The hut had turned out to be a great place to camp but the bitter cold had made for a relatively sleepless night. Despite putting on a couple of extra layers I just couldn't get myself warm so I spent much of the night just curled up inside my sleeping bag waiting for the morning to arrive. Apart from the occasional passing car it had been an incredibly peaceful night. The only real sound, and it was a very soothing sound at that, was the sound of the waves breaking gently on the shore.
It was 05:30 when I heard my rest hut neighbor stir and when I got out of my tent I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Kan, the young Korean man I had met at Kikuya Zenkonyado. Communication between the pair of us was a little difficult because neither one of us had enough of a shared language with which to communicate but I managed to figure out that Kan was varying his stays between paid and free lodgings. After Kikuya Zenkonyado he had stayed in a minshuku near to Yakuoji (#23), last night he had camped and tonight he was planning to be back in a minshuku again.
When I mentioned Nico, I understood why I had not seen him. Nico, Kan told me had passed by the rest hut at about 6 o'clock yesterday evening which meant he had in fact been only 20 or so minutes ahead of me. Nico had probably taken the shorter Route 55 and got ahead of me. That or he had powered his way along the Minami Skyline route and somehow passed me while I was in one of the convenience stores after Mugi. Whatever the story, I had a feeling I would probably not be seeing him again on this journey because in a few days time he was planning to head to South Korea to continue his round the world adventure.
Kan was all packed up and it wasn't long before I was waving him goodbye and watching him walking away up Route 55. With Kan gone I quickly packed away my own things and headed in the opposite direction along to the the 7 Eleven I had stopped at yesterday evening. During my first pilgrimage I usually started my day with a fizzy cola to give me the sugar hit I needed to get me started for the day. This time however, it was definitely a hot coffee combined with a Japanese snack called dorayaki. Dorayaki is made from two sponge like layers with sweet black bean paste sandwiched in the middle.
With a hot coffee, dorayaki and quite a few extra supplies I headed back out and found a spot near the sea. There were a few hints of red out on the horizon but the early morning blue was quickly being replaced by an increasingly grey overcast looking sky. I had no idea what the weather forecast was but it looked like it probably wasn't going to be a sunny day like it had been yesterday. Fueled for the day I headed back up along Route 55 in the direction of the hut.
As I neared a small bridge there were 6 or 7 kites perched along one side of it. Below them, fisherman were unloading their catches and the kites were simply keeping a sharp eye out for an easy meal. They were perched on the same side of the road as I was walking and rather than risk scaring them away I crossed over to the other side. As I got nearer some of the kites dropped of their perch and just magically floated away. Close up I got a real sense of how big and graceful these birds were.
My plan today was to walk very little because I wanted to stop at Meitokuji. Meitokuji was a small temple I had stayed at during my first pilgrimage and there was something about it that I just really liked. The distance to Meitokuji was only 9km and I was doing my very best to go as slowly as I could. About 30 minutes later I passed through a tunnel and emerged out the other side in Kochi. I said a mental goodbye to Tokushima and a hello to Kochi.
It took me no more than 2 - 3 hours to make it to Meitokuji and when I arrived it looked exactly as I had last seen it. The only difference was a sleepy looking dog curled up on a large rectangular cushion outside the main hall. Probably used to seeing visitors come and go he barely stirred, he looked up and then went back to napping again. I washed my hands and mouth, lit a candle and some incense and prayed in front of the main hall. After finishing my prayers I pressed a buzzer and waited for someone to appear but no one came out. After trying again and again getting no response I decided to sit and wait a little while.
When I stopped at Meitokuji during my first pilgrimage, I had left the Bus Zenkonyado at 03:30 in the morning and walked until quite late. It was not one of the 88 temples but what I recalled most about it was the friendly monk and the drumming and chanting routine he went through to close proceedings at the temple that evening. It had been the best temple ritual I experienced during the whole of that first pilgrimage and today I wanted it to be a short walking day so I could spend a quiet day in the tusyado. If I couldn't stay the plan would be to walk another 5 or 6 hours and cover maybe 25km and find a minshuku near to Muruto Misaki.
The monk finally appeared but was heading away from me so I called out to him and walked over to explain that I wanted to stay. The look on his face was not too welcoming and he reminded me that there was still plenty of daylight to keep going and that the rule was that pilgrims could only stay in the tsuyado from 4 o'clock onwards. I knew all this but I persisted a little more and told him that my first experience had been one of the best during that first pilgrimage and that I really wanted to stay. I also told him I had something to give to him and I took out the photographs and explained that I was giving these to everyone who helped me previously. He seemed to forget that he was upset with me and started looking through the photographs and he selected two he liked most. While he was looking and chatting his demeanour seemed to soften and he asked if I really didn't want to walk. I replied I could walk but I really wanted to stay. He reminded me again that the tsuyado was not open to pilgrims until 16:00 and as he was saying this he slid open the door to the small hut and said you can stay but I don't know about it. Maybe it was his understanding that I really wanted to stay here or the photographs or my story or a combination of everything but whatever it was I was glad I was going to be able to stay from early morning.
I made myself comfortable in the tsuyado which was a 4 mat tatami sized hut. It didn't have any bedding or blankets but it was fully enclosed and nice and clean. A few hours later I heard voices outside and looking outside I discovered it was Das, Shiroi and another woman. The woman turned out to be someone Shiori had met at the nearby railway station and seeing that Shiori was a young single woman she'd kindly invited her to stay at her home. I wasn't sure how they had met up with Das but the woman had driven Das to Meitokoji to make sure she also had a place to stay. Das asked if she could stay in the tsuyado and was initially told she could stay in the temple itself but after learning that we knew each other, gave her the option of staying in the tsuyado too. Das ended up in the tsuyado with me.
Before Shiori and the other woman left, the monk invited all of us into the temple building and offered us a choice of instant coffees or a hot ginger drink. Each of us opted for a hot ginger drink. We were seated in a room just to the side of the main altar and the monk lived in rooms on the other side. What grabbed my attention most was a photograph of Sai Baba, Sai Baba was an Indian guru and this particular monk had gone to India when he was younger just to visit him. There were also other photographs of him in various guises including standing under a waterfall, performing a fire ceremony and much more. He probably had a lot of stories to tell and it was a pity that my Japanese like last time was still not good enough but I had at least managed to persuade him to allow me to stay at the tsuyado.
After Shiori and the other woman left, Das and I moved back to the tsuyado which was just to the side of the main entrance to the temple. The temple really was quite small and compact. Steps led up to the main gate and rather than guardians on either side there were two towering cedar trees. There was something about the place that I just liked. Happier also because Das had turned up and she'd come equipped with more food than she could eat and more than she wanted to be carrying. During the first pilgrimage I had not prepared extra food for the trip down to Hotsumisakiji (#24). Today although I had arrived with enough supplies for today and the following day, for some reason I had managed to eat nearly everything.
It was raining lightly when Das arrived but as the evening wore on the rain really started coming down and I was really glad that I had managed to stay put in the tsuyado. I had not seen Das for the last two days and discovered she, Shiori, Beno and Susanne had all stayed at Tebajima Guesthouse which was on a Tebajima Island, a small island about 4km from Mugi. It was good to know that everyone was doing well. I had no idea where Nico had got to but I was sure he was fine too.
Until Das turned up I had spent my time alone in the tsuyado thinking about the pilgrimage. I felt almost 100% sure that I would not be coming this way again and for this reason I felt it was important to create only positive encounters. Some of the encounters I had had, I already I knew were going to be ones I would remember long after I completed the pilgrimage. At times I had found myself wondering what purpose, if any, this journey was really serving. The reason for thinking this way was because sometimes I felt I was being a little self indulgent and quite selfish for doing it all again. Most people would never have the chance to do it once let alone twice. After days likes yesterday however, I felt it was a a necessary indulgence to put me in a better frame of mind to battle the demons one more time. I returned to Shikoku to find a little peace and I hoped whatever benefit I got this time I would be able to take it away with me and continue to nurture it.
Today I had crossed out of Tokushima and into Kochi. Tokushima had been the start of the pilgrimage and the size of the task ahead had begun to dawn on me again as I went from temple to temple. Over those first two days, I had covered many temples but relatively little ground. Then there was the first real challenge which was the tough hike to Shosanji (#12) and then a few days later the equally tough but shorter hikes up and down to Kakurinji (#20) and Tairyuji (#21). Thinking back now, the 10 days it had taken to get to Kochi had passed by incredibly quickly and the start seemed a long long way away. The key milestones for me had all been the encounters with people, fellow pilgrims, temple staff and the many many local people who I had met along the way. All I could really hope for was that the impressions I had made so far were all positive ones.
With the rain coming down hard outside and the wind started to pick up. I was glad I was at Meitokuji and after relatively little sleep over the past few days it was not long before I drifted of to sleep.
The hut had turned out to be a great place to camp but the bitter cold had made for a relatively sleepless night. Despite putting on a couple of extra layers I just couldn't get myself warm so I spent much of the night just curled up inside my sleeping bag waiting for the morning to arrive. Apart from the occasional passing car it had been an incredibly peaceful night. The only real sound, and it was a very soothing sound at that, was the sound of the waves breaking gently on the shore.
It was 05:30 when I heard my rest hut neighbor stir and when I got out of my tent I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Kan, the young Korean man I had met at Kikuya Zenkonyado. Communication between the pair of us was a little difficult because neither one of us had enough of a shared language with which to communicate but I managed to figure out that Kan was varying his stays between paid and free lodgings. After Kikuya Zenkonyado he had stayed in a minshuku near to Yakuoji (#23), last night he had camped and tonight he was planning to be back in a minshuku again.
When I mentioned Nico, I understood why I had not seen him. Nico, Kan told me had passed by the rest hut at about 6 o'clock yesterday evening which meant he had in fact been only 20 or so minutes ahead of me. Nico had probably taken the shorter Route 55 and got ahead of me. That or he had powered his way along the Minami Skyline route and somehow passed me while I was in one of the convenience stores after Mugi. Whatever the story, I had a feeling I would probably not be seeing him again on this journey because in a few days time he was planning to head to South Korea to continue his round the world adventure.
Kan was all packed up and it wasn't long before I was waving him goodbye and watching him walking away up Route 55. With Kan gone I quickly packed away my own things and headed in the opposite direction along to the the 7 Eleven I had stopped at yesterday evening. During my first pilgrimage I usually started my day with a fizzy cola to give me the sugar hit I needed to get me started for the day. This time however, it was definitely a hot coffee combined with a Japanese snack called dorayaki. Dorayaki is made from two sponge like layers with sweet black bean paste sandwiched in the middle.
With a hot coffee, dorayaki and quite a few extra supplies I headed back out and found a spot near the sea. There were a few hints of red out on the horizon but the early morning blue was quickly being replaced by an increasingly grey overcast looking sky. I had no idea what the weather forecast was but it looked like it probably wasn't going to be a sunny day like it had been yesterday. Fueled for the day I headed back up along Route 55 in the direction of the hut.
As I neared a small bridge there were 6 or 7 kites perched along one side of it. Below them, fisherman were unloading their catches and the kites were simply keeping a sharp eye out for an easy meal. They were perched on the same side of the road as I was walking and rather than risk scaring them away I crossed over to the other side. As I got nearer some of the kites dropped of their perch and just magically floated away. Close up I got a real sense of how big and graceful these birds were.
My plan today was to walk very little because I wanted to stop at Meitokuji. Meitokuji was a small temple I had stayed at during my first pilgrimage and there was something about it that I just really liked. The distance to Meitokuji was only 9km and I was doing my very best to go as slowly as I could. About 30 minutes later I passed through a tunnel and emerged out the other side in Kochi. I said a mental goodbye to Tokushima and a hello to Kochi.
It took me no more than 2 - 3 hours to make it to Meitokuji and when I arrived it looked exactly as I had last seen it. The only difference was a sleepy looking dog curled up on a large rectangular cushion outside the main hall. Probably used to seeing visitors come and go he barely stirred, he looked up and then went back to napping again. I washed my hands and mouth, lit a candle and some incense and prayed in front of the main hall. After finishing my prayers I pressed a buzzer and waited for someone to appear but no one came out. After trying again and again getting no response I decided to sit and wait a little while.
When I stopped at Meitokuji during my first pilgrimage, I had left the Bus Zenkonyado at 03:30 in the morning and walked until quite late. It was not one of the 88 temples but what I recalled most about it was the friendly monk and the drumming and chanting routine he went through to close proceedings at the temple that evening. It had been the best temple ritual I experienced during the whole of that first pilgrimage and today I wanted it to be a short walking day so I could spend a quiet day in the tusyado. If I couldn't stay the plan would be to walk another 5 or 6 hours and cover maybe 25km and find a minshuku near to Muruto Misaki.
The monk finally appeared but was heading away from me so I called out to him and walked over to explain that I wanted to stay. The look on his face was not too welcoming and he reminded me that there was still plenty of daylight to keep going and that the rule was that pilgrims could only stay in the tsuyado from 4 o'clock onwards. I knew all this but I persisted a little more and told him that my first experience had been one of the best during that first pilgrimage and that I really wanted to stay. I also told him I had something to give to him and I took out the photographs and explained that I was giving these to everyone who helped me previously. He seemed to forget that he was upset with me and started looking through the photographs and he selected two he liked most. While he was looking and chatting his demeanour seemed to soften and he asked if I really didn't want to walk. I replied I could walk but I really wanted to stay. He reminded me again that the tsuyado was not open to pilgrims until 16:00 and as he was saying this he slid open the door to the small hut and said you can stay but I don't know about it. Maybe it was his understanding that I really wanted to stay here or the photographs or my story or a combination of everything but whatever it was I was glad I was going to be able to stay from early morning.
I made myself comfortable in the tsuyado which was a 4 mat tatami sized hut. It didn't have any bedding or blankets but it was fully enclosed and nice and clean. A few hours later I heard voices outside and looking outside I discovered it was Das, Shiroi and another woman. The woman turned out to be someone Shiori had met at the nearby railway station and seeing that Shiori was a young single woman she'd kindly invited her to stay at her home. I wasn't sure how they had met up with Das but the woman had driven Das to Meitokoji to make sure she also had a place to stay. Das asked if she could stay in the tsuyado and was initially told she could stay in the temple itself but after learning that we knew each other, gave her the option of staying in the tsuyado too. Das ended up in the tsuyado with me.
Before Shiori and the other woman left, the monk invited all of us into the temple building and offered us a choice of instant coffees or a hot ginger drink. Each of us opted for a hot ginger drink. We were seated in a room just to the side of the main altar and the monk lived in rooms on the other side. What grabbed my attention most was a photograph of Sai Baba, Sai Baba was an Indian guru and this particular monk had gone to India when he was younger just to visit him. There were also other photographs of him in various guises including standing under a waterfall, performing a fire ceremony and much more. He probably had a lot of stories to tell and it was a pity that my Japanese like last time was still not good enough but I had at least managed to persuade him to allow me to stay at the tsuyado.
After Shiori and the other woman left, Das and I moved back to the tsuyado which was just to the side of the main entrance to the temple. The temple really was quite small and compact. Steps led up to the main gate and rather than guardians on either side there were two towering cedar trees. There was something about the place that I just liked. Happier also because Das had turned up and she'd come equipped with more food than she could eat and more than she wanted to be carrying. During the first pilgrimage I had not prepared extra food for the trip down to Hotsumisakiji (#24). Today although I had arrived with enough supplies for today and the following day, for some reason I had managed to eat nearly everything.
It was raining lightly when Das arrived but as the evening wore on the rain really started coming down and I was really glad that I had managed to stay put in the tsuyado. I had not seen Das for the last two days and discovered she, Shiori, Beno and Susanne had all stayed at Tebajima Guesthouse which was on a Tebajima Island, a small island about 4km from Mugi. It was good to know that everyone was doing well. I had no idea where Nico had got to but I was sure he was fine too.
Until Das turned up I had spent my time alone in the tsuyado thinking about the pilgrimage. I felt almost 100% sure that I would not be coming this way again and for this reason I felt it was important to create only positive encounters. Some of the encounters I had had, I already I knew were going to be ones I would remember long after I completed the pilgrimage. At times I had found myself wondering what purpose, if any, this journey was really serving. The reason for thinking this way was because sometimes I felt I was being a little self indulgent and quite selfish for doing it all again. Most people would never have the chance to do it once let alone twice. After days likes yesterday however, I felt it was a a necessary indulgence to put me in a better frame of mind to battle the demons one more time. I returned to Shikoku to find a little peace and I hoped whatever benefit I got this time I would be able to take it away with me and continue to nurture it.
Today I had crossed out of Tokushima and into Kochi. Tokushima had been the start of the pilgrimage and the size of the task ahead had begun to dawn on me again as I went from temple to temple. Over those first two days, I had covered many temples but relatively little ground. Then there was the first real challenge which was the tough hike to Shosanji (#12) and then a few days later the equally tough but shorter hikes up and down to Kakurinji (#20) and Tairyuji (#21). Thinking back now, the 10 days it had taken to get to Kochi had passed by incredibly quickly and the start seemed a long long way away. The key milestones for me had all been the encounters with people, fellow pilgrims, temple staff and the many many local people who I had met along the way. All I could really hope for was that the impressions I had made so far were all positive ones.
With the rain coming down hard outside and the wind started to pick up. I was glad I was at Meitokuji and after relatively little sleep over the past few days it was not long before I drifted of to sleep.