Day 23: Temples 65 – 67 The other day I wrote that it was a fantastic feeling when everything one had hoped would happen, but you couldn’t plan for, actually worked out. It is an even greater feeling when things work out far better than one had even dare dream of. That’s what happened today. Below a view of the first…
Day 22: Temples 63 – 64 It’s Sunday, and I’m into week 4. Today was a quiet day after yesterdays long and hard day, and in preparation of tomorrows even harder. I went to bed at midnight without washing any clothes, but had expected to be able to sleep until 8’ish. But this is Japan. At 6.30 there was a communal…
Day 21: Temples 60 – 62 It’s a great feeling when what you had hoped would happen, but could not plan to happen, actually happens. That was how I felt at 9.45 as I started the 9.5 km ascent of Mount Ishizuchi, where temple 60 lies at 750m. I woke at 6.30 and had an OK breakfast with youghurt, cornflakes, toast,…
Day 20: Temples 55 – 59 Today was the day where my legs finally agreed with my feet, that this is too much. At temple 58, after walking 200m upwards over a couple of kilometers, and thinking “finally, I made it” at the main gate, I find out that there are another 100m up over 250m – and the worst is,…
Day 19: Temple 54 Today is the day I “won” when I ran to temple 42. It enabled me to get to Matsuyama earlier and after yesterday’s four temples, I had finished the temples in and around Matsuyama. I therefore decided to take the train to Onizhi, four kilometers from temple 54. This in turn will save me for…
Day 18: Temples 44 – 47 I’m sitting at a bar desk waiting for a Shinsin steak, whatever that is. It’s been a long and hard day. The good news is that I managed to get to the four temples I’d planned, but not in exactly the way I’d planned. The not so good news is that I havn’t previously felt…
Day 17: Temples 52 – 53 As the weather forecast predicted, it rained all day. I was up at 6.45 and soon waiting for a tram. On the tram map it looks like they travel in a circle, but in reality, all but one line stops at the station and turn around. So after waiting 10 minutes I only ended up…
Day 16: Temples 43, 48 – 51 Beyond the fact that I have now passed the halfway mark in the number of temples visited, nothing much happened today – oh yes, I believe I finally saw a VELUX skylight (just in case anybody reading this isn’t aware, I work for VELUX in Denmark). I woke at 6.30 am and as my train…
Day 15: Temples 40 – 42 A long and hard day, warm, but with some light clouds. I needed to get a train at 7.55 am, so I was up at 6 am, packed, checked out and ready for a repeat of yesterday’s 7am breakfast rush. For some reason, breakfast started at 6.30 today. After a very quick breakfast, I walked the 2…
Day 14: Temple 38 Today, Saturday, was in reality a rest day before 2 hard days (red days I call them) with full backpack. But what a day, the highlight so far. I woke around 6am and was packed and ready for breakfast at 7am when it opened. So were all the Japanese guests. At least there was a…
Day 13: Temples 37, 39 For the first time I didn’t take the temples in the numbered order. Temple 38 is on Cape Ashizuri, the south-western tip of Shikoku. It is a day trip by bus, which I plan to do tomorrow. I left Kochi this morning with the 9.35 train going west. I took the first train to Kubokawa,…
Day 12: Temples 35 – 36 Another day on asphalt on the outscirts of Kochi in beautiful weather – yet another day without a cloud in the sky. I was up at 6.30 and waiting for the first bus to Tosa, a few kilometers past where I finished yesterday. The bus arrived on time, just didn’t go to Tosa – as…
Day 11: Temples 31 – 34 I knew there would be days like this, days where you really wonder why you are doing this. Days where your feet or legs are just saying stop. It’s funny how you begin to address parts of your body as though they aren’t part of you, but kind of aside from the rest of you…
Day 10: Temples 27 – 30 Todays first hurdle, 425m above sea level, along 4km partly road and partly mountain track and the last 1km with an average gradiant of 45 degrees. I’d slept well, rose at 6.30, left my backpack at the hotel, and caught the 8.03 train to Tonohama. It took me 45 mins to get to the top,…
Day 9: Temples 24 – 26 Below is my view of the world just now, as I sit looking out over the Pacific, watching a couple of fishing boats slowly sail across the relative calm ocean. I’m sitting outside the Muruto whale museum, which I’d hoped to see if I had time, I had the time, but it is closed. So…
Day 8: Hiwasa to Mugi Really I should have called this Hiwasa to Mugi – the hard way. But more about that later. The guest house is run by a Frenchman, married to a Japanese lady. He has lived in Japan for 45 years. There are 4 rooms he lets out, and last night it was full, with one Japanese…
Day 7: Temple 23 After temple 23, the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage changes from the awakening stage to the ascetic training stage as we move from Tokushima province to Kochi province. One could say exactly the same happens for me. Today I moved away from my base in Tokushima, and for the first time need to carry all my…
Day 6: Day off Due to the fact that I started on Sunday instead of Monday, and as the hotel is booked until Saturday when I move on, I have a day without walking. According to my piedometer I walked 20 km anyway! I didn’t set the alarm, and slept until 8am. So much for the theory that I…
Day 5: Temples 20 – 22 I got up at 6am, had a very quick breakfast, that opened at 7am sharp, and by 7.25 was on the bus that drops you at the bottom of the mountain that temple 20 is at the top of. Again, the bus was full of school kids, most of who were still on the bus…
Day 4: Temples 13 – 19 Seven temples and 25km, a long day. I caught the 8.10 bus to temple 13. Temple 13 is 10km after where I’d finished yesterday, so this was the first, and certainly not the last part of the route, that I will skip. As with other early trains and buses, it was full of school children…
