Ehime Cont.

Like I said, as soon as I got into this town, I checked myself into a hotel by the station.

The bullfight town.

ha ha ha, I love when they try to use English. 

Night view of the station from my room

In all Japanese towns, villages and cities the main event or feature of the locale is always on the sewer caps or in the sidewalk. 

Bullfight mania continues.

OMG, a Mcd's breakfast has never been so good.

The seven lucky gods.

grapes getting ripe.  I should be so lucky as to be put in a bag where the bugs cannot bite me.

pretty in pink

more of the 7 lucky gods.  Not so lucky.  Right around the time I took this picture, another priest asked me if I had lived in Japan for two years before.  Surprised, I said yes.  He said he heard from someone that there is an American woman doing the circuit who lived in Japan for two years.  Wow--I'm getting famous!!  Then he gave me an orange and I sat on the bench eating it.  All was well until I noticed my walking stick was GONE! I left it in the stand in front of the temple office where everyone leaves there sticks.  Someone had the audacity to steal... from a pilgrim...IN A TEMPLE!  WTF!  I think you definitely go to hell for a stunt like that.  At least you get reincarnated as some animal that eats its own feces.  I was so depressed I cried.  It was only the second time this trip (the first time wasn't for myself though).  I guess after that horrible hotel, MJ dying, the camera breaking and now my stick stolen, that was the last straw.  I had become really attached to it.  It had been with me every step　of the way so far, helping me all the way.  Now, suddenly, at #42 it was gone. 

The stupid this is, if someone wanted one, they are sold everyone for only 15 dollars.  What's more, there are always a stack of ones that people have forgotten or brought back to their home temple in thanks.  The priest there actually told me just to take one of those.  Why MY stick of all the sticks that were there? The thief could have had a stick without inflicting pain on me.  I was angry and hurt and hotly stomped the rest of the way through the mountains imagining all the things I would do to the person if I ever saw my special walking stick again. 

1/2 way to the next temple after the thievery incident.

Then I saw another freaking snake.  I've actually gotten somewhat used to seeing them (how many snakes had my old stick warded off...) I've had plenty of snake nightmares too.

My room after the stick incident.  At least it was really, really nice.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

I was served dinner in my room again.  Instead of being lonely, it was nice.  I was in such a bad mood I didn't feel like making others put up with me.

Sashimi.  Next to it was ice in the shape of a gourd which had more sashimi in it.  nice touch!

cooking my own meat in a nabe!

And what meal in Japan would　be complete without fish heads and bamboo sprouts. 

this would be a popular shop back home, ha ha.

cool boats.

cool lotus pond.

cool un-numbered temple.  The story behind this one is that Kobo Daishi walked into this town on a winter's night and no one would give him lodging so he had to sleep under this bridge. 

Shrine under the bridge

Sleeping Kobo Daishis

While he was under the bridge he composed this poem that goes something like, when no one will help a traveler in need, one night seems like ten.  I can totally relate.  Mine goes something like: when no one will clean the inn, one night can seem like ten....  ha ha ha.... moan.

just someone roasting some fish on the road.

cute sign

some chickens and a rooster on the trail

me, passed out on a bench for 10 minutes on my way through the mountains.

why is everything so cute?

I decorated my new/used walking stick with a hawk feather, a protective amulet and a bell someone lost from their walking stick (I found it).  I think it looks pretty pimp now.  My spirits are in tact and I feel like continuing.  The priest told me not to give up my mission.  The guidebook says that when shit happens, I should not complain, but regard it as ascetic training.  Consider myself trained.

Yesterday it poured buckets of rain all day.  It was her free day, so Kyohei's mom said she would come to meet me at 9am at temple #44 (half way!!).  She said she might be a little late, but don't worry.  Of course, she called me at 7:24am to tell me she was waiting at the temple..... eye roll.  I was already up and dress and watching Ohayou Nippon (Good morning Japan).  Because it was raining so hard, I didn't mind as much being driven to temples. 

#45 was a "difficult place"  Even after we drove to it there was a lot of uphill walking to do (good).  To get to one point in the temple there was this scary and steep ladder to climb up.

I did it!  The view was awesome.

Me holding up my hands for #45.

then we went to the zoo where I saw alligators and flamingos.... just like being in Florida. 

ha ha ha ha ha

The next temple we went to had a lotus pond.

And...  Buddha's feet.  Legend has it, whoever puts their bare feet on this stone will have all their foot pain taken away.  Buddha=had shoes to fill

Legend has is, an evil person cannot pass through this gate.  If they try it, they will go straight to hell.  I'm still around (barely).  At least I don't think I'm in hell....  I'm in Matsuyama using the internet!

So Kyohei's mom is letting me use her camera while we see if Kyohei's camera is fixable.  I took a couple pictures with it yesterday, but I cannot get them to load in xanga, I've been trying all morning.  I don't know if its this computer or what.  Hopefully, I'll still be able to post pictures on here.  I'll be pretty disappointed if not.  I really hate changing electronics.  I'm sure her camera will take perfectly good photos (especially since I can no longer use the zoom on mine), but.....  I need to get over myself and get some breakfast. 

ps  its my three year anniversary with Kyohei.  Wish he were here.

Ashizuri day

aka hardest walk day

aka self-portrait day

aka best scenery day

aka nicest hotel day

aka craziest seafood day

aka windiest day

I started off the day with about 25km to the cape of Ashizuri where #38 is.  I got a good early start on the day.  I was on the road walking at 7am.  That is probably the earliest yet.  I really wanted to see this beach, so I hiked down this treacherous little path too (which I discovered later was NOT a pilgrimage path, as I had thought)

I had a little adventure climbing over the rocks to get there, but it was so worth it. 

my footprints and shadow

aww!  What a gorgeous beach.  Surfers already in the water at 7:30!  I was loving life.

hooray, I can use the timer on my camera

Then, I realized, after walking that entire beach, that I would have to fjord the river to get back on course!  Wait a minute... this wasn't in the guidebook.  I was super cautious because I nearly got my entire shoe sucked into some quicksand, but I made it across.

ha ha ha, I might have a sick sense of humor, but this is hilarious.  Caution, drop!  Never leave ha ha ha

After that, I found myself on this trail that was really hard.  I had to climb over things and under things.  The trail seemed to disappear at one point and then later it turned into a creek!  Complete with slippery rocks and swarms of bugs.  I was practically running through the woods at the end swinging my arms like a mad woman swatting the bugs.  So.... ready to get out of the woods.

Somehow, I managed to take a different route and ended up on the other side of the cape.  I didn't realize this until hours later, but it did strike me as odd that the ocean was suddenly on my other side...

This tunnel was cool.  I couldn't see the ocean until I reached the other side, but I could feel the seaspray in the tunnel.  Did I mention it was ridiculously, loose-your-hat windy out today?

sweat running down my walking stick.

how helpful.  It could be that way... or on the other hand....it could be that way too.

more walking

almost there....

Hooray for explanations in English so that I will actually take the time to read them.  I figured, what the heck, lets go see the cave.  Down the stairs and down the stairs.  I started grumbling to myself...oohhh this will be fun to climb back up.  This stupid cave better be....

holy!  Its the coolest thing I have seen so far.  These pictures are not great representations.  It was awesome, awesome, awesome. 

me, contemplating the cave and the ocean

of course I took my pack off (and everything else for fear that it would blow away in the wind), went down to the rocks and climbed over close to the cave.  I took a video... have to figure out how to post that....note to self.  The cave made me deliriously happy.

more super wavey and windy scenes from around the cape.  The wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult to even get a picture.  I had to take my hat off and hold it, otherwise it would have been long gone.

The lighthouse and famous suicide spot.  Ah, the Japanese are so romantic about death....

Saw the John Manjiro statue.  This excited me because I read a historic novel about the guy before.  Very interesting.

And FINALLY I found the temple.  Because I had taken a different pilgrimage route than what I thought, well anyway, lets just say it took sometime to figure all that out.

   the temple was really cool... lots of statues and pagodas and large rocks in the grounds. 

Kobo Daishi in the Daishi hall!  Not totally certain it is OK to take a picture of this, but no one was looking....

A priest stamps and writes calligraphy in my stampbook.  He gave me a cute little cell phone strap with a pilgrim on it for a present too.

After that, I had to try and figure out that I had come the opposite direction and where all the hotels where, try and make a reservation, field phone calls from Kyohei and his mom about whether or not she would come to visit me the next day, and deal with the ridiculous wind (which was getting really old)... so I did was justgotspaid usually does and just walked into the first hotel and stayed there.  ha!

I saw internet in the lobby and decided this would be good.  I just wanted to have a private shower room again too...  I did not know what I was getting myself into.  Pilgrim tour buses started to roll in and all the hotel employees in the lobby went japanese-style customer service beserk.  Then I get to dinner (above).  Yes, this is for one person. 

Sashimi.  Shrimp is NOT delicious raw.

a plate of mixed seafood and veggie wonders garnished with maple leaves.

I do not like food that looks back at me

sorry: sideways shot.  Whats in the pot!?!

a bunch of seafood cooked over little granite rocks.

uhm, what!?!  So, yes, I ate this little squid.  The old lady who served me was watching me!  I had to do it!  Why are they always watching me eat?  Watching a foreigner eating raw things with chopsticks might be as entertaining to a japanese person as watching an elephant ride a unicycle.... anyway.  I felt like I was on some sort of reality TV show, but I did it!

I would be OK with never eating crab again too.  The anatomy of a crab is terrifying.  I think I actually kind of squealed like a little girl when I had to touch it.  What!?  She was watching me... I had to do it.

I learned that this hotel is really popular with tour groups.... they all have their own different meal planned out with the hotel too.  Very interesting.  Actually, the hotel was totally booked by tour groups today except for two rooms.  Lucky me.  They have on outdoor hot bath (rotenburo).  I really wanted to try it out, but didn't want to be around all the tour groups (too many old ladies gawking at my naked body= not fun).  I ran up there right after eating before all the busloads of people where done and got in the bath.  aahhh, there is something freeing about being naked outside when it is this windy. 

View from the bath

What I really, really hope is the first naked picture of me online

Nice!  That was refreshing.  So, you see, I am alive and well.  Its already after 10 and I have a 6:30 breakfast.  I wonder what that will look like.  I will finish this later.

All night the wind howled like I was in a hurricane.  The front desk man said that it is not usual... hhmmmm.  What's going on with the weather.  It was raining, but has thankfully stopped.

What I've been stressing on lately is whether I am going to fast or too slow, living too luxuriously, etc etc.  So this hotel was a little over the top.  To my credit, I honestly didn't know it was going to be this nice... and that crab was really horrifying.  I don't know, I've been on the pilgrimage for a little over 2 weeks now, I am at about the 1/2 way point distance wise... which means I am keeping to my pace (I wanted to do it in about 35-40 days).  But then Kyohei is on the phone all trying to tell me that I'll never be able to finish all 88 at this pace and I met some other pilgrim that was at the same place as me, but had been doing it for 3 weeks...    I feel guilty and like I am missing out on something or I am lazy if I take a bus or train and selfish, too slow if I don't.  I feel like I am living too luxuriously when I stay in a nicer hotel, but get annoyed staying at this little (sometimes dingy) inns.  Where is the balance here? 

I have to find someway of being satisfied with whatever happens in the course of the day.  Even with lots of planning ahead of time and map checking, I still cannot predict or control what will happen during the course of the day.  Things always come up: a hotel is full, I have accidentally taken a different route, it rains and I ride a train instead, someone gives me a ride, I see something interesting and take an extra 2 hours.  There is no accounting for these things.  I am very flexible, but I think my perfectionism is taking over.  I want to have the best experience/ get the most out of this that I can.  Can I be satisfied?

Anyway, I'm on the road in t minus ten minutes.  I really want to email and facebook, but this computer is ridiculously slow and I've already managed to crash it twice. 

Mountains, Oceans, Bridges: Kochi Prefecture

 Kochi Prefecture is "The land of spiritual disciple" and also "the devil's land" because it is hot, rains hard and is the longest to walk of all 4 prefectures.  People aren't supposed to give you O-settai (freebies to help pilgrims) because it is supposed to be hard.  That said, the people are SO nice here.  I've been given more fruit and hard candy than I can eat and I got money and a ride down a mountain too.

From Kannoura, I took a bus down 55.  I saw a few other pilgrims walking.  Eventually, guilt (and cheapness) got the best of me and I got off the bus and walked the rest of the way to the Mirakudo cave and Temple #24.

On the way, I saw more pretty flowers and this incredible Kobo Daishi statue.

It was at this spot that he sat looking at the sky and the sea at 19 years old and decided that he would dedicate his life to Buddhism. 

Muroto cape!

Another bathing spot of Kobo Daishi.

A group of tour bus pilgrims coming out of the cave.

Me, inside the cave, looking at the tour bus and hoping that at 28 I would figure out what to do with my life.

How did that dude get there?

I was amazed at this long and winding road leading up to temple #24.   Why are temples almost always at the top of a mountain?  gasp!

I finally reached the top.  I'm pretty sure it was about 100 degrees, but no, only 28 (celsius)  I know that is hot, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to know exactly how hot.  Not knowing is better sometimes.  And what happened to all the rain that Kochi is suppose to get.  Its hot, sunny and 28 every day.  I could use the cool down!

One of these things is not like the other...

and then I drank the hell out of that ice cold coke. It was probably the best coke I ever had.  Thank GOD for vending machines at the temples.

back down the long and winding road...

I saw my car again!  Oh, how I love you cute green Mazda Demio or whatever you are called. 

This temple (#26, I think) is a favorite of local fishermen asking for protection on the sea.  Likewise, there were fishmongers everywhere in this little town.

Just some fish drying by the side of the road, what else, right?

cute little street

or death trap!? 

Liked this statue

When I reached the top of 26 (looking sweaty and deranged again) I saw the same tour group that I saw at #24.  They had me pose for a photo with them and then stuffed my hands full of candy.

I stayed at temple 26 that night.  There were only 3 people there including me.  I kept running into the other two pilgrims throughout the next day~~not surprising really since we are taking the same route. 

The temple lodge at 26 and my room.  These temple lodges are all REALLY nice.  We got served a ridiculous amount of delicious food for dinner. 

My friend, Kazu who was staying at 26 the next day...and the ocean.  Love, love love walking by the ocean.

A ways down the road we came to a little shop that had all these "pilgrims stop here" signs leading up to it.  I'm glad we stopped.  This woman was really nice.  She chatted Kazu and I up while she gave us free fruit and chilled tea.

I had never had this before, but I've noticed it grows wild round these parts.  Its called yamamomo and really good.  Something like a cross between a raspberry and a strawberry, but more sour.

This is called sumomo (I think) and it might have been the first time I've had this

Another pilgrim rest stop down the road in Nahari (I like the name of that town).  A lady at the sushi restaurant next door rushed out to give us chilled oolong tea and little cakes.  After this, Kazu and I parted ways and I went to the post office and the station.

road from Nahari

I got off 2 or 3 stops down the tracks at Tonohama, which is at the bottom of the GIANT mountain #27 sits at the top of.  The guidebook Kitty sent me totally saved me this day.  It recommended leaving your bags behind at this particular inn and then hiking up the mountain.  The little old lady (its always a little old lady) picked me up at the station in her tiny Japanese pickup and took my bag.  Anyway, their mascot for this station is Henro-kun (Mr. Pilgrim).  Cute.  Even the vending machine at this station talks to you when you buy something, "Hey Pilgrim!  Do you have a point card?!"  I'm not even making this up.

Half way up the mountain, beautiful terraced slopes.

ah ha!  So that's how they plant rice these days....

I keep seeing this mysterious marker on the route.  Its probably just another kind of road marker, but I like to think of is as some sort of secret pilgrim society mark....  yes, I have way too much time to use my imagination.

The climb to the top of 27 was another lung buster, but I finally made it.  I felt pretty good about myself at that point, even if Kazu came tearing up the mountain and passed me half way up (that kid is GENKI).  I even went another kilometer up the mountain to the Shinto shrine at the top.  The only really notable thing about is this bomb shell they have in front of the main hall.  I asked the woman stamping my book about it and she said that after a war (WWII?) they found it near there and decided to display it (a sign that the kami protected the temple from getting bombed?)  And then she gave me some candy.

By that time, the other pilgrim who stayed at 26 was there and he took this picture of me and gave me candy.

Half way down the mountain someone gave me a lift and a lecture on how I couldn't refuse anything that people want to give the pilgrims because it their way of praying.  He then told me a story that he had down the pilgrimage 19 times.  The first time he did it walking because his younger sister was sick, then she was healed.  I was hoping I would hear miracle stories like this sometime.  Back at the inn called "Drive-in 27" I was the only pilgrim staying there again.  I ate this ridiculously large meal and then was given...... candy.  You see a theme here?

The next day, I went to the zoo.  I'm such a dork that I showed up before it even opened and had to wait outside.

It was fun being the only gawker in the zoo.  I could look at certain animals as long as I wanted to without feeling self conscious.  The coolest ones were the Lesser Panda, the giant ant eater and this crazy troll-looking monkey.

out in the middle of no where again.

more road markers

Tour group saying the heart sutra. 
Actually, when I took this picture I was beyond annoyance.  The Sakai family had suggested that I stay with their friend in Kochi.  I figured anyone the Sakais were friends with would be cool, right.  WRONG.  This woman annoyed me in everyway possible.  It totally ruined a whole day and 1/2 of pilgrimage.  She couldn't make up here mind about things, she ignored the fact that I wanted to go see the botanical gardens next to temple 31 (even the priest recommended it!), she tried to rush me through the temple visits.  She walked in on me twice when I was trying to use her bath... her shower was broken so I had to dump steaming hot water with a bowl on myself out of the tub.  I kept saying to myself, "she is trying to help, she is putting you up, she is feeding you..." but I couldn't help by be annoyed.  The pilgrimage is not a damn stamp race, I wanted to shout.  I finally devised a plan.  I announced at #33 (which she impatiently rushed me through) that I really preferred to walk at this point.  She insisted on taking me the #34, I insisted on walking, she insisted, I insisted again and took my stuff out of her car.  I pretended to talk the route, but when her car was out of sight I turn right around, got in a taxi, and headed back into Kochi city.  I found The Best Western!!!!  Internet!!!! 

I really regretted my time with her.  As she was speeding down the road from temple to temple, I kept seeing things I wanted to see-see.  It occurred to me know more than ever that its really about the trip between the temples as much as it is about the temples themselves.  I got on the first train headed towards the art museum after somehow convincing the staff to let me check in early.  They have works by Chagall!  I couldn't miss EVERYthing along the way. 

I found this diet coke with green tea flavor (plus catechin, whatever that is)  It was delicious.

I wandered around the shotengai (shopping arcade) for a while

After I ate a ridiculously large plate of curry rice, I saw a sign that said Kochi castle 1km.  What the heck.  I could handle looking at a castle at sunset right about now.

I took this picture for Kyohei who loves Tosa dogs.

I'm about to check out the Best Western now.  I'm going to try and take a bus back to #33 and start where I left off.  I always feel a little bit guilty and bad whenever I take a bus or train, so I'm not going to do that as much.  I think I'm ahead of schedule anyway, so I would like to slow this pilgrimage down a bit.  And no more staying at people's houses if I can help it.  Fuck that shit.  I want to go at my pace and not have to work around anyone else's schedule or conform to their idea of how many temples I should be visiting a day or what I should or shouldn't see on the way. 

Another thing of note:  this is the first morning since I've started this that I haven't had fish for breakfast.  They had cornflakes!  cornflakes!  I thought I was going to jump for joy. 

Ok, sorry for the long post.  Time to go and get ready.  I probably won't be online again until I get to Matsuyama.