Day 31: Full Circle, Temple 1 I was up at 7.00, breakfasted and took the train back towards Takamatsu. I had planned to walk 25 km, half the distance between temples 88 and 1, but the weather forecast was rain, rain and more rain, so I got off a stop earlier at Hiketa and cut the walk down to 20 km.…
Day 30: Day off/Ritsurin Garden Today was a day off. The only thing I had to do was move from Takamatsu back to Tokushima, where I spent the six first days. The train passes within a kilometer of temple 1, so I could just get off, and close the circle. But I’ve decided, if the weather is OK tomorrow, to…
Day 28: Temples 84 – 87 When walking as far as I now have, it is inevitable that there will be some wrong turns every now and then. Usually by taking the next left or right turn you are back on track. Today was the day where I made two wrong turns where there were no quick fixes, just extra kilometers.…
Day 27: Temples 81 – 83 It was another long day in the sun with a couple of mountains. I call them mountains, but I suppose they are very high hills! Going up and down, they certainly feel like mountains. I was up at 6.00 and on the 7.09 train to Kokubu, where I’d ended at temple 80 yesterday. I could…
Day 26: Temples 79 – 80 On paper it was supposed to be an easy day, but I don’t feel that I’ve recovered from 39 and 27 kms I did a couple of days back. I hope to be back in form soon, as there are 3 very hard days waiting with many kilometers and four climbs, two tomorrow and then…
Day 25: Temples 74 – 78 It was supposed to be stormy weather today. At 7am it was cloudy, but OK. Taking no chances it was long trousers, waterproof walking shoes and a rain jacket instead of fleece. It was warm and very humid. After the landlady found her camera so she could put me on her blog, I set off…
Day 24: Temples 68 – 73 Another beautiful sunny day, where I managed to visit 6 temples and walk 27 km. I had planned today to be a quiet day, after yesterdays marathon, but my legs weren’t complaining and my feet always complain anyway. I forgot to mention yesterday that I actually walked in three of Shikoku’s four provinces, as 65…
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 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 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 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…
