunch. I think i was just too tired for it. I ate one of the onigiri, but threw the other two away when i got to the minshuku for the night. And, speaking of food, I MISS MY CEREAL FOR BREAKFAST! I just didn't realize how much i like cereal, orange juice, and coffee for breakfast. I've been eating the same thing for so long that anything else is just a temporary substitute. Man, i'd pay more than i should for a good normal breakfast.

The minshuku i am staying in tonight (Minshuku Sakaguchiya) has free washing machines and dryers so i'm doing clothes with everyone else in the building. It's pretty amusing all of us trying to get done at the same time. The bottle neck is the dryers - there are six washers but only three dryers.

Yesterday afternoon as i was just about an hour away from Jiganji where i spent the night, i met woman walking back down the trail away from the temple. She was confused at a junction in the trail that wasn't marked very well and couldn't figure out how to get off the mountain so i gave her the best directions i could and wished her luck. I just met her in the laundry room so now know that she made it safe and sound. She looks to be in her seventies and in great shape - just a little slow and incredibly soft spoken.

I just finished dinner and put my laundry in the dryer on my way back to the room. When i was just about finished eating, a man came over to my table from the table his bus group was sitting at and brought me a bottle of sake. After pouring a few glasses (which may be te size of half a shot glass?) he started to ask questions. He was soon joined by another man and we talked this, that, and other things (but mostly about me) for fifteen minutes. It was a fair trade considering that i got a bottle of sake in return.

Let me try and describe the dinner tonight. We started off with a plate of sashimi (the raw fish that goes on the sushi rice, but in this case no rice). It had two pieces of Toro and five pieces of Hamachi all laid out over a bed of shredded daikon (large white radish). Then there was a plate with one boiled shrimp, a slice of lotus root, a slice of sweet potato, a slice of carrot, a few green beans, and one other thing i have never known what it was. And this was accompanied with the usual bowl of somen - basically noodle soup but much more delicious.

Then there was a plate with a little potato salad and one HUGE deep fried shrimp. A plate with a slab of some kind of tofu, i think. A plate with some cucumbers and seaweed in a mustard sauce with one small lobster claw. And of course there were infinite refills of the rice bowl. Let's see, then there was a bowl of some kind of pudding made, they tell me, by grinding potatoes into a very fine paste. And a bowl of pudding made of i have no idea what. And i washed this down with the sake, a few cups of green tea, and a glass of water. Now you know why i'm not losing any weight.

I just called and made a reservation at a cheap hotel (Business Hotel Keanzu) near Temple 23 for tomorrow night. I didn't see anything just on this side of the temple, so might as well walk all the way. According to the map, Temple 23 is 28.5 km (17.5 mi) from the minshuku i'm staying at tonight. The problem with hotels is that they don't include any meals so i'll have to buy my own somewhere. Maybe i can find my cereal for breakfast? But, i chose the hotel because on the map i use it is the closest to the temple and i'm sure i'll be tired when i get there.

But, by going all the way to Temple 23 tomorrow, i am pushing myself about a day ahead of schedule so i'll either slow down somewhere else, or maybe keep the day in the bank and take a rest day in Takamatsu to see Ritsurin Garden, supposedly one of the most beautiful in Japan. Then i won't have to return to Takamatsu to see it after i finish the trip, which are my current plans.

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