{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}

--Thoughts during the Second Week--

There were no public telephones in the neighborhood, so the owner let me use her phone (after hinting that i should have a mobile phone like all the other henro), so i called the lodging i wanted to stay at tonight next to Temple 41. It was already full so i had to redo my plans. She said i could call somewhere else, but i told here i needed to think about it.

The public phones on Shikoku are disappearing rapidly. You can't even find one at the convenience stores anymore. Every one from the age of 16 months and up has a mobile phone here on Shikoku. And, they are the masters of text messaging. It is rare to hear someone talking on their phone in public places and on the train, but they always have their phone in their hand. They play with it, they fondle it, they stare at it, the do everything but have sex with it, but it is always in their hand and they are always typing away. I wonder if it would make sense to rent one at the airport when i arrive — i've heard that you can.

Now i don't know if i can make it to Oozu tomorow or not. After dinner tonight i'll look at the map and see how far that is. I didn't find a public phone until noon, but was lucky that when i called, there was an empty room at the last lodging on the north side of Uwajima, the closest i could get to the one i wanted by Temple 41. Where i ended up staying is about 8 km (5 mi) short of where i wanted. If i make it to Oozu tomorrow, i'll have to make that up.

Just back from dinner and once again, it was more than i should have tried to eat. Three huge squid, each about 2 in (5 cm) long, some takenoko (fresh baby bamboo sprouts), a plate full of sashimi with shredded cabbage, two bowls of rice, a plate of tofu, a bowl of udon, one piece of tempura, and a bown of what looked like green beans, but wasn't. I'm stuffed.

While i was eating, and while the owner was telling everyone how good my Japanese is, i quietly asked her why she had told me to pull the plug in the bath when i was done. It didn't make sense, because you are NEVER told to do that, but i appear to be the only guest, and she only filled it up to my waist, so i figured i was the only one that was going to use it. When i asked her, she just looked at me with a strange blank stare and said, "I didn't tell you to do that." Oooopppppps......... She went running off to check and, i guess, to start refilling it, although i don't know who is going to use it. Oooooppppss.....

About 1 km (0.6 mi) after leaving this morning, i hit the start of a climb to 460 m (1,520 ft). It was a miserable climb because the rain was pouring down. Rain, just like people walking, like to walk on the flat part of the trail in the middle of the path. That means that on days like today, you are really walking in a stream of running water all the time. My boots didn't hold up all that well. I think i was back off the mountain around 10:00 and back on side roads running parallel to the main highway. I ran into a small rural grocery store so bought a half loaf of bread and a package of ham to make a snack and lunch later on. Can't say it was delicious, but it was filling and i needed that.

By this time, i was wet from the inside out. Climbing to 460 m means i break out into a sweat, so my clothes get damp. Since it's raining outside, there is no way for the clothes to dry. That's why people who do this all the time buy high-tech clothes that don't hold the sweat. Cotton shirts and pants do nothing but hold the moisture. So, as i said, i was damp inside and soaking wet outside. Given the temperature, i was freezing. I wan't shivering, but just below that level.

By noon, i decided to find a coffee shop to get some coffee, dry out, and warm up. I found one that looked like they wouldn't throw me out, given how wet i was, and went in. After leaving my pack, walking stick, and rain coat by the front door, i found a table and ordered a cup of coffee. Had a nice chat with the owner because he wanted to talk about a portion of the henro trail he had helped rebuild. He led a team that rebuilt a old run down portion of the trail that let henro bypass a tunnel that is 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long. Because it was reasonably warm and i was slowly drying out while i sat there, and because the coffee was definitely warming my insides, i ordered a second cup and just relaxed. After a half hour, i paid and was shocked when he told me the two cups came to ¥800. I was shocked. I had expected about ¥500 for both cups because other people who had had entire meals had payed ¥700 and ¥800! How could two cups of coffee cost as much as a full meal?

Strange Workings of the Universe; Chapter 3,843: I think i have mentioned this before (maybe last year?), but the map book we all use is printed on paper that is so cheap it disolves in the rain. Everyime i opened it to see where i was, i would close it wilh pieces of paper sticking to my fingers. At one point the cover came off, so i stopped taking it out. At the grocery store where i finally found a pay phone to call for tonight's room reservation, i even took a plastic bag to keep the map book in to keep it a little dryer. It was by now as damp as i was. As i was walking, i thought about stopping in one of the convenience stores i passed to buy a little hand towel that i could use to dry my hands before opening the map book. That might save a few pages — or so i hoped. It was a good idea, but i just never stopped to do it. Anyway, after having coffee, and being shocked at the price, as i was packing up to leave, the owner reached behind the door and too a small towel off a rack and put it around my neck. He said it would keep me warmer as i walked, which i agreed it would. But, there was my hand towel. So in the end, i did get my coffee for ¥500, i just had to pay ¥300 for the towel that went with it.

Here's a perfect example of the obvious fact that there is no such thing as good and bad, in general — it's all in how you look at it. Well, that's not exactly true. It doesn't matter how you look at it, Hitler, his regeim, and what they did to the Jews was wrong. Period. And Hitler's modern day incarnation, our current leader of the free world, the incredible George Bush, Jr., and his regeim are wrong as well. They'll lie about anything to justify whatever they want to do, whether the population and congress support it (the gutless republicans). They'll sit back and watch 30,000+ Iraki civilians die each year without as much as a blink of an eye, let alone tears and remorse, just so they don't have to admit that they can't finish what they started, and don't have the guts to stop. I hope Bush, Rice, and Chenny all burn in hell for 1 million lifetimes.

Don't know how i got off on that tangent, but i won't erase it. My real point was, tunnels are a real pain in the neck for walking henro. They are noisy and sometimes very dangerous. I usually dread just the thought of walking in one. Today, however, i looked forward to the tunnel that was almost 2 km long. It was dry, and because of all the traffic warm enough to start drying out my rain suit. I was very happy to be in a tunnel today and wish it had lasted another 2 km! :-) See, it's all in how you look at your situation. Just because we think it's bad, doesn't mean it is; if you take the time to look at it from another perspective. (Except for the Bush regeim, that is.)

The the young women who signed my Nōkyōchō this year at Ryūkōin (Bangai 6) did the same thing as the man who signed it in '99 did. After taking my ¥300 for signing my book, she gave me a small envelope saying "this is really nothing, but please accept it as settai." I didn't open it until later when i was in my room for the night, but inside the envelope was ¥300. I'm guessing that they want you to pay because you are paying for their service just like all the other henro that pass through. But, because i am a walking henro, they want to give me something to support me, so they give me settai of a different ¥300. It's a nice system.

My feet really hurt today. There are no blisters, and it really isn't pain, but the new arch supports that i bought just aren't doing their job. My feet are so incredibly tired, and that's the way they feel when i go with worn out arch supports for too long. Don't know what i'm going to do yet. It showed in today's distance, though. I only walked 32 km (20 mi), but it took just as long as it took yesterday to walk 38 km. Yes, the rain cause part of that delay, but i was walking slower, i know it.

The weather forcast tonight is calling for clear skies and a high of 20* C (68* F) tomorrow. That doesn't help me tonight, though. It's cold in my room tonight as there is no heater. I have several blankets ready to use. Breakfast is at 6:45 tomorrow morning and i'll be out the door by a little after 7:00.

--Thursday, 4/19/07--
Last night when they asked me what time i wanted breakfast this morning i told them 6:30. They didn't like that very much and suggested 7:00. Then they said that 6:30 was OK, but it obviously wasn't so i compromised and suggested 6:45. we all agreed on that time. I was still up early this morning simply because i turned off the light just before 9:00 last night. I watched the weather and repacked my pack while i waited. My mapbook is falling apart at the seams from the rain yesterday. It has just about seen it's last days. I may just buy a new one when i finish to use next year.

Was out the front door a little after 7:00 to clear skies and a bright sun. It was still chilly because the mountains on both side of the town keep the morning sun out, but i didn't need a coat. I did have three shirts on, however; a tank top, a short sleeve T-shirt, and a long sleeve T-shirt. Once i got walking, though, i warmed up nicely. After just 5 minutes, i turned a corner and found myself behind another henro that i have been playing cat and mouse with for two days. I followed him for about an hour, before he stopped to take a break, at which point i passed him and was on my own.

About 15 minutes before getting to Temple 41 (Ryūkōji), i stopped at a little (very little) grocery store and bought a something to eat in case i need it in the mountains. Between Temples 41 and 42, and then between 42 and 43 is a lot of nothing, as far as food supplies goes. Part of the time you are on mountain trails, but for the most part you are just on 1 and 2 lane rural roads with no restaurants, no convenience stores, and no grocery stores. There are the ubiquitous vending machines, so you won't die of thirst, but you will go hungry if you aren't prepared in places like this.

At Ryūkōji, they were preparing for a festival today. The place was a behive of activity by the 4 or 5 groups setting up their tables and booths were they will sell food, candy, and whatever else they can. On the way out i bought some cookie-like things. I have no idea what they are, but the woman said they were local specialties so i bought a package of 5 to eat on the way to Temple 42. The package simply said Fried Candy, but they weren't candy, they had the look and texture of Vanilla Wafers (or thereabouts), but the inside had a layer of something that was sweet and had been fried/cooked in some way — maybe carmelized? They were pretty good, but needed to be washed down with a few cans of Aquarious, my favored canned drink (like a very diluted Gateraid).

It was a quick trip to Temple 42 (Butsumokuji) along the side of the local two-lane highway. After visiting the hondō and the daishidō, then getting my stamp, i was on my way. If it hadn't been for seeing another henro leave through the side of the compound, i wouldn't have noticed that the henro path goes out the side of the compound through the graveyard. It wasn't clear to me on the map, and it wan't marked until you had actually gotten to the edge of the graveyard, so i considered myself lucky to have seen the other henro leave as i was leaving.

On the way to Temple 43 (Meisekiji), i met an 83 year-old man that was doing the pilgrimage for the 4th time. He said he planned to walk until he was 85 years old, so has two more years to walk. He doesn't walk the entire way, but mixes up walking with riding trains and buses from time to time. He was walking so slowly it was amazing. Each step couldn't have moved him more than 30 cm (a foot) forward. But, like the Energizer bunny, he never, ever stopped. He was talking to himself as i approached him from behind, and talked the entire 15 minutes we were together. He doesn't seem crazy, though, his conversation was sharp and to the point. Except for his display of German, i suppose. He told me that he had run into a German on the trail 4 years ago and had the chance to use the German he learned in High School. He says he still hasn't forgotten it, and proceeded to give me a 3-4 minute display of various words, phrases, and entire conversations in German — with the Japanese translation so i would know that he was telling the truth. Considering that i speak no German, i had no way to check his accuracy. I finally left him and continued up the hill on my own.

As i was just about to get to Temple 43, i got completely lost. I ended up in the parking lot of the Ehime Prefecture History and Cultural Museum. I didn't know that at the time, but looking around it was obvious that i wasn't at the temple. As i was standing there trying to figure out where i had gone wrong a henro came by in his car and i asked him. He told me that i had simply missed one turn partway up the hill to the museum and offered to drive me back down. I accepted, but when we got there he asked if he should just drive me the last 1 km (0.6 mi) over to Temple 43. I couldn't see any reason to object, so accepted that as well and we were then in about 2-3 minutes. He dropped me off and left for Temple 44. But, he had the coolest map navagation system builet right into the dashboard of his card. It showed all the temples and told him exactly how to get to each.

I got to Temple 43 just after 1:00. With 20 km (12.7 mi) still to go to get to Oozu where i wanted to spend the night, i was pushing my luck. If i hurried, i could still concievably get there by 5:30-6:00, but i was pushing it. Then, a woman came up to me and told me that she was talking to all of the walking henro and wondered if i would be kind enough to take the time to answer some questions. The interviews turn into short stories about the henro in a Japanese guide book called Shikoku 88 Kasho Meguri. Since that is the exact name of my web site, i told her OK; if she could follow my Japanese, i'd tell her what she wants to know. We talked for about 15 minutes, and she asked all the standard questions: who am i, where do i come from, what is my job, how many times have i walked it, do i really come all the way from the US just to walk the henro michi, why do i walk it, what are my favorite places, do i have any interesting stories, if i could offer any advice to other henro, what would it be, etc. After all of those questions, and a few pictures, i was on my own again.

From the interview, i went to get my book stamped, and found that since i had arrived about 4 buses of henro had showed up and the line at the stamp office was swamped with their crews getting all those henro's book's stamped. I was there at least another 15 minutes, and when i was finally done, it was going on 2:00. At that point i threw in the towel and decided to stay in Uwa Machi for the night (the town just down the hill). That means there is no way i will make it to Kuma Town on Saturday, so i tried to call Tom, but had no lick with his cell phone or his home phone. I made a room reservation at a ryokan by the train station and then headed down the hill.

Since i had about an hour and forty-five minutes to kill, i found a coffee shop and ordered some coffee. After sitting around there until about 3:15, i headed out to the train station and sat around in the waiting room looking over the map book. I tried to call Tom again a few times, but still had no luck, so left a message on his home phone. I'll try again after dinner.

Finally checked in at 4:00 and then usual routine. A cup of tea to relax. A bath and soak. The owner is doing my laundry for me. Then dinner at 6:00. There is only one other guest, a very friendly young woman from Hyogo Prefecture who appears in her 30s, and the owner sat for a half hour filling the two of us in on the history and highlihgts of the town. She's the third generation in her family to run this inn, and she obvioulsy likes her job as hostess. To give you an idea how dangerous some of these mountain trails can be after a day of rain, the owner said that just the other day two guests had checked in and one of them was in real pain. Apparently she had slipped on one of the steeper sections of the trail and hurt her shoulder. The owner convinced her to go to the hospital, and there she found out that it was actually broken. These trails can be pretty steep at times, and as slippery as ice if you don't watch where you step. There are times were i am very, very focused on each step i take as i decend from one or another of the mountain passes.

The other guest told me that she had worked in a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, until someone suggested that she needed a way to challenge herself. Her older sister married a Canadian and moved to Quebec, and when the woman here tonight went to visit her late last year, she met a Canadian on the airplane that asked her what she did to challenge herself. She had no answer, and apparently that bugged her, so she kept thinking about it. She finally, earlier this year, decided that the henro michi was the challenge she wanted, so she quit her job and came here in April. She's walking the whole thing, but slowly. Needless to say, her mother wasn't very happy about a single woman (and her daughter) walking the henro michi alone. We chatted for two hours before i excused myself to finish typing this entry.

Since i can't make it to Kuma Town by Saturday night, when i left a message on Tom's home phone, i told him that the best thing to do is to meet in Oozu City tomorrow. He'll arrive late, so i suggested a hotel right across from the train station. We can then meet for breakfast or in the lobby on Sunday morning and spend the next two days walking to Kuma together. I tried to call him again after dinner since there is a public phone on the sidewalk right in front of the lodging, but he still isn't answering either his cell or his home phone. I'll try again tomorrow, but i sure hope he gets the message. If not, i'll feel terrible.

Tomorrow should be a relatively easy day. It is about 23 km (14.5 mi) to the hotel in Oozu. I to leave my bag at the hotel and go to Bangai 8 (Toyogabashi), before returning and actually checking in. That should only add another 6 km (3.8 mi). I'll make my reservation tomorrow before leaving town.

That means that i'll do the climb to Bangai 7 (Kinzanshussekiji) on Saturday. Again, since it's a hotel i can leave my back pack in my room and make that climb without it. That will most definitely make the climb easier to bear.

Tomorrow's weather forcast is calling for clear skies in the morning with a high of 21* C (70* F), but clouding up in the late afternoon again. After that they are saying cloudy on Saturday, and rain on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. :-( If i'm lucky, that will change before the weekend.

I told the owner that i'd like breakfast at 7:00 am tomorrow, so will set my alarm for 6:00. That almost always means that i wake up before it rings, and that's the way i like to wake up.

--Friday, 4/20/07--
Woke up to another clear and sunny day this morning. At breakfast, there was a bowl of Umeboshi (dried plumbs) and they are just too sour for me, so i don't eat them. I told the owner thta and apologized, and she surprised me as she took them away when she said then i can just eat the rice and throw the umeboshi away. For a second i had no idea what she was talking about so i just said i'm sory and thanks again. Then it dawned on me, she had made onigiri for us to eat for lunch as settai, and they have umeboshi in them. Sure enough, after our breakfast, she gave each of us a bag of about 4 small onigiri each.

Since i wan't going far today, i didn't have breakfast until 7:00, and didn't get on the road until 7:44. I finally got in touch with Tom in Tōkyō just before leaving. I'm in an awkward part of the trail where there are long stretches with no lodging or train stations. In order to meet Tom, i need to be somewhere that is reasonably convenient for him to get into. I also need to climb up to Kinzanshussekiji (Bangai 7) and that will take a full day by itself. That meant that even though i got into town a little early today, i had to stop for the night so that i can climb tomorrow. And even though i could conceivable be back down around 2:00, i can't head down the trail because Ōzu has the most convenient station.

Strange Workings of the Universe; Chapter 3,844: I called Tom from the pay phone right outside the front door of the ryokan where i spent the night. I put in two ¥100 coins to make sure that we didn't get cut off while we talked. After agreeing that i'd make the hotel reservations for us on Saturday, i hung up and completely unexpectedly, the phone spit out my two ¥100 coins again. I asked the owner, who had been kneeling in the entrance of the ryokan the whole time waiting for me to finish so she could send me off, why the phone had given my my money back. She looked surprised and said, with a completely straight face, that it must be the Daishi Sama because she has never heard of the phone giving people their money back. We laughed and decided that it was either that or settai from NTT, the phone company.

I got to town aroung 1:00, but missed a turn and walked about 1 km (0.6 mi) out of the way before stopping and asking someone how to get to the train station. I had told Tom this morning that the best place to meet was a hotel right across the street from the station. I tried to call several times during the day to make reservations, but no one ever answered. After getting lost, and then finding my way again, i went to the hotel only to find that the only person there was a woman with very little hearing left. She said that she was alone and no longer taking reservations, so i had to go out and find another hotel for the two of us. I found on about 4 blocks away, and reserved a room for myself for tonight and tomorrow night, and a room for Tom on Saturday night.

After getting to the hotel at 2:00, i was told that i could make reservations, they had the rooms available, but i couldn't do it until after 3:00. Since that was only an hour away, i decided not to walk to Bangai 8 as planned but to just sit around and call today a complete rest day. I feel as if i have wasted the whole day even though i did walk about 20 km (12.7 mi). I left late and checked in early, and took several breaks in between. :-) I checked in a 3:00, and have done nothing since.

Great weather today. I need to be careful because i'm already starting to get a sunburn on my face and arms.

Weather report tonight said tomorrow will be another hot and sunny day with a high of about 21* C (70* F). But, after that they are saying rain for three straight days. I'm hoping that changes.

--Saturday, 4/21/07--
Got up at 6:15 again, but knew i didn't have all that far to walk so sat around and didn't get out until 7:45. It was a beautiful sunny morning and warm before i even started walking down the road. Stopped at a convenience store and bought a sandwich for breakfast, a bentō for lunch, and two bottles of something to drink for the climb. Then it was off to find the trail up the mountain to Bangai 7.

I started alone, and got to a point where i had no clue where the trail went. I knew exactly where i was on the map, but the trail it indicated just wasn't there. I asked two people and neither could help. Then the henro from Tokyo that i have been playing tag with all week showed up and we both set off to try and figure out where the trail was. No one could help, so we guessed — and were wrong. So we backtracked and guessed again — and were wrong again. Finally, when we got to a deadend with no signs in sight, a woman in a car stopped and told us we were no where near where we should be. She told us that we could get back to the trail by climbing up behind the house behind us (the owner won't mind) and there we will see a very small unused trail. Follow it up and it will take us to the real trail. She was right, this little trail was almost non-existent, and everynow and then we had to stop and decide where it was, and what direction it was headed.

In the end, though, we did find the main trail and that then took us up to the main road, which we followed up to the last 3 km. From there it was back on a trail until we got to the top. We arrived at the temple at 11:45, so it was only a 4 hour walk. The temple sits at right about 820 m (2,733 ft). After arriving, i sat around and had a leisurly lunch of the bentō i had bought earlier, so didn't walk back down with the same henro i came up with.

On the way down met a Canadian who is currently living in Gifu Prefecture. We chatted for a while because he is camping out every night unless someone lets him stay somewhere for free. I begged for information for the web site when he gets back so i can update the camping information. After talking about that and his life in Gifu, he headed up the mountain and i headed down.

After about a half hour, the Canadian caught up with me again and we walked all the way down. He had hurried to catch up with me as he wanted to talk some more. A couple of interesting points came up for the web site. First, he carries a Camelback hydration system in his backpack. It holds 2 liters of water and saves him the trouble of always looking for water. Also, since the Camelback has a hose that comes out of the top so you can drink while on the run (long distance runners us it) or walk, he didn't need to stop to look for something to drink.

The second point was that he says there is some kind of system in place at some temple in Kyōto where you collect one bead for your mala at each of the Bangai Temples then send them to this temple in Kyōto. Then then assemble them into a Juzu and send them back to you. You can only get the beads at the Bangai and nowhere else. You also must show up to buy it in person, they won't send you one. So, if you don't visit one of the Bangai, you will be missing that bead. And, without all of the beads, the temple in Kyōto won't asseemble the Juzu for you. Wish i had known about this before.

The third point is that his budget is ¥1,000/day, and he usually spends a lot less than that. In fact, he receives enough settai that many days he spends no money at all. He says he has met other henro who limit their spending to ¥300/day. I can't believe they have a healthy diet, and relay on rice onigiri, but for 2 months, you would live on such a diet. So, the moral of the story is, if you camp out, you can definitely do this walk on the cheap.

On the way down, he said he wanted to buy me a cup of coffee or a beer, so i suggested the coffee. We got back down at 2:45, making it a 2 hour walk down, but we couldn't find a coffee shop, so sat on the curb in front of a convenience store and drank a can of juice while we continued to compare notes.

The Tsutsuji (Azalea) are starting to bloom and they are beautiful. Red, pink, and white. The Yamazakura (Mountain Cherry Blossom Tree) is still blooming in the higher areas, and they are as beautiful this year as every other year.

I had dinner in the hotel again tonight. Six large deep fried shrimp, a bowl of miso soup, a salad with cucumbers and tomato, a bowl of some kind of local vegetable (delicious, but not as good as last nights absolutely, scrumtously, delicious egg plant), and a bowl of rice. Washed down with water and several cups of green tea.

Weather forcast calls for cloudy tomorrow morning, turning to rain in the afternoon. Then rain on Monday and Tuesday before going back to cloudy on Wednesday. Today was beautiful with partly cloudy and a high temperature of 22* C (72* F).

--Sunday, 4/22/07--
Met Tom in the lobby at 7:00.

As i have said before, Tom has decided to give me an old digital camera that he says he hasn't used for three years. When we met, we decided to have breakfast at the restaurant right there in the hotel so tht he could hand over the camer and give me a 10 minute lesson on how to use it. It seems pretty intuitive and easy to use, but i'll take a lot of pictures while he is here to see how it goes.

We finished breakfast and were on the road at 8:00. As we were leaving, the man behind the front desk gave each of us a pair of white work gloves as settai. We didn't need them, and haven't figured out just why he thinks we do, but thanked him and accepted them anyway. I'll use mine at the Chicago Marathon this fall if i run it again.

By 9:00 or 10:00, it had started to sprinkle. Not hard at first, but as time went on it got harder and continued for the remainder of the day. As usual, i walked in my rain suit. For most of the day Tom was able to just get by with an umbrella, but by later in the afternoon, even he had to break out part of his rain suit as his trousers were getting soaked.

Sometime in late morning, we met a Japanese guy in his mid- to upper-twenties who is doing the pilgrimage on his bicycle. He lived in Boulder, Colorado and went to school there for a few years sometime in the recent past so spoke English fairly well. He wore a bicycle racing team shirt, but said he had never raced and never wanted to — he had just bought the shirt because it "looked cool." When asked if he had ridden long distances before, he proceeded to describe his journeys from Los Angeles to New York (twice) from Northern California to Argentina, and back, and several other such journeys that i just can't seem to remember right now. He was amazing! I am so jealous.

We walked about 26 km today. It was a slow day as we stopped to talk to a lot of people. We both like to talk so anyone standing near the side of the road needs to be careful when we approach. Since Tom speaks Japanese much, much better than i do (for obvious reasons: liived there 30 years and Japanese wife) so the people love him. At some small out of the way town, we saw the house where the author Oe Kenzabura was born. It is really small and not marked as anything special. In fact, we wouldn't have know that it was special had the man next door roasting fish on a grill in front of his shop hadn't told us about it.

We were trying to figure out where to stop for the night when we stopped and talked to some people standing in their driveway. On their advice, we decided not to stop at the first minshuku we wanted to stop at because they only served Tofu-based foods. Both Tom and i like tofu, but, the next minshuku, we were told, served several varieties of good fish. In our opinions, that made the walk of an extra kilometer well worth the effort. Tom called on his mobile phone and made the reservation.

We arrived just after 4:30 and sat around the table at the front entrance while drinking tea and talking for about a half hour with the husband and wife who were starting dinner.

Tom used the bath first so i turned on my computer to look at the user's manual for my new camera and to see how to use it. I didn't really need it as i took pictures all day with it and Tom answered questions, but it's nice to read about all the options. What i found out, though, is that the camera is smarter than i am so i guess i'll just leave it on Auto most of the time and let it figure out how to use the options.

Dinner was spectacular. 5 kinds of fish, including whale, a bowl of some kind of (real, locally picked, and fresh) vegetable soup, i.e., soup made with real, local, vegetables. Some other vegetables, rice, a slice of apple, and washed down with several beers.

After dinner Tom and i said we'd like breakfast at 6:30 tomorrow morning. The other two guests wanted to get an early start so said they wanted to eat at 6:00. The husband said OK, so all drifted up to our rooms on the second floor. As i was settling into bed, the wife came STOMRING upstairs, straight into the room that the other two guests are sharing (Tom and i don't share a room because he snores), and started yelling at them about how much work she had done for them to prepare the dinner for them, how she was going to prepare an onigiri for us tomorrow morning, and so forth, and they were abusing her by demanding that they eat at 6:00 instead of 6:30. Her mother (i think it was her mother) had warned her that henro were too demanding, ..... and so on. I certainly didn't undertand the majority of it because she was mad and yelling. Then she stormed back down stairs.

Before turning off my light, i read the manual for the camera for another half hour. It was still raining at 9:30 when i turned off my light and went to sleep.

--Monday, 4/23/07--
It stopped raining sometime during the night and the only noises to be heard from the minshuku were the frogs and the sound of the river across the road running endlessly nowhere. I woke up to skies full of clouds and hanging so low they ran down the sides of the mountains, but there was no rain and the temperatures were a little above chilly.

After a quick, and surprisingly small breakfast, we were on the road just at 7:00, after pictures of each of us with the owners of the minshuku.

We had a quiet day of walking on mostly winding mountain roads during the morning. Quiet, that is, if you don't take into account that we talk all day long. Remember, Tom and I have a year's worth of catching up to do, so there are lots and lots of stories to be told. In the afternoon, we spent a good part of the time off of the roads and on mountain trails. To get to Kuma Town were i was going to spend the night and where Tom would catch a bus to work his way back to Ōsaka, we had to cross two mountain passes, neither one particulary difficult, but both with long, climbing trails.

Somewere between last night's lodging and Kuma Town we stopped at an old Shinto shrine to eat a snack and take a break. Just as we were getting ready to leave two other henro stopped in to do the same thing. One of the henro was a man in his 80s. I have met 3 or 4 men in their 80s doing this walk. They all walk very slowly, but they are still out on the trail walking when most Americans are lucky to get up from their rocking chair to find the remote control for the TV. All i can do is hope that i'm as active at that age. It's all in the head, i'm sure. As long as you take care of your physical health, there's no reason we can't stay that active into our 80s and 90s.

We arrived in Kuma Town around 1:30. Since i still had no room reservation, the first order was for me to find one. At the first lodging i checked at, there were no available rooms. We went next door to the Garden Time Hotel, where i stayed at back in 1999, and got a room for both tonight and tomorrow night. When i was getting my room, Tom asked about a bus to Matsuyama and they had a schedule on the wall. It was decided that Tom could get the 2:30 bus if we had lunch there in the hotel dining room, so that's what we did.

While eating lunch, a woman came in and wanted to practice a little of her English on us. It turned out that she was a retired teacher from the local elementary school, and when Tom told her that an elementary school teacher had helped him find a room here 4 years ago when he passed through town, she figured out after a few questions that it had to have been Mr. Takechi, the current elementary school science and gym teacher. She then proceeded to call the school and find out that Mr. Takechi was at the doctor's office getting a medical checkup. So, she left, and went over to the doctor's office to tell him that Tom was back and sitting having lunch at the hotel.

When she came back, she told us to wait and Mr. Takechi showed up in about 20 minutes. He remembered Tom, and we chatted for about 45 minutes, after which we went to get a tour of the new elementary school that they just finished building in March of this year. We even got to sit in the classroom of the newest teacher who teaches one of the Grade 1 classes and chat with her as well. She obvioulsy loves her kids and was also thrilled to sit and talk to two strange foreigners who dropped out of the sky and into her class.

After some pictures, we left and went back to the hotel to have a cup of coffee. The 2:30 bus was out, so the 4:30 bus was Tom's new target. Mr. Takechi showed up about 15 minutes later and payed up for our lunches and our coffee and then ran back to school. Amazing.

A little after 4:00, Tom decided that instead of catching the 4:30 bus, he'd rather catch the 6:00 bus and go visit Temple 44 (Daihōji) with me, so at about 4:30 we hussled over to the temple. While looking around, i noticed that there are two buildings that say they are the Daishidō, but one of them is much bigger and in the center of the compound, so obviously the main one, but since we got there just before 5:00, when they close, there was no one i could ask.

After hussling back to the hotel, Tom caught the 6:00 bus and i checked into my room for the night. I'd say that it was pretty obvious that he didn't want to leave Shikoku.

After a nice long and hot shower, i went down to the dinning room for dinner and had what they call Omukare; an omlette laid over a bed of rice and lots of curry. Delicious. Especially when washed down with a very large draft beer. :-)

Tomorrow i'll head out about 8:00 for the climb up to Temple 45 (Iwayaji), eat a leisurly box lunch while i'm there, and then head back to town. The day after that, i head over one more pass and then down into Matsuyama City.

It ended up being a beautiful sunny day today. I didn't see the weather report so have no idea what to expect tomorrow.

--Tuesday, 4/24/07--
Woke up early as eople in the next room began stirring, but fell back asleep. Woke up again at 6:00 when my alarm went off, but since i don't have a lot of walking to do today i turned that off and went back to sleep again. Woke up at 7:30, brushed my teeth, put my stuff in my pack, took only what i needed for the climb up to Temple 45 (Iwayaji) and headed out right at 8:00.

Stopped at a bentō shop a block from the hotel and bought a bentō for lunch and two onigiri to eat for breakfast on the way up.

Quiet leisurly walk to Temple 45 (Iwayaji). It's on a different mountain and to get there you have to climb the mountain behind Temple 44 (Daihōji), drop down into the next valley and walk through the town there, climb to another pass and drop most of the way into the next valley. If you get back on the mountain trails and off the highway, you then climb to the top of another pass and walk along the ridge for a while before dropping down into the back door of Temple 45 (Iwayaji). In addition to the fact that walking in the mountains is MUCH preferable to walking on the highway, you also pass through an area just behind the temple with lots of statues and sites dedicated to Fudōmyōō. The area is packed with cliff after cliff with small caves in the faces and stautes and flowers in them. Makes for some good pictures.

Got there about 11:00 after 3 hours on the trail. After a very leisurly lunch, i visited the Hondō and Daishidō, and then explored the small cave they have there with a statue of Fudōmyōō a the very back. There is no lighting except for the candles in front of the statues at the very back of the cave. That makes a very, very eerie experience as you feel your way through the dark to the small lights in the distance. I guess that's supposed to be a metaphor for life — groping in the dark towards the small light that someone has pointed out knowing that Fudōmyōō will be there to save you when you get to the end.

After getting my stamp book stamped and signed it was back down the trail to Kuma Town and my hotel. Along the way i managed to lose my hat, and wonder what i'm going to do.

It started to sprinkle when i was about 5 minutes from the hotel, but it doesn't look like it will add up to much. Maybe i'll see the weather report when i eat dinner tonight. They want you to pay to use the TV in the room, so i don't watch it there. In any case, it doesn't really matter if i see the report or not. If it rains tomorrow (or any other day) i'll wear my rain suit while i walk; if it doesn't rain i won't wear my rain suit while i walk. In both cases i still walk. Rain doesn't really change my schedule, it just slows me down a little.

When i got back to the hotel a little after 3:00, i asked about a coin laundry since i was down to my very last clean pair of clothes (and i had worn some of the dirty stuff for several days). The problem with staying in business hotels is that you usually don't get your laundry done and when you only have three pairs of everything, it gets used up quickly — in three days, in fact. I have been rationing two pairs of everything for the past 5 days and they definitely needed washing, even the animals in the mountains are now avoiding me.

I was told that i could use the washing machine out in back of the hotel and they then gave me a packet of laundry detergent as settai. I got that started and went to take a shower. Since there was no hot water, i assumed they turned it on later in the day (some hotels/minshuku do that about 3:30 pm). I went downstairs and had a cup of coffee to see if the weather might be on, and while drinking it i asked the girl who runs the place when they would turn the hot water on and she was surprised. After running off and coming back, she apologized and said she had forgotten to turn on some switch. She was supposed to already have done it, but had forgotten. She apologized a dozen times but seemed to calm down when i assured her a dozen times that it had been absolutely no inconvenience. With that, it was back up to the room, took a shower, and then went and got my laundry out of the washing machine so that i could get it hanging up in my room as soon as possible. Since there is no dryer (there seldom is here on Shikoku) everything hang dries and if it is going to continue raining that means everything dries slowly.

Had fried shrimp, salad, miso soup, rice, and cheese cake for dinner, along with a good cold draft beer. It's still raining, and my clothes don't feel any drier for the few hours they've been hanging in the room.

I'll get a couple more onigiri for breakfast and a bentō for lunch tomorrow at the same place i stopped this morning. It's only a few blocks from where i'm staying and in the direction i need to walk anyway. They open at 7:00 am, so i'll leave the hotel right at 7:00. My current plans are to walk to somewhere in the vacinity of Temple 51 (Ishiteji) tomorrow. If it continues raining, though, that could change.

Ishiteji (Stone Hand Temple) is one of the more historically important temples on the walk. Or, at least one with a more important legend attached. Without telling the whole story, back in Kōbō Daishi's day, a man named Emon Saburō insulted and struck Kōbō Daishi when he stopped to beg for food in front of his house. He realized what he had done only after all eight of his sons then died off one after the other. In order to beg his forgiveness, he went around the island looking for the Daishi (thus starting the concept of a pilgrimage around the island). He travelled the entire circuit three times before finally collapsing of exhaustion near what has become Temple 12 (Shusanji). As he lay dying, the Daishi appeared, placed a stone in his hand, on which he had written "Emon Daburō Reborn," and buried him. A year later, a child was born on the other side of the island, near the current city of Matsuyama. The child's hand would not open and no one could force it open, until a priest was called in. When he convinced the child to open his hand, they all found a stone there with the words "Emon Saburō Reborn" written on it. To commemorate this they built Temple 51, Ishiteji, Stone Hand Temple.

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